May 13, 2021

"Those who are least engaged are very comfortable working from home. Those who are überly engaged with the company want to go to the office two-thirds of the time, at least."

Said Sandeep Mathrani, the C.E.O. of WeWork, quoted in "WeWork’s C.E.O. says ‘least engaged’ employees enjoy working from home" (NYT).

So even the "überly engaged" only want to go in 2/3 of the time?

Having people show up at the office is a good way to test dedication — make sure you've got the right kind of people working for you. Not these balky people — people with a life of their own, working intermittently — efficiently — and doing what-all with their extra time. In the office, claiming any time of your own takes craft and stealthiness. I mean how often do you have sex or take a nap or whatever? If you're really "engaged" with your work, you just lock in and go like a machine, until 8, 10, 12 hours fly by. Obviously, the boss wants the engaged worker, and don't you want to be one too? Don't you want the non-engaged gone from your workplace? Another way to phrase that is: Would you hire yourself?

2 comments:

Ann Althouse said...

Tom T writes: “ There's a lot to unpack in the comment from the WeWork guy. His business is selling office space, so obviously he wants to push the idea that good workers shouldn't want to work from home. However, to be more specific, he sells temporary off-site office space for low-level employees, so to the extent he's trying to portray the office as a place where management and workers mingle and creatively share ideas and demonstrate dedication, that's an illusion.”

Ann Althouse said...

K writes “Working from home you need fewer expensive, "office" outfits, less hairstyling and less money for lunch. Sports aren't needed for aimless conversations with random colleagues. You have no long hellish, gas-guzzling commute. Home-schooling is more possible. But office politicking - how is that to be done from a distance? Will those in the office get the good assignments and the promotions? Probably. Will this one factor overide everything else and make people go back to the office? Or will a sort of Hunger Games dynamic develop as Elsewhere and the Office Place become more and more separate and not equal. Will there be a Rising and a Reckoning? Or will the Office Places just quietly collapse while everyone goes into the country as some say happened during the fall of the Roman Empire? ”