Is Remote Work a Liability? Why Some Companies Think So | WSJ Your Money Briefing

After embracing remote and hybrid work schedules, some companies now find flexible work schedules as cutting down on productivity.
WSJ ‘On the Clock’ columnist Callum Borchers joins host J.R. Whalen with more.
0:00 How the hybrid work schedule has become popular since the pandemic
1:00 Why are companies shifting their attitudes towards hybrid work?
2:01 Examples of company leaders changing their thoughts on hybrid work
3:56 Are fewer companies recruiting remote workers?
4:57 Could it be a challenge to get workers to come into the office during summer months?
5:58 How companies are navigating personal finance benefits to working from home
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#RemoteWork #Hybrid #WSJ

[@sexygeek8996]

Companies want employees in the office so they can be watched. For employees, it is a pay cut because they have to pay the costs of commuting and they don't get paid for the extra time.

[@mikkokivisto4414]

Watched as in prisoners.

[@nottheone582]

Commuting is a form of wage theft

[@Anthony-dj4nd]

Can't put a price on peace of mind🥳

[@eloneatmyshorts]

@@mikkokivisto4414 🤣

[@samsantra]

I will take a pay cut for a remote job than come to office.

[@speedracer9132]

Tell me out of touch boomers wrote this without telling me

[@txbre8758]

we aren’t coming back to your commercial leases so blackrock can fund it’s rich people fund.

[@ingislakur]

so you are fired I guess

[@MM-px1gy]

@@ingislakur or rather they will find a new job that values freedom and respecting their employees over trying to put them in a cage

[@ingislakur]

@@MM-px1gy as in the video, its not as easy as it used to be

[@frostydog860]

I am far more productive at home than at the office. I can focus for long periods of time on my work at home because I don’t have people tapping my shoulder every 20 min, or asking me a “quick question”. So no, I will not be returning to the office anytime soon.

[@blablup1214]

I am not more productive at home than in the office. But if you just care about productivity. There is no difference between all those shitty useless meeting and chilling at home 😆

[@SDGreg]

My employer has reduced our office space. Not everyone could come into the office even if leadership wanted.

[@alimfuzzy]

If you can't trust your employees it's because of bad management.

[@homewall744]

Only in that they hired untrustworthy employees.

[@kalekas6332]

@@homewall744 can’t trust your employees if you never tried to trust them.

[@airportexpert4799]

It’s a liability to the commercial real estate sector

[@nottheone582]

Thissss

[@PSM5550]

Not my problem. My life shouldn’t be impacted by the needs of the commercial real estate sector

[@nadeemsmarty]

​@@PSM5550 you are right but they are going to push the narrative down our throats. 😢

[@K4R3N]

1. I rarely go to the office, no one else goes anyway. Need critical mass 2. When I do go occasionally I only socialize, I barely do any work in the office. Why would I ignore bonding with my teammates for "heads down" work I can do alone at home? 3. When I do rarely go in, I commute mid-morning to avoid rush hour and I leave early before 3p to avoid rush hour.

[@Goyanks28]

All these companies that had record profits in 2020 and 2021 weren’t complaining about remote work but now it’s a problem?

[@K4R3N]

Yeah when central banks kept the loose monetary policy during COVID they made tons of money. Now the US Fed and other central banks have raised rates to fight inflation, dried up the money supply and (shock) those profits went away! Companies just using remote work as a scapegoat. It's just a normal business cycle. Happens every 7-10 years

[@matthewb.7172]

They’re STILL raking in record profits

[@matthewb.7172]

@@K4R3Nthat’s just factually not true. Despite the rising inflation, companies are raking in record profits because they can pass the increased costs onto consumers. There's no competition to drive down prices, so they get away with it.

[@K4R3N]

@@matthewb.7172 well some companies have already died in this higher interest rate environment. They were very dependent on debt markets and now those taps have turned off.

[@matthewb.7172]

​@@K4R3N True, I'll give you that.

[@hdjdnr9199]

Cringe. Employees don’t work harder in office, they just have to spend more time pretending they’re not checking their phone, wasting everyone’s time.

[@brandonlheath]

I work in accounting. The fact that there are CEO’s who are dumb enough to judge my productivity based on sales is baffling .

