Anonymous wrote:All of these posters seem to think in-office work is now dysfunctional. Yet, it was the standard/gold standard four years ago. Yes, I understand why people now want to WFH and cut the commute, but why is in-office work now less productive than pre-COVID? Is it just negative employee attitudes? Because, let’s be honest, despite all the claims of people working hard while WFH, we know there’s a lot of goofing off. WFH is like professional welfare - full pay for part-time effort.

It’s inefficient. Not dysfunctional. We now have technology that means we can do our job without spending hours going back and forth to an office building. Even a decade ago we didn’t have the technology we do today. No one was spending their day on video calls.

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Anonymous wrote:The roads are so clogged now. Traffic is horrible. This is all so unnecessary when half these people can just stay home.

Are you new here? Traffic is still much better than it was pre-covid. Yes, it's not as great as it was a year ago, but still better than pre-covid. I can get from Reston to Arlington in 30 minutes door to door. It used to take an hour.

Traffic in DC is much worse now because of decisions by the mayor and council to take away hundreds of miles of lanes, plus whoever handles the timing of lights is failing. I have lived in DC proper for 30 years. What Bowser has done to our streets and the flow of traffic is a real shame. All the scantily used bike lanes, the concrete islands, the 10s of thousands of unsightly flexiposts installed and half broken everywhere have made getting around DC simply awful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of these posters seem to think in-office work is now dysfunctional. Yet, it was the standard/gold standard four years ago. Yes, I understand why people now want to WFH and cut the commute, but why is in-office work now less productive than pre-COVID? Is it just negative employee attitudes? Because, let’s be honest, despite all the claims of people working hard while WFH, we know there’s a lot of goofing off. WFH is like professional welfare - full pay for part-time effort.

Agreed, I’m always the naysayer in these conversations but I feel like my team gets a lot more done in person together and we also pick up on more of the social cues in communication. My commute is definitely a negative but I so much prefer our RTO and am hoping everyone else acclimates soon.

It depends on what your team does and if they are together in a group.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The roads are so clogged now. Traffic is horrible. This is all so unnecessary when half these people can just stay home.

No one is taking Metro, yet it has never been so accessible.

Metro is miserable and unsafe. No thanks.

I've always lived on the Red Line, and during standard commute times, it's always been fine. I know plenty of well-paid Bethesda executives who find it easier to commute that way to their plush DC offices, actually.

That only works if you are on the redline or have available metro. Many Amazon buildings are far out VA and not metro accessible.

Anonymous wrote:All of these posters seem to think in-office work is now dysfunctional. Yet, it was the standard/gold standard four years ago. Yes, I understand why people now want to WFH and cut the commute, but why is in-office work now less productive than pre-COVID? Is it just negative employee attitudes? Because, let’s be honest, despite all the claims of people working hard while WFH, we know there’s a lot of goofing off. WFH is like professional welfare - full pay for part-time effort.

The point is Amazon and other companies were work from home long before the pandemic/4 years ago. So, my spouse who has been at Amazon long before the pandemic was always WFH with occasionally going in, maybe once a week, maybe every 2-3 weeks, now has to go in 5 days a week. We cannot move and uproot our kids. We cannot afford to move either. Nor does it make sense. While he's been at Amazon longer than most, its a turn and burn company so moving for Amazon makes no sense for us vs. commuting. Its sad as its been overall ok for us, great supervisor right now and don't want to leave. My husband doesn't goof off, nor does most of his team. Amazon can easily track when you are working and they are know to let go of people goofing off so that's not why.

They want to do layoffs without laying off as they can hire cheaper employees overseas and this way they get rid of people without layoffs. They also get tax breaks for the buildings that are pressuring people to come back for the business, especially for lunch (we will be packing lunch).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The roads are so clogged now. Traffic is horrible. This is all so unnecessary when half these people can just stay home.

No one is taking Metro, yet it has never been so accessible.

Metro is miserable and unsafe. No thanks.

I've always lived on the Red Line, and during standard commute times, it's always been fine. I know plenty of well-paid Bethesda executives who find it easier to commute that way to their plush DC offices, actually.

Anonymous wrote:All of these posters seem to think in-office work is now dysfunctional. Yet, it was the standard/gold standard four years ago. Yes, I understand why people now want to WFH and cut the commute, but why is in-office work now less productive than pre-COVID? Is it just negative employee attitudes? Because, let’s be honest, despite all the claims of people working hard while WFH, we know there’s a lot of goofing off. WFH is like professional welfare - full pay for part-time effort.

Agreed, I’m always the naysayer in these conversations but I feel like my team gets a lot more done in person together and we also pick up on more of the social cues in communication. My commute is definitely a negative but I so much prefer our RTO and am hoping everyone else acclimates soon.

All of these posters seem to think in-office work is now dysfunctional. Yet, it was the standard/gold standard four years ago. Yes, I understand why people now want to WFH and cut the commute, but why is in-office work now less productive than pre-COVID? Is it just negative employee attitudes? Because, let’s be honest, despite all the claims of people working hard while WFH, we know there’s a lot of goofing off. WFH is like professional welfare - full pay for part-time effort.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand how much longer this can go on. Commuting to sit on Teams calls all day with people in other cities is ridiculous. If they want us in the office they should take away video conferencing and Teams messaging capabilities.

