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I don't mean any disrespect, lot of good thoughts on here, but tbh, this thread is depressing to me. Seems like a whole lot of people are happy sitting by themselves working in isolation. Last thing I think this world needs is lots more people alone staring at a computer screen all day long. Sort of like Napoleon Dynamite on a national or world wide scale.

I think the people who want to be around others will find ways to do it in their PERSONAL lives. Most of us don't need to keep our social skills up by talking to fellow coworkers. I'm able to go to the gym on my lunch and take walks around the neighborhood on breaks. I talk to plenty of people during that time.

I've had staff at my company ask me IT questions while I'm holding my junk in the urinal. I've been bothered on my lunch break. I've even been approached after work hours when I've seen staff members in public.

Now granted, that's a unique employment position. Not everyone's job here is to provide a service to the internal staff. But, that IS part of what I do.. and if I never stepped back in the office, it would be too soon.

I'd rather talk to my mailman than talk to Susan from accounting. Not to mention, we all now have to tip toe around every single thing we say in an office.

No thanks.
 
Yep, all of that. And my own damn bathroom 30 ft away. And I could go there without interruption and have 10 minutes of peace.
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Here's perk #78 of WFH: if you're sick, you don't havs to take a PTO/Sick day like you would if you worked in the office. Just roll out of bed, put on a robe, and sign in.. no need to get dressed, commute in or feel pressured to stay home so you don't infect others. You could also sneak a nap on your lunch break
 
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Here's perk #78 of WFH: if you're sick, you don't havs to take a PTO/Sick day like you would if you worked in the office. Just roll out of bed, put on a robe, and sign in.. no need to get dressed, commute in or feel pressured to stay home so you don't infect others. You could also sneak a nap on your lunch break
But Elon says we’re all inefficient!!!! I mean you can’t be efficient unless we’re all sitting together in one place right? You can’t be efficient unless you completed your long commute to work right?
 
But Elon says we’re all inefficient!!!! I mean you can’t be efficient unless we’re all sitting together in one place right? You can’t be efficient unless you completed your long commute to work right?

Well, there are certainly going to be slackers. That's the problem here. Some workers can do this anywhere.. other workers literally need to have their boss next to them.

Ill tell you this, it's certainly a mix on my team. I have one worker who is probably putting in 5-10 hours a week. One day she told me she went to a double movie during the day. Not much I can do, I'm not her boss. Shockingly, "she" cut off her dick and is basically unfire-able. But that's another story for another day.
 
Well, there are certainly going to be slackers. That's the problem here. Some workers can do this anywhere.. other workers literally need to have their boss next to them.

Ill tell you this, it's certainly a mix on my team. I have one worker who is probably putting in 5-10 hours a week. One day she told me she went to a double movie during the day. Not much I can do, I'm not her boss. Shockingly, "she" cut off her dick and is basically unfire-able. But that's another story for another day.
The same people who are “slacking” during WFH were slacking in the office too. Long lunches, sleeping at their desk pretending to work. It’s a tale as old as time. But now the rest of us can be more efficient since we don’t have those slackers walking by our cubicles 10 times a day telling us dumb stories and complaining about work. No one can justify having to get rid of WFH other than saying stuff that Elon tells them like “the government doesn’t actually do any work” or “it’s more efficient being in the office because I can see you and I’m already paying for this office building anyways”.
 
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I put a link in the first message when I started the thread. Here is another

Musk purchased Twitter in 2022 for $44 Billion. It is now worth around $9 Billion. They have lost almost 100 million active daily users and are barely hanging on to being one of the top 20 most used social media platforms behind several you have never heard of. That is not a model for success. It also doesn't apply to the federal government because is it not a business. Government's job isn't to grow business or to turn a profit. It is there to serve its citizens and trying to make it look more like corporate America is not the way to meet that goal.
They can’t grasp this concept. Twitter is awful now, has been for a long time now. Elon ruined it. He’s a smart guy but Twitter was way better off without him.
 
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The same people who are “slacking” during WFH were slacking in the office too. Long lunches, sleeping at their desk pretending to work. It’s a tale as old as time. But now the rest of us can be more efficient since we don’t have those slackers walking by our cubicles 10 times a day telling us dumb stories and complaining about work. No one can justify having to get rid of WFH other than saying stuff that Elon tells them like “the government doesn’t actually do any work” or “it’s more efficient being in the office because I can see you and I’m already paying for this office building anyways”.

Idk about sleeping at the desk. But yes, that's a fair point. Slackers still find a way to do it at work. I guess the difference there is that slacking at the office is much harder to pull off, and I'd argue that even a slacker still needs to be a little more productive at work.