[@jameslatief1]

Some tech companies are trying to cut cost and doing the opposite, turning hybrid back to remote. The bosses that aren't uncomfortable with it are just a vocal minority.

[@sexygeek8996]

Middle managers are uncomfortable with remote work because it will expose the fact that they are not needed.

[@nottheone582]

They are certainly vocal! If I read one more benioff RTO thoughtpiece i might throw up

[@emmaramirez4330]

"it sounds like there are strong arguments on both sides" No there aren't.

[@PSM5550]

Exactly. I have yet to hear employers put forth a real reason (not the BS collaboration argument)

[@caseymasters8801]

​@@PSM5550 did you listen to the article? The HR company said their productivity dropped 30% on work remotely days.

[@PSM5550]

@@caseymasters8801 that’s one company. The vast majority of folks I know are more productive at home. Companies just need to accept that wfh is the future. Folks saw that it is possible to have a life and get work done.

[@RK-cj4oc]

​@@caseymasters8801Its a company of 175 employees. Meanwhile you go " vast majority of folk i know" yeah no. You dont know more than 175 people. This company is not the only one reporting similair results.

[@emmaramirez4330]

@@RK-cj4octhat is some pretty terrible logic you got there

[@SnowBalling]

It's simple, set a productivity standard for WFH. If an individual is meeting that standard, let them stay working from home, otherwise bring them back into the office.

[@homewall744]

So socializing isn't a good in itself?

[@SnowBalling]

@@homewall744 If someone wants to socialize, then go back to the office.

[@themizarkshow]

Blaming "productivity" for the fact that numbers aren't returning to pre-pandemic levels is insanity. Whether you're in the office or not, some things are just different now.

[@YoRAHeem]

The people with the problem is those that aren’t doing the work. These managers that are dangling more wfh days for productivity increases are just horrible at there position. Companies need to reduce the middle management. If the manager and supervisor can’t do the work if needed, eliminate them.

[@AmaniLindsey]

Agile is the answer for remote work!

[@YoRAHeem]

@@AmaniLindsey I was always able to work remote and understood it. Anywhere there was internet and I could VPN securely. Leadership failed to know what technology capabilities existed and how we could implement the tools but clearly told us to use the tools we had to complete our work. My problem is that during the pandemic they decided to class many of us as WFH vs Remote Worker. Then they eliminated offices and created hubs in central locations. Those locations require director approval for desk reservations any normal work day that you elect to work there but now that in-person has been green-lit managers are requiring people work the entire day from hub for an hour meeting. That’s just complete disregard for productivity to appease some old way of thinking.

[@meejinhuang]

If companies don't offer remote work, that is also a big liability because employees will leave and the company will have a hard time finding replacements.

[@herpderp297]

Right now lot of companies actually do want to downsize due to the ongoing recession, so they might actually like to see people leaving.

[@Kevin-eq9qo]

But where will they go? I bet the Home Depot in middle of nowhere Montana is hiring...

[@akumaar]

​@@Kevin-eq9qo Montana is a beautiful place. Yeah sometimes times it's ok to take a break. When the break is over let's see if the company will have a change of mind.

[@nottheone582]

Right now 50% of jobseekers on LI are seeking remote roles, while only 25% of posted roles offer remote option. I hope the remote workforce can hold out through this recession and not give up all the gains

[@Josh-py9rq]

@@Kevin-eq9qo what a defeatist mindset lol there are plenty of remote jobs and worse case I work for myself

[@scottshapiro2795]

I prefer remote work and work harder due to it. When I was in the office, I knew if I didn't leave by a certain time, I'd miss my bus and I'd need to wait 30 minutes for the next one. So if it was 5pm, and I wasn't done, I was leaving regardless as anytime past 5, it didn't matter if I left at 505, or 530, I was still getting home at the same time. Now WFH, if it's 5pm and I need to finish something, it's no biggie staying on until 515 or 530, as my commute is just walking up steps. I think it's a big help to have a dedicated office if you can. My office is in the basement, and my wife's office is in a guest bedroom. So we don't really see each other the whole day, and we don't go to our offices after work, so it's basically like being in an office.

