WebMD forcing employees back to office. "We aren’t asking or negotiating at this point. We’re informing"

⁨624⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech⁩ to ⁨videos@lemmy.world⁩

https://ody.sh/LUJ0kM6gyK

This leaked today from inside webmd, the most bullshit corpo HR video I think I’ve ever seen.

To break down the obvious ones:

Employees who are obviously either drinking wayyy too much company koolaid or who know that their jobs will end if they aren’t in this video
An extremely out of touch CEO who wants things back the old way without giving any concrete data proving that it’s better beyond conjecture
A company with “internet” in the name who literally doesn’t understand the concept of the internet
Threatening and bullying language to force people back in office.
and just a nice touch, the office is of course not near mass transit or anything and requires driving in

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Comments

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EmergMemeHologram@startrek.website ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Of the office is so good, why did they green screen it instead of actually going there?

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- scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  That’s what I just noticed too! Did noone think people would notice that none of the people were actually physically there?!
  
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  - Anticorp@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Phoning it in for the video telling people they must physically go. Typical corporate bullshit.
    
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- NatakuNox@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Yup! If it’s that important, why doesn’t your company pay for everyone to drive to and from work (covering gas, car repairs, and allowing employees to clock in when they start their commute.)Also, pay for everyone’s lunch since they have to be there.
  
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Boozilla@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
WebMD, the site that gives a diagnosis of ‘cancer’ for everything.

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- Nougat@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Your comment gave me cancer.
  
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  - Tylerdurdon@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I was coughing and had a little congestion. Now I’m getting chemo, thanks WebMD!
    
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reverendsteveii@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
in 2021 my job was “informing, not asking”. a bunch of us walked, and it crippled the OU. They actually shut it down not long ago, they decided to keep a skeleton crew on to keep the app running while the contracts run out, then they’re gonna sunset it

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- Tangent5280@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  lmao gg. The absolute disrespect to even say “informing, not asking” unironically. Pretty sure these people see us as slaves at some level.
  
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  - CoggyMcFee@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Honestly, if they said only that part in a memo, it would still obviously be very bad but it would be so much better than embedding it within this video. If I were an employee watching this, when they reached the part where they play Iko Iko while people dance after the CEO delivered the ultimatum, I’d want to shoot myself in the fucking head.
    
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  - RickTofu@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Slaves don’t get paid
    
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Someonelemmy@lemmynsfw.com ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
" Internet Brands did not respond to a request for comment, except to say that people were busy with meetings. "

Lololololol

Fuck them. It sounds like they’re too bust having meetings instead of getting work done.

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FlyingSquid@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Close-quartered offices are disease farms. Stress lowers your immune system.

WebMD wants to make its workers unhealthy.

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- themeatbridge@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  That tracks. WebMD is a terrible source of medical information.
  
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  - MrBusiness@lemmy.zip ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I remember using it long ago and no matter what your symptoms were you most likely have cancer.
    
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- CoriolisSTORM88@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Yes they are. As I am at home with COVID for the 4th time. I interviewed a guy in a small room a week ago Friday, and he coughed all through the interview. I was masked. He wasn’t. Two of us caught it. And I found out today they hired the clown. There are strong desires to cuss him out on his first day. Fuck that guy.
  
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doctortofu@reddthat.com ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
This will definitely push all accounting, data entry and other such office workers to the heights of creativity and inventiveness - just what they need! /s

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- M500@lemmy.ml ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  If they get to stay home then why can’t I?!?
  
  That’s really it’s about.
  
  The only people that should be in the office are people who literally need to be there.
  
  Like if there are physical servers and they need to be physically configured then sure the tech can go in for that.
  
  If it’s a repair show, then sure the tech has to come in to do the repair.
  
  Otherwise let people stay home.
  
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  - slurpeesoforion@startrek.website ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I’ve hypothesized that they want people in person so that the things they won’t say over a network can be said in person.
    
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  - doctortofu@reddthat.com ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Oh I emphatically agree - I have a fully remote job and not even doubling my salary would make me consider switching to an office one. I was just clumsily trying to point out that a lot of corporate positions don’t require all that creativity and collaboration bullshit that clueless executives love to throw around in videos like this one.
    
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kameecoding@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
this seems like a tactic so people quit instead of having to do layoffs.

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- WoahWoah@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Bingo.
  
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- dubyakay@lemmy.ca ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  So what’s the start here? Stay employed but do not go to office until you are lid off and then lawyer up?
  
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  - kameecoding@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    That will depend on state employment laws and the contracts they have.
    
    So who knows, here in Europe in my country if you are an employee then the employer determines where you work from, contractors are independent they can work from where they want.
    
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ray@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
The most surprising thing I learned from this video is that WebMD still exists

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- Chetzemoka@startrek.website ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  The best thing to happen from WebMD is you got a bunch of actual medical providers like Mayo Clinic, University of Maryland, Merck Manual that went, “GAH! No!!” and made actually informative, updated medical websites.
  
  Healthline, kids. Healthline is where we go for our medical information.
  
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  - brbposting@sh.itjust.works ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Surprisingly stubby Wiki! “Reception” section pretty weak. Surprised they haven’t fleshed their page out. Why do you trust them?
    
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- Anticorp@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I’m surprised it’s an actual business with employees, and not some fat dude in his basement.
  
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  - Chefdano3@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    A fat dude in his basement would be more helpful than WebMD
    
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westyvw@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Kind of balsy for a software company that is basically running a web page to replace office visits with a doctor…

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Bipta@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Everyone is so desperate to kill their workers, and then they'll say, "Nobody wants to work anymore."

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CosmicCleric@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

“informing, not asking”

To any employees out there, don’t be someone else’s biotch.

Demand for workers is at one of its highest points right now.

There are other jobs out there, but you only have one respect for yourself.

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- Liz@midwest.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Time to unionize WebMD. Maybe the union can turn it into a decent website.
  
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Zuberi@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Would be a real shame if the 1% gets fucked on properties that nobody in their right mind will work in.

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Xariphon@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Sounds like a whole lotta quittin' time.

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- Pogogunner@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  That is the intent of RTO policies, yes. It's a lot cheaper to compel workers to quit rather than fire them.
  
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  - averagedrunk@lemmy.ml ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Same thing is happening a lot of places. One large american company that I’m not going to mention is doing several rounds of layoffs along with a return to office initiative.
    
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  - Rolder@reddthat.com ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    What if you just pretend you don’t know what RTO is and stay home anyway
    
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  - umbrella@lemmy.ml ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    so strike time then?
    
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NoIWontPickaName@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I would boycott them, but I never use them anyway

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- scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  good job, to both of us, for boycotting them early!
  
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pjwestin@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
“We’ve invested heavily in our cooperate headquarters and if people realize that offices are unnecessary in the modern workplace we’ll lose millions.”

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Fades@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I would pay so much fucking money to beat the shit out of that ceo. He did say we get better ideas by seeing each other face to face! I got an idea I think will get better if he and I meet fist to face

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- 15liam20@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Sounds like there’s a new business model right there. Call it WebKO
  
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AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
People keep talking about corporate real estate and how companies need ppl in offices or the value would crash. But wouldnt the company stand to benefit in the long run by just biting the bullet on the remainder of their lease, not renew, and go 100% remote? Or at least drastically downsize.

Would that not save millions in overhead, lease payments, etc into the future? Or do they have 30 year lease agreements or something?

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- OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  They might own the building. They definitely have at least a 10 year lease, that’s standard for commercial lease agreements.
  
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- Throwaway4669332255@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I’m so glad I work for