Almost all remote-work news is negative now but was positive in the beginning of the pandemic. Have you noticed this or am I going crazy?

Earlier in the pandemic many news and magazine organizations would proudly write about how working from home always actually can lead to over working and being too "productive". I am yet to collect some evidence on it but I think we remember a good amount about this.

Now after a bunch of companies want their remote workers back at the office, every one of those companies are being almost propaganda machines which do not cite sound scientific studies but cite each other and interviews with higher ups in top companies that "remote workers are less productive". This is further cementing the general public's opinion on this matter.

And research that shows the opposite is buried deep within any search results.

Have you noticed this? Please share what you have observed. I'm going paranoid about this.

ScrivenerX ,

It's because a huge amount of business is centered around made up things for going to work.

Things you need to work in an office: suits, dry cleaning for the suits, dress shoes, a car (because public transportation is woefully inadequate for this reason), gas for the car, maintenance for the car, lunch, daycare, a dog walker, you have less time so you are more likely to eat out for dinner, also more likely to hire maids, you are stuck in a commute and radio is awful, so a music subscription, maybe a new phone, and might have to go out for drinks with the coworkers on the way home.

Staying at home, and much of the country on highly limited income, taught us how much we spend on the "privilege" of work. Everyone is still shocked at the emotional and opportunity cost work had, we're just starting to realize that most of what it sold to us either isn't real or isn't needed.

If people don't go back to work a sea of businesses will fail.

Azzu ,
@Azzu@lemm.ee avatar

You missed the most important thing. Real estate investments that aren't allowed to go down in value, which they would if offices became superfluous. Just imagine how many buildings would become "worthless"/could be used for something else.

gmtom ,
@gmtom@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, this is BY FAR the biggest reason. Pretty much all the rich people and most big companies have huge investment in portfolios that contain a lot of commercial office spaces. If we were all allowed to work from home those investments would plummet and all the rich people and big companies would take MASSIVE losses on those investments. Which is why all the media and even companies like Zoom are trying to pull a 180 on working from home.

Blaze ,
@Blaze@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

Zoom forcing employees back to offices still baffles me

Iamdanno ,

A forward-thinking wealthy person would start buying these buildings at fire-sale prices and converting them to residential buildings.

Revan343 ,

You have to be very choosey, because most office buildings aren't easily convertable

DarkMessiah ,

Yup, corporations need to justify owning the big-ass office buildings they bought out, so they’re paying to make their own opinions be reported on over the actual truth. As usual.

jonne ,

It's not just the corporations renting those offices, it's the politicians of downtown areas that fear a downturn in tax revenue due to more empty offices and less people getting their daily coffee/lunch/after work drinks.

And of course, if everyone's working remotely, this means it's a lot easier to find a better job without even needing to leave the house to interview, which gives employees a better bargaining position (downside is that employers will start looking at employees in lower paying countries as well).

Sharpiemarker ,

downside is that employers will start looking at employees in lower paying countries as well).

Tale as old as time

lemmyseizethemeans ,

It's the commercial mortgage backed securities market.

Remember 2008 when they bundled up all those home mortgages that were based on shitty unpayable loans and sold off securities to retirement funds etc? But then people couldn't pay and the entire economy imploded resulting in massive bank failures?

Same deal. All those office space loans have been collateralized into securities. The 1% and the banking industry understand perfectly that if they don't force people to return to office, the entire system will implode again. Even after Dodd Frank the regulations on over the counter derivatives are still mostly non existent.

jonne ,

I wonder why they bother, considering they'll probably get bailed out again anyway.

lemmyseizethemeans ,

There's always money in the banana stand

Eldritch ,
@Eldritch@lemmy.world avatar

I find it real fascinating how many people are blindsided by the fact that the people who own things that focus on making a profit skew the information they put out to benefit themselves. Did they think they were impartial or something? I mean they claim their neutral they don't ever show that they're neutral.

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