[@nottheone582]

these are companies who are emphatically terrible at tracking productivity in the first place. ask them about their most recent OKR's, what top KPI's they are tracking to measure productivity? is it being tracked manually or automated? they have no idea. so they *think* productivity is going down based on what.. gut feeling? a suspicion? it's not data-driven. its all about egos of managers and wanting people physically in front of them for surveillance because they suck at their jobs.

[@scoops2]

"collaboration" "creativity" "breaking silos" and other entirely subjective corpo buzzwords will always be used. They will never use objective KPIs to set fair and reasonable expectations.

[@nottheone582]

@@scoops2 💯 when your "collaboration" looks like whiteboarding in a conference room 👀👀

[@AmaniLindsey]

Yeah this sounds like Boomers made this. We good and remote work will remain!

[@miahoooooooo]

When I work from home, sometimes I started before 7am. I use the travel time to have some quiet productive hours and that keeps my motivation for the whole day. But spending that time on stressful peak hour travel, then starting the day at 9 with emails, calls, meetings, really damages my productivity through the day. Then another exchausting travel home with dinner ready at 9pm is not something relaxing for starting the next day. However, workers seem only deserve to have enough time, money, and energy to live to the next day and work.

[@xparta300]

The problem is the managers. Terrible leading skills.

[@simontemplar404]

Good or bad remote working is the future because it is cheaper. Fascists do not like it but money talks.

[@ingislakur]

Fascists??????

[@adarateranroldan]

@@ingislakur he means managers with certain personality types 😂

[@jimbojimbo6873]

The extra hours of sleep are so important to me. If a company mandates going into the office I’m just never going to work for them.

[@mikeyllo]

There seems to be a segment of leadership that seems to be left out of these discussions. I'm a people manager and I go in 3 days a week. My manager goes in 2 days a week. His manager goes in maybe one day a week. Her manager is fully remote because he lives on the other side of the country. His manager, the CEO, also lives on the other side of the country. None of the management/leaders in my organization are pressing for coming in 5 days a week as they enjoy the flexibility too. As a matter of fact, when I got to the office on Friday, someone asked why I bothered to come on such a rainy day when I could have worked from home. That noted, if you want/need to work remotely, just align yourselves with organizations where the senior leadership and middle management also appreciate the flexibility of working remotely and you probably won't have some of the issues of heading back into the office more days than you'd like. Managers are employees too...even though we sometimes aren't represented that way.

[@omowhanre]

Some people are only happy when their boot is directly on necks.

[@ignmorales]

Remote is so much better.

[@jamiesray]

unemployment in my metro is 2.5%. you either offer remote work or you sacrifice growth when you don't find employees. it's that simple.

[@e.sanoop110]

Return to office is just having more control over employees and monitoring them closely, that's it.😏😒😏

[@seanhepner7813]

Many of us are more productive at home. The best model is one where employee’s can work as they wish, and managers hold them accountable to the work.

[@mrchanningpetty1]

I would leave if I had to go back in.

[@Dfgbuiiyyyybb]

Do they have real performance metrics to show that over all productivity is down? Or is all this anecdotal? I feel like in spend more hours working when I work from home because my office is right there. I’ve had to remember to eat lunch everyday because working more hours.

[@dgilroy26]

If people's productivity drops when working from home then the managers should talk to them. Not try to force them back in the office. Working from home is a lot more productive because you don't have all the chatty co-workers.

[@Jeffmylife]

This sounds like 2 AI bots programmed to ramble baby boomer talking points. It’s genuinely odd. Workers are happier and costs are down. Of course remote work is the future…

[@ryanokeeffe3013]

I am surprised I havent seen more comments like this. This sounds like two AI bots or someone reading a ChatGPT script. Hence the two pictures and no actual video.

[@HaoToDraw69]

If employees are getting the work done, companies are saving the cost on paying for the office rent, and employees are saving time and money on commuting

[@emmy2831]

I will leave any job that won't allow remote work capabilities or at least hybrid. Point. Blank. Period.

