Sounds to me like the Sauerkrauts need a reminder of who usually ends up playing the Designated Bitch in international conflicts involving Germany...
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>YOU IDIOTS! I WROTE 1984 AS A WARNING, NOT A HOW-TO MANUAL!--Orwell's ghost
Psalms 109:8, 43:1
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This is essential double taxation. MGMT across all industries are talking about the new work from home economy, and extolling the virtues of allowing people to live the lives they want to live, without relocating. This is essentially double speak for reducing the bottom line in payroll and consequently increasing the bottom line in net profit. In other words, hiring Grade A talent costs Silicon Valley tons of money in relocation benefits, area specific fair compensation (last time I checked, Bay Area poverty level for a family of four is $114k-ish/yr) plus all the costs of on site massage, gym facilities, other enticing benefits, and annoying things like stocking pantries and cafeterias and building maintenance at union wage grades since people need to eat and use the restroom every so often, and people need people to provide these things for them. Not to mention keeping large hordes of HR and mgmt on site for people related issues. Work from home is the panacea for greatly minimizing these costs. So, now, Johnny Rocket software engineer can stay in his locale in low rent Mid West WITHOUT needing the relocation, Bay Area wage, on site cafeteria, stress relieving massage, or place to park/charge his EV. He can do all these things from the comfort of his own home, at an out of pocket expense much, much lower than what it would take in high rent districts. Consequently, the wiz kid no longer can justify demanding the $150k/yr starting salary and the untold tens of thousands in other costs in aforementioned benefits. This is assuming WFH keeps domestic employees on the payroll. I am not even touching the idea of globalizing the work force, ie, WFHing 3rd world talent at slave wages.
All this on top of a snarky article I read last summer justifying "making the great move" to Silicon Valley for the "Big Job". Ahh, the sweet hubris of the jaded life, pre-COVID NWO tyranny....glad I did not make that move....
Yeah, the companies will save huge amounts on all the cost-center stuff like office rent, maintenance, lights and heat or a/c, janitorial, etc. etc. All the overhead that is unavoidable - or was - but doesn't make any money.
That's one side. The other wide is that all the WFH employees now need a decent home office setup, which may mean more square footage in their house or apartment, they need reliable high-speed internet that isn't metered*, they will be spending more on their own heat and a/c, bathroom supplies, etc. Many companies offer free or dirt cheap coffee and snacks, some have free cafeterias, that's all gone too and the WFH employee will may to spend more on food than before (although same or less if their company didn't do those things).
*unmetered high speed is the norm for many people, but 20-30% of the country doesn't have real access to it, especially in rural areas.
Really, this is potentially a huge transfer of costs away from employers and onto employees. Yay serfdom.
My company is completely restructuring all of our real estate worldwide. (Fortune 100 IT)
Fewer sites, completely different layouts, in many places different locations.
And we were already largely flexible office without permanent seat assignments.
Company future plans are 100% virtual workplace *capable*. No more desktops, and with mobile infrastructure sized to handle the entire company.
My daughter is hanging with us working from home during covid and she's also totally teleconferencing. Video conferencing all day long.
Luckily I have fast and unmetered internet, but I did upgrade and gave her her own access point.
it does shift costs onto the employees, but there's a trade-off in commuting, wardrobe, and meal costs.
This video explains it in a simple, fun way that even the kids can understand.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LO2eh6f5Go0
Philippians 2:10-11
To argue with a person who renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead. ~ Thomas Paine
“The greatest conspiracy theory is the notion that your government cares about you”- unknown.
It's already happening, rents are down significantly in New York, San Francisco, and similar.
I just read an article that over 300,000 left New York City in the last month or two, enough that it's really got eyebrows up
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