The "Re-Opening" the Economy Thread

[NoCalMike]

I do wonder when it comes to working at home, with a lot of companies allowing a large % of their workforce to potentially keep doing it permanently, how will effect some local economies who probably make a ton of money in their downtown areas during the lunch rush due to all the foot traffic that will now be absent.  I assume there will either be a huge rise in food delivery services being used during the day or people will simply just start grocery shopping ahead for their weekday lunch items.  I know here in Sacramento the downtown/midtown area is dominated by so many state & fed gov't jobs that if a significant number of people get to remain working at home I am not sure what the long term effects will be.  Most of these people don't live in the same area so once they would go home for the day they would not be coming back for dinner outings preferring to find a place in whatever their suburb area was.

 

The assumption of "going back to normal" is still speculative at this point.   Not everything about 2019's normal should be returned to necessarily. 

Edited May 14, 2021 by NoCalMike

[tshile]

You know, I thought this would revolutionize working. Cause once people figured out you *can* do this, they’d rethink what they’re spending money on in regards to an office. 
 

but, even before the cdc announcement yesterday, most of my clients had vocalized in the last 3 weeks that they were working on shifting back to in office full time

 

so, I don’t know how much of a long term change were actually going to see. It’s easy to say things in theory it’s different when you can actually make decisions about it all. 
 

I personally prefer a balance. I like working from home but I also like some of the aspects of going into work. 
 

one of them, at the top of the list, right now, is just a desire to have normal routines again. 
 

like I just want to go to my office and sit at my desk for a whole day. Cause I haven’t done that since March 2020. I haven’t sat at my desk for a minute since then. 
 

I’m trying to get somewhere around 50/50. I can go run 2 miles and shower and eat during my lunch break at home. I cannot do that in the office. 

[NoCalMike]

2 minutes ago, tshile said:

You know, I thought this would revolutionize working. Cause once people figured out you *can* do this, they’d rethink what they’re spending money on in regards to an office. 
 

but, even before the cdc announcement yesterday, most of my clients had vocalized in the last 3 weeks that they were working on shifting back to in office full time

 

so, I don’t know how much of a long term change were actually going to see. It’s easy to say things in theory it’s different when you can actually make decisions about it all. 

 

Well I know for me I am likely going to have to look for a new job once the employer I work for decides to open the office back up.  I took a remote job of a big company, but the specific office I work for is a good 45+ commute (any kind of traffic would add to it) each way and for what I am being paid there is just no way I can justify adding at least 2hrs to the work day simply driving back and forth not to mention I will have kids in school in the late summer/fall and I don't like the idea of being that far away should emergency situations come up randomly.  When I took the job (went through an employment agency) they said the office was not planning on re-opening through 2021, but who knows, those kinds of decisions change all the time and with vaccination rates ahead of schedule here in CA, I could see it happening sooner or at least the announcement itself rolling out sooner to get people to start preparing. 

[Larry]

Oh no doubt that this disruption is going to have lingering effects. 
 

It's kind of like the disease, that way.  

 

I bet it kills off a lot of brick and mortar retail that's been using Amazon the last year. 

[tshile]

Yeah and like I said it’s easy for people to say whatever when they don’t actually have a decision to make. 
 

kind of like voting - people have a luxury of saying whatever they want in June, but what really matters is what decision making process is when you’re standing in the booth in November. 
 

im already seeing it. Months ago people were hedging in the whole thing - maybe this maybe that. Now that the cdc has essentially cleared the way for an employer to demand employees back in the office? Well, I bet we see a lot of employers demand employees back in the office. 

[Fergasun]

@tshile

I look at my cubicle and think "why?".  There's a generation gap where I work and sadly to me, it is the older folks who are making the calls to bring people in.

 

We just demonstrated really 95% effectivness at max telework in my group.  We shouldn't feel penalized just because other groups were less effective and furthermore if my manager or his boss felt we were missing something from not seeing each other, they should have worked to augment it.  

 

Everyone had their own nice window office.  Some of us even had positive relationships with our families.  I could do without seeing 90% of the goombas I don't directly work with, saving my round trip commute time, etc.  

 

We forgot the dumb things about being in the office such as no meeting spaces, "junior high environment" level gossipping, the random high-level-manager who comes and assigns you to some team without going thru your supervisor.  I think some of them conflate mild bullying behavior as mentoring.  I bet our harrassment complaints are the lowest ever.

I forgot to add above.  Our office policy is "up to 50%" back in the office, but bosses boss is taking that to mean "50% back in the office"... 

 

I see that as being the line.  In reality I probably will have to be in the office that much (I was in at least 1 day most weeks)... but they are too eager to even acknowledge enjoying the perk.  In fact they admit they hate telework.... so allowing 50% is a "give".  

[tshile]

I agree. 
 

part of it is control freakishness. How can you be satisfied if you can’t just walk around the office seeing everyone work?

 

part of it is just stubborn people being stubborn. They cannot accept change of any kind. 
 

and part of it is that some people are successful at working from home but many arent. They just aren’t. They can’t handle their own technological environment. IT costs are up for all my clients because people have ****ty internet, can’t figure out how to connect Bluetooth headsets, and/or have a ****ty computer. 
 

but also some people just don’t work as hard. They just don’t. I remember the first 2-3 weeks when no one knew how long this would drag out (most of us viewed it as temporary). People were worki in their house. There were articles about the floods of people going to Home Depot. 
 

me? I was stressed the **** out working super long days and dealing with two children because my wife essentially lived in covid land 24/7 for about 10 months (healthcare industry) 

 

but tons of people took it as an adult version of a 3 week long snow day. 
 

So, for a lot of people complaining, the real answer is they sucked at working from home and now employers feel confident demanding them back in the office. 
 