Also, relax on the Elon hate. Your party was falling over each other to buy his cars before you learned he didn't agree with your politics. It's far from just Elon pushing this.. its 90% of owners, execs and micromanagers across the globe. You guys really have to be a little more discrete when it comes to praising guys like Musk/Zuckerberg one day, and then trying to tell us their idiots the next. To me, they've always been brilliant but psychotic and possibly on the spectrum.. but my thoughts never changed on them because of their politics.
 
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Remote meetings are like a million times better than in-person meetings.

Almost nothing that happens in our work meetings is applicable to me but required to attend. Some people work at satellite clinics so they have to join via Teams. So I just join via Teams and get work done while I have it on in the background instead of wasting my time sitting in a conference room.

And this right here is why returning to the "office" is dumb. 100% of our meetings are via Teams. If we were to go back to the office, where hardly anyone has an actual office with a door that you can close, you wouldn't be able to focus or hear anything in said meetings. Karen and Sally walking up and down the hall behind you talking about their kids, loudly of course. Absolutely nothing that I do has to be done in an office. This "perk" is worth a lot of money, and it's not taxed.

Not to mention, my employer sold a lot of office buildings during COVID. We're never going back and I'm not mad at all.

🤷‍♂️
 
Can’t I just think all three are true?


You sure can. I just think it’s interesting to have someone come in from the outside and say the government is bloated and we’re going to try and make it more efficient. Just can’t recall that happening before and I personally think it’s a noble cause. I’m currently reading a book called the rational optimist and he makes a really compelling argument that humans, left to their own devices, naturally prosper and excel. The main hindrance, and he sites example after example all the way from the stone ages to the Dutch in 1670 to the Ming Dynasty in 1200 to the British Empire in 1950 is monopolies. And the only consistent monopolies we’ve had in our societies are governments. And they consistently lead to the downfall of specific empires/countries when they become too large and bloated.

Interestingly another consistent hindrance to prosperity is tariffs and he sites examples over and over again about those destroying economies. I just think the actual goal of making the government more efficient is a great one, so I’m excited to see it play out. If nothing else it might be eye opening to see just how much government waste there is.
 
The Federal Govt is so big because when our shit stain politicians let jobs go to China, India and Mexico, they needed to find something else for people in America to do at non-3rd world wages.
 
The Federal Govt is so big because when our shit stain politicians let jobs go to China, India and Mexico, they needed to find something else for people in America to do at non-3rd world wages.

Actually in that book I’m reading he does a nice job illustrating how jobs in other countries actually cause both economies to do better. For example the Nike sweatshops in Vietnam actually paid three times the wages that other national Vietnamese factories paid significantly improving the standard of living in Vietnam while allowing Americans to take on other higher paying non factory work resulting in a net positive for both countries. What he refers to as “specialization” among humans and the hallmark of our advancing society and species away from self sufficient hunter gatherers.
 
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Companies already have a good idea on who are the underperforming front line employees. In general, WFH policies have identified poor management moreso than poor front line.
 
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Actually in that book I’m reading he does a nice job illustrating how jobs in other countries actually cause both economies to do better. For example the Nike sweatshops in Vietnam actually paid three times the wages that other national Vietnamese factories paid significantly improving the standard of living in Vietnam while allowing Americans to take on other higher paying non factory work resulting in a net positive for both countries. What he refers to as “specialization” among humans and the hallmark of our advancing society and species away from self sufficient hunter gatherers.
That's the David Ricardo theory which has been gospel in econ professor circles. It's bullshit in the age we're in - especially in regards with China and India.

We are moving engineering and super high tech jobs to China and India. It is freeing our people up to work in pot dispensaries.
 
That's the David Ricardo theory which has been gospel in econ professor circles. It's bullshit in the age we're in - especially in regards with China and India.

We are moving engineering and super high tech jobs to China and India. It is freeing our people up to work in pot dispensaries.

I mean it’s based on thousands of years of examples and evidence. Literally since the stone ages. Just countless and countless examples. Humans, left on their own devices without oppressive governments, naturally find ways to keep getting more efficient and improving. You’re saying only now we have high tech jobs but in 300 AD the glass makers in Italy were considered extremely high tech trading with silk makers in China. I mean maybe 2025 is different from anytime from 10,000 BC to now but I doubt it.
 
I put a link in the first message when I started the thread. Here is another

Musk purchased Twitter in 2022 for $44 Billion. It is now worth around $9 Billion. They have lost almost 100 million active daily users and are barely hanging on to being one of the top 20 most used social media platforms behind several you have never heard of. That is not a model for success. It also doesn't apply to the federal government because is it not a business. Government's job isn't to grow business or to turn a profit. It is there to serve its citizens and trying to make it look more like corporate America is not the way to meet that goal.

That makes no sense. Has Musk done secondaries at $9 billion? Trump launched a shitcoin last night worth over $9 billion now.

Musk buying X may lead to a trillion dollars of wealth to him alone when you look at what he’s accomplished.

Running government like a business, not like a parasite with a bottomless budget is the way to serve the citizenry.
 
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