EA is reportedly ending full remote work, mandating return to office 3 days per week
- Thread starter DonkeyPunchJr
- Start date
- News Drama Rumor
Felessan
Member
My company did analysis during covid how work from home affect productivity and it was a drop of 30% on average (it's a big bank with tens of thousands jobs across different fields). Majority of people feels relaxed when no one watching them.
Problem is that you need to replace a lot of people and majority of workforce on the market has same issue - they work better in the office than from home.
It might work for smaller companies who handpick individuals but it's very hard for big corporations.
BbMajor7th
Member
Of course not. Simple narratives only, please.
Felessan
Member
They can be failed and if half of company fail their KPI due to WFH what would you do as CEO?
Shifty1897
Member
I hear that kind of sentiment a lot, especially in the South. I chalk it up to raw, red-hot, blind jealousy. I've been called a lot of things but no one has ever called me lazy at work.
Even my in laws were talking shit about remote work and when I called them out on it then suddenly I was the exception because of the nature of my job. Okay
Zathalus
Member
I'd probably stop WFH. But half of your company doesn't suddenly stop meeting KPIs overnight, especially if they are tied into increases, promotions, and bonuses. Hell, you can have WFH reserved as an incentive for those that achieve and blow past all KPIs.
MMaRsu
Member
Or just you
Majukun
Member
This guy gets it
Felessan
Member
As someone who deal with KPI regularly
You manipulate, stretch things, push less important pieces forward to report KPI success. And then negotiate reduced KPI for the next year. It's how "failing KPI" looks in practice - you do it in a way to not affect benefits but everyone sensible understands what's really goes on.
And you as CEO will see that your team just can't commit for the same amount of work and want it reduced, and you understand a reason.
I don't say WFH doesn't work at all, we have some WFH policies, even fulltime WFH cases, but it's case by case basis and not blanket allowance.
RJMacready73
Simps for Amouranth
I WFH once a week, i couldn't do any more, too easy access to food being one, my wife constantly shoving her tits into the back of my head when she walks past is another, too many distractions, dog wants to play, wife wants to play, i want to play but i need to be here for those random ass calls from my boss as i expect my team to answer my random ass teams calls when i call em
PatientGamer
Member
People can laugh all they want, but commuting to an office and working in person, when one can do their job at home, has to be one of the most unproductive waste of time for humanity.
For people who lack self-control, discipline and need to have their hand held 24/7, remote work is impossible for them.
But for folk who are self-directed, it's a godsend. I've been working remotely since 2015 and I'm 10x more productive vs. in-office.
Both in terms of outcomes achieved, but also raw output. You can't complete even 50% of what the average async, remote worker does in a day, if you work in-person. It's impossible.
The two are not even comparable.
It's interesting though, those who are anti-remote work tend to fall into two camps:
1) Those who can't concentrate at home for whatever reason - usually legit reasons like not having a dedicated office, children running amok, in abusive relationships etc
2) Dinosaurs who like to monitor and control their employees.
When the next pandemic hits, we'll all be working remotely again.
But anyway, EA can do what they like - they need to justify those office spaces somehow...
For people who lack self-control, discipline and need to have their hand held 24/7, remote work is impossible for them.
But for folk who are self-directed, it's a godsend. I've been working remotely since 2015 and I'm 10x more productive vs. in-office.
Both in terms of outcomes achieved, but also raw output. You can't complete even 50% of what the average async, remote worker does in a day, if you work in-person. It's impossible.
The two are not even comparable.
It's interesting though, those who are anti-remote work tend to fall into two camps:
1) Those who can't concentrate at home for whatever reason - usually legit reasons like not having a dedicated office, children running amok, in abusive relationships etc
2) Dinosaurs who like to monitor and control their employees.
When the next pandemic hits, we'll all be working remotely again.
But anyway, EA can do what they like - they need to justify those office spaces somehow...
BbMajor7th
Member
We're forced into the office for week-long in-person events a few times a year, and I've never seen company productivity nuked into the ground more thoroughly. I've started putting in extra hours the week ahead of these now, because I know I'll come back to bedlam if I don't. On an average office day, I've probably slept less, ate worse, been surrounded all-day by dozens of other people chit-chatting or taking calls, sunk a few more beers than I should have after hours and probably caught whatever seasonal bug is going around.
The only thing that fell of a cliff after remote working was sick leave. I catch far fewer bugs and the ones I do catch, unless they're absolutely brutal, I just take as 'light days', where I stay on top of my emails, but cancel any unnecessary meetings and take a nap in the afternoon if I'm feeling rough.