The answer to most “why can’t we have this nice thing?” Questions is that people suck and ruin it for the rest of us. 

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

My group has demonstrated the ability to do more work, at a higher level, than any time in their 10 year history —- with 100% telework.

 

The only argument is the ‘comraderie’ and ‘culture’ from being in person.  Perhaps that floats their boat, but not mine.  My happiness comes from zero commute and zero gas money.  It severely outweighs any benefit of working in the office.  I’m taking the my way or the highway approach on this.  I’m willing to do one or two days in the office maximum.  If not accepted, I’ll be finding a job that offers that, which will most likely pay me more money anyways.

Edited May 14, 2021 by BatteredFanSyndrome

[Cooked Crack]

 

[Larry]

5 minutes ago, Cooked Crack said:

 

Nope. It's simple:  The folks refusing vaccines won. 
 

Because we all know, the rule isn't going to be "no restrictions if you're vaccinated". It's going to be "no restrictions on anybody". 
 

"If vaccinated" is just political cover. 

Edited May 14, 2021 by Larry

[Cooked Crack]

 

2 minutes ago, Larry said:

Nope. It's simple:  The folks refusing vaccines won. 

Until they get covid and it still call it a hoax.

Edited May 14, 2021 by Cooked Crack

[Cooked Crack]

9 minutes ago, Larry said:

"If vaccinated" is just political cover. 

Yep, those are weasel words. No way to check that and the folks who can like Walmart for employees won't.

[Springfield]

We did it!

 

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED 

[CousinsCowgirl84]

I’m not really sure if i want to go maskless or not...

Edited May 14, 2021 by CousinsCowgirl84

[Cooked Crack]

Still not a fan of not tying this to a population percentage. What about all the people who are now eligible to get vaccines? Just going to the pharmacy to get your first dose might increase the risk of getting covid.

 

[Simmsy]

1. I need to get vaccinated, ASAP! I went in the store today and a lot of people weren't wearing masks. Some of the people looked like the vaxxer type, but most of them had that anti-vaxxer look about them...you know what I mean.

 

2. I did some at home work at my last job and I really liked it a lot. I wake up at the ass crack of dawn anyways, so why not get started early when I wake up? At 9am when everyone else was still getting into the office, I had done enough for the day that I could kinda relax and work with all deliberate speed for the rest of the day. Personally, I could kinda see how certain people wouldn't be as productive working at home, but it isn't a noticeable difference for most people.

[bearrock]

In my experience, employees who are great in the office are great at home and vice versa for people who suck in the office.  For those good employees, working from home has been less disruptive with life events because they can and almost always do manage their time to address life/work events.  We'll have to see how things might change once everything is fully open, but I honestly would not mind never seeing all of them face to face again (also given my illness free past year, I suspect all of you people are walking germ bombs).

[visionary]

 

[NoCalMike]

Well for the job I took specifically one of the big issues is that because of the cluster-f that went down last year, they (and I imagine many) were not prepared for how to train new employees once they had to start hiring again.  When I started this job at the end of 2020 I swear for the first month or so I watched power points and would get sporadic web-ex demonstrations.  None of it was really confusing as far as the principles of that we were doing since I have a background in this line of work, however trying to learn a new companies systems, especially one that seems to be a lot more manual in how they process and generate things was an absolute nightmare and luckily they acknowledged it pretty quick on their side and said just try to do the best you can no harm no foul, ask a ton of questions and get assistance whenever available.  I imagine it might not be like that for everyone at every company though.

[Going Commando]

5 hours ago, Larry said:

Nope. It's simple:  The folks refusing vaccines won. 
 

Because we all know, the rule isn't going to be "no restrictions if you're vaccinated". It's going to be "no restrictions on anybody". 
 

"If vaccinated" is just political cover. 

 

Nah, the only thing they might win is a course of disease.  Vaccinated people aren't transmitting the disease any more.  Dropping mandates is partially a prod to get people sitting the fence on the vaccine to go ahead and do it, but mainly a recognition that it's unnecessary for vaccinated people to continue catering to the willfully unvaccinated.  I feel sorry for the people who want to get vaccinated but can't, but my guess is most willfully unvaccinated weren't following distancing or mask mandates either.

[Warhead36]

The people who aren't vaccinated are the ones going maskless anyway so its kinda all a moot point. I've gotten used to wearing masks in public and honestly in the winter I might do it again even without a pandemic. It was nice not catching a single cold this year.

[Larry]

5 minutes ago, Warhead36 said:

The people who aren't vaccinated are the ones going maskless anyway so its kinda all a moot point. I've gotten used to wearing masks in public and honestly in the winter I might do it again even without a pandemic. It was nice not catching a single cold this year.

 

I've read that last year's flu season was 1/1,000 of normal.  Makes you think.  

 

Well, it makes some people think.  

 

[PleaseBlitz]

36 minutes ago, Warhead36 said:

The people who aren't vaccinated are the ones going maskless anyway so its kinda all a moot point. I've gotten used to wearing masks in public and honestly in the winter I might do it again even without a pandemic. It was nice not catching a single cold this year.

Same. 
 

Unrelated, my kid’s jiu jitsu class has gone from 5 kids  to 18 in the last 2 weeks, so it seems like people are getting pretty comfortable. 

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

I’m out and about with my wife, in Hagerstown, MD - which isn’t exactly the beacon of public health.  To my knowledge Hogan hasn’t removed the requirement for masks indoors, and I’d say it’s roughly 50/50 on wearing masks.  Vs. 85-90% the last time I took her shopping here before Christmas.

 

 

[bearrock]

The sad part is that if these selfish asses had taken the vaccine, we could achieve herd immunity even before vaccinating the kids and be back to full normal by now.  Let the antivaxxers go around without masks.  Could not care less about what happens to them at this point.