Exactly except many teams don't work in the same building nor is there space for everyone to sit together. THey are still doing hot desks in some buildings.

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:The funny thing about RTO was my husband was work from home long before covid and its really unfair to now mandate it after the original agreement before covid policies was work from home. We are 60-90 minutes from the office. Metro would be even longer when you factor in driving to the metro, parking, metro, 2 busses to the office.

Collaborating is ironic as they don't work in the same offices or even countries so they will still do it online or by phone and they don't have enough desk space for everyone to sit together. We are half joking about buying a portable desk and chair because there are no assigned desks and not enough space so to drive out an hour or more to sit on the floor is absurd.

This is my office too. I think it is all about optics. My new employee works in Utah. It is easier for me to interact with him when I am home so I do not bother those around me. We used to go in 1 day a week. Now it is 50%..and no we do not have assigned desks. Even if a team member and I are in on the same day we might be sitting on different floors and never see each other. I will retire earlier for sure.

This is what they want. Its for layoffs without saying layoffs. My husband's supervisor lives on the other side of the country, many co-workers are all over the world.

This. That’s how you get rid of parents with younger children, older people, etc. Basically anyone who can’t give 12 hrs/day to their workplace.

A lot of these people already are working 10-12 hour a day at home. So, if anything they will be working less. You either give those two hours to working or commuting.

I don’t understand how much longer this can go on. Commuting to sit on Teams calls all day with people in other cities is ridiculous. If they want us in the office they should take away video conferencing and Teams messaging capabilities.

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The funny thing about RTO was my husband was work from home long before covid and its really unfair to now mandate it after the original agreement before covid policies was work from home. We are 60-90 minutes from the office. Metro would be even longer when you factor in driving to the metro, parking, metro, 2 busses to the office.

Collaborating is ironic as they don't work in the same offices or even countries so they will still do it online or by phone and they don't have enough desk space for everyone to sit together. We are half joking about buying a portable desk and chair because there are no assigned desks and not enough space so to drive out an hour or more to sit on the floor is absurd.[/quote]

This is my office too. I think it is all about optics. My new employee works in Utah. It is easier for me to interact with him when I am home so I do not bother those around me. We used to go in 1 day a week. Now it is 50%..and no we do not have assigned desks. Even if a team member and I are in on the same day we might be sitting on different floors and never see each other. I will retire earlier for sure.[/quote]

This is what they want. [b]Its for layoffs without saying layoffs.[/b] My husband's supervisor lives on the other side of the country, many co-workers are all over the world.[/quote]

This. That’s how you get rid of parents with younger children, older people, etc. Basically anyone who can’t give 12 hrs/day to their workplace.[/quote]

Another Amazonian here. Two people on my team recently left. One moved to a company with full time WFH because he was hired out of Chicago suburbs and is not interested in relocating to NOVA. The other has two young kids and cannot logistically handle the daily commute and in person 9-5 without big changes to her lifestyle. Several people on my team are actively looking. If the goal is reducing headcount they will achieve it. Though it’s a little hard for me to believe they’re willing to risk losing over half the team who would have to relocate from another state.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The funny thing about RTO was my husband was work from home long before covid and its really unfair to now mandate it after the original agreement before covid policies was work from home. We are 60-90 minutes from the office. Metro would be even longer when you factor in driving to the metro, parking, metro, 2 busses to the office.

Collaborating is ironic as they don't work in the same offices or even countries so they will still do it online or by phone and they don't have enough desk space for everyone to sit together. We are half joking about buying a portable desk and chair because there are no assigned desks and not enough space so to drive out an hour or more to sit on the floor is absurd.

This is my office too. I think it is all about optics. My new employee works in Utah. It is easier for me to interact with him when I am home so I do not bother those around me. We used to go in 1 day a week. Now it is 50%..and no we do not have assigned desks. Even if a team member and I are in on the same day we might be sitting on different floors and never see each other. I will retire earlier for sure.

This is what they want. Its for layoffs without saying layoffs. My husband's supervisor lives on the other side of the country, many co-workers are all over the world.

This. That’s how you get rid of parents with younger children, older people, etc. Basically anyone who can’t give 12 hrs/day to their workplace.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The roads are so clogged now. Traffic is horrible. This is all so unnecessary when half these people can just stay home.

No one is taking Metro, yet it has never been so accessible.

Metro is miserable and unsafe. No thanks.

It’s safer than driving. I find sitting in traffic a heck of a lot more miserable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The roads are so clogged now. Traffic is horrible. This is all so unnecessary when half these people can just stay home.

No one is taking Metro, yet it has never been so accessible.

What? I use the Red Line 4 days a week to get to and from work. Depending on the time it’s standing room only. And this is with frequent trains. Are you way out on the end of the silver line or something? l find metro a lot more pleasant, safer and cheaper, than driving downtown and parking. I’ve never been injured on metro but I’ve been in a few car accidents.