[@armandogv18]

Water-cooler talk, a commute, annoying nosy coworkers, unnecessary chit chat with people I'm paid to talk to....I'm good, this system is going backwards, just like our rights. We are going backwards

[@djm2189]

So happy to be 28, earning $112k+, and fully remote! This company was already remote before the pandemic so didn't change. Love the work i do and everyone agrees we don't need in person as we are consultants. Managers on a different country and teammates on the opposite coast. Couldn't be in an office if they wanted to haha.

[@takanoritoriyama]

mind if i ask what you do?

[@Sbstnjb]

​@@takanoritoriyama he dances on video camera for tips

[@djm2189]

@@Sbstnjb haha naw unfortunately not pretty enough. Plus tips are not easy to budget with. Business Analyst Consultant for Biopharma.

[@djm2189]

@@takanoritoriyama I'm a business analyst consultant in biopharma. Jumped from software engineering to biopharma. Easier work with better pay.

[@RK-cj4oc]

​@@djm2189What diploma do you have to get one of those fake jobs that dont actually put money into the economy or create any goods or products but have that high salary?

[@vote4republicans2024]

The entire corporate office culture as a model is on the verge of collapse. This is what technology has done. AI is gonna make office work even more obsolete. As it is there isn't much office necessity for communication anyways. Most everyone just goes to their workstation and sits there all day. If you have a meeting you do a zoom call or teams or even share your screen using Cisco. You could be at home, you could be in a hotel in Hawaii and do that. The entire idea of working in an office has become toxic and obsolete. It's doomed.

[@HardikRaval]

You let me WFH more you get more out of me. Those old school managers have no clue asking us to come back more often.

[@lindawiker7286]

Most of the top 50 companies on the Fortune 500 have ALWAYS has remote work. Can’t really house 80-200k employees. Employees sign the Telecommute agreement to follow the security policy and protocols. Trust me, they know the moment you start signing into their system in Timbuktu

[@chrisaycock5965]

They can track metrics on a computer and goals so you do have to have the right output or lose your job. I’ve worked from home for over 3 years it works just fine.

[@Whadyatalkeinaboutsassy]

Hahahahah nope…. Not coming back, bin the office and bin the companies turning their back on remote/hybrid

[@Worldaffairslover]

Did Mr. Wonderful, Jamie Dimon, or Elon Musk make this video?😂

[@CalienteFrijoles]

Maybe if offices could get a better handle of the thermostat and not roast us in the Winter or freeze us in the Summer it wouldn’t be all that awful. Jokes aside though I do feel for folks that are being forced back into the office. Everyone is different, so why shouldn’t WFH remain an option? Corporate cultures? They’re all the same for the most part. Innovation? Doesn’t really happen in the office because each department is rather focused on meeting pre-defined goals, but more over lunches and dinners. Training and development? Maybe, but organizations are so thin at the top it isn’t like it’s intended for everyone.

[@shogunr8633]

"save a few bucks" on the after school child care? Tell me you don't have a child without saying it. (Or needing to pay for one!)

[@masquarra]

They just want the money back into the economy. More cars purchased, hair salons, nails, child care, restaurants, clothing, shoes, makeup, gasoline, and more.

[@jonathanfgh1]

In Australia hybrid working is NOT about the weather ! It is about NOT being in a noisy open plan cramped office and exposed to other workers loud banal conversations. Hybrid workers save on average two hours travel per day that can be devoted to working online. Hybrid workers save money on corporate clothing and lunches. With no children and coworkers at home there are fewer interruptions. Businesses paranoid about hybrid workers are missing the point of wasting two hours a day in worthless management meetings and can use productivity software to monitor performance of hybrid workers. Our office amalgamated three floors into ONE due to the reduced need for office desks and rental. Win, Win ! If only managers could see the pluses outweigh the minuses in most cases.💻

[@ak102986]

this is all about power and not about productivity.

[@LIVdaBrand]

This is why you don’t do 110% at work. Cuz when u do, you’ll be expected to do that AND MORE. Look at companies expect people to do productivity at levels during the pandemic that causes the great resignation. People don’t learn lol smh

[@Censortubes]

Someone commercial lease scam is hurting eh?