Last edited:
daninthemix
Member
It's not about laughing, it's about - for whatever reason - the demographic of this site is largely not working from home, and as a result is hostile to WFH (aka if I'm not allowed to then nobody else should be syndrome)
mopspear
Member
Me and my wife are coders and work from home. You throw away a significant portion of your life driving to and from work. If you live in the US in a place without reasonable public transportation (most of the country) you are incredibly reliant on a car that will have problems. If work can be done reasonably well at home, then I shouldn't have to go in to an office. I'm not giving up that much extra time in my life (and stress being worried about if my car works). A lot of jobs can't be done from home, but luckily ours can be and if I'm forced to go into an office, I will do a different job.
CuteFaceJay
Member
Unlucky, Sounds like the higher ups trying their best to justify the lease on the office space. Imagine needing to commute into an office for dog shit pay.
Last edited:
poppabk
Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
I think a dedicated office is a big part of this. Just working on a laptop sitting on the couch isnt going to cut it. I know when hiring for remote positions they will sometimes have you give a quick tour of your workspace.
Upper_Management
Member
How dare you bring a sense of a competent reply about remote work. Such an opinion is foolish and all remote work is the devil you lazy slob!
In all seriousness, the absolute melts in this thread that have zero idea that remote work can be done highly proficient and reliably is mental. Most of the mob sits around gooning to pictures of moms thinking that if they can't work remote then nobody can.
CuteFaceJay
Member
Beats trying to figure out how you'll bankroll lunch out everyday, Heck The amount of money saved working from home is nice because that shit will compound year over year.
ResurrectedContrarian
Suffers with mild autism
That roughly describes my own work, which is for an international tech company -- and indeed I spread some things across the day due to timezones.
Xaeroxcore666
Member
Same and thanks to that i work with a US located company being in Colombia. But what some folks say on thread it´s true, remote work isnt equally beneficial for all kind of bussiness.
Last edited:
rm082e
Member
I've been working from home full time since March of 2020. I've worked for the same small niche software business for 18 years. Our leadership was very open-minded when the pandemic hit and decided to see how it would work out.
We actually increased overall productivity by about 10%.
Our team was happier not having to commute.
We're cloud based software, so the office was a formality and tradition more than a logistical need.
I'm saving money via mileage on my car and not having to buy work clothes.
I can also manage my time better by slotting in house chores when I have downtime.
It's been a huge benefit for our team. I get that there are some lazy people who will game the system and not do their work, so it's a bigger problem in larger organizations. As a small business, we just got rid of the few people who tried that stuff and the people who remain are the people who can be disciplined and manage themselves.
We actually increased overall productivity by about 10%.
Our team was happier not having to commute.
We're cloud based software, so the office was a formality and tradition more than a logistical need.
I'm saving money via mileage on my car and not having to buy work clothes.
I can also manage my time better by slotting in house chores when I have downtime.
It's been a huge benefit for our team. I get that there are some lazy people who will game the system and not do their work, so it's a bigger problem in larger organizations. As a small business, we just got rid of the few people who tried that stuff and the people who remain are the people who can be disciplined and manage themselves.
CuteFaceJay
Member
I know that in the UK Government grants were set up for businesses to pull people back in because simply put they really don't want local businesses going under because people aren't walking the streets buying shit (No doubt to try and hide the fact the money supply was diluted very badly thus inflation). Mine was one of them where after "COVID" they were bribing folks to come into the office for a few grand upfront. Most of the folks I worked with were hurting or mistakenly got their girlfriends pregnant so they took it.
End of the day it's all wage slavery in order to pay for a roof over your head until you die.
The artful mincer
Member
As someone who has a job where it's impossible to work from home.
I wish more people did then there would be less traffic in the morning.
I wish more people did then there would be less traffic in the morning.
I bet you've been bopping the baloney at work too buddy.
PurePlatinum
Member
This is such a nothing story. They are going to 3-days in office AKA a 3 day work week. Five years ago everyone nationwide was 5 days a week. You're not dying in a fucking salt mine ur programming software.
You should consider it a blessing that your company is letting you do 2 WFH days.
I work from home three days a week and it's a fucking joke. It's a cakewalk. I play games all goddamn day and only pause to take meetings and update things quickly.
You should consider it a blessing that your company is letting you do 2 WFH days.
I work from home three days a week and it's a fucking joke. It's a cakewalk. I play games all goddamn day and only pause to take meetings and update things quickly.
BacklashWave534
Member
Agreed. The people complaining are probably living in thier parents basement and working at Taco Bell. Remote work is great for employee retention but should be reserved for your proven and best workers.
MonkD
Member
That is fair and can be tied to insurance.
But we'll be seeing back to office in a couple of waves. You are either under performing or have an expensive/large office space. But the increased popularity of free seating is also a double eged sword. It's easier to justify the office space if anyone can utilize it. But if you're going to the office and not sitting close to your colleagues it's a waste of time.