[@gmay3design]

Wouldn't it be nice to have interviewed one more company to get their feedback, maybe one pro remote work, one against remote work and tell both sides of this story with some data instead of just offering one point of data. Seems lazy! Maybe this article must have been written by a remote worker right? LOL Liability hasn't been mentioned or discussed once in this piece, yet the nice baiting headline is all you want people to take away. C'mon do better!

[@thefreshest2379]

I think large corporations should figure out how to make it work, not the workers.

[@Evoke]

The wall street journal telling us to go back to the plantations LOL. Has nothing to do with productivity, everything to do with control. Really disgusting display of apathy and classism.

[@andycapsphotos]

"Efficiency" 🙄 Translation: "Nobody is around the laugh at the middle managers jokes".

[@laurab9518]

Working remote and wake up whenever I want, even as late as 3 pm. Usually do 3 hours work, sometimes almost none for 8 hours pay. Send lots of fake marketing promotions and get paid last year 62k

[@57ashdot]

For jobs done 90% from a computer, in an office setting, there is no reason that I have to drive an hour away to sit at a different desk to do the same CAD work I was doing at home. It's all middle managers and commercial property owners trying to justify their jobs, protect their assets, and continue their power trip, plain and simple.

[@Herrera_70]

Communting, spending hours of your day in traffic and having to deal with useless interactions ARE THE LIABILITIES people don't want.

[@workstationmark4103]

Why don't they convert offices into residential?

[@auro1986]

why? employee of wsj also works for cnbc and cnn

[@nancycm]

Nice try.

[@Zero11_ss]

I can't even find a decent job thats in person.

[@Whadyatalkeinaboutsassy]

Never going back full time. Typical boomer outlook

[@chrisE815]

Stealth layoffs

[@suryaray2809]

Is there any relationship between Sealion and Lion?...

[@Esbbbb]

Idk, my productivity increases if I work from home. At the office, I definitely engage with much more people and it takes time. But I definitely want to go to the office to meet colleagues. Summers definitely should be more wfh days. :D

[@jibarabicha4853]

These “flexibilities” are a no-go for hourly paid workers that have a long commute.

[@phillyfan-182]

Leaves more jobs for the rest of us

[@muhammad-bin-american]

Compromise.

[@eloneatmyshorts]

Resistance? F that. Get back in the office because we know these remote workers are fully taking advantage of their situations and decrease productivity. Heading into a recession and competitive job market, good luck looking for jobs out there.

[@jon6309]

Well you can always hire people from India and the Philippines who speak broken English to replace your American remote workers who are complaining. But not sure if you can put up with the language barrier and the timeliness of things getting done accurately. One of the portfolio funds my company manages is over a billion dollars and this is one client we do not want to piss off. Our vendor outsourced all their accountants to Bombay, India and they screwed up the accounting records by 50 million dollars. It took months to fix due to a language barrier issue and the client was angry and threatening to cut our service if it happens again. Since then all accountants that were hired moving forward were American and no issues ever occurred after!

[@Whadyatalkeinaboutsassy]

Sounds like this sponsored by boomers, typical wsj!

[@dipenb4u]

lol, still doing podcasts on YT :D

[@louieuy7607]

Outsource those roles to other countries😂

[@VukLazarevic]

Callum bro, you literally made 0 sensible arguments. 😂

[@avaviel]

I get around 6 hours of work done in an 8 hour work day at home. Too many distractions.

[@davidbrown8546]

Ironically, I'm the same at work for the same reason. Open offices are a curse.

[@avaviel]

@@davidbrown8546 I'm at a small company, so I have an office to myself! Eventually will have someone else in the room, which will be nice if we get along.

[@txbre8758]

The office is always a party so I don’t go in, my profession is commission based so if I don’t go aggressively hard than I can’t make the max amount of money

[@michaelcap9550]

@@davidbrown8546 High walled cubicles are best. Open offices have too many distractions.

[@couragewon]

That depends a lot on the environment at home. I find myself more productive at home than at work because I have a corner bedroom office that the kids usually respect my work time and I can really focus better than when I was in the office.

[@Jsparrvik98]

wow productivity drops when people are home who would have ever though

[@PSM5550]

Those people should speak for themselves. I worked harder and longer from home then I ever did in office and our company had its best years from 2020 to now.

[@yaggaman1914]

everyone women want remote because most are siingle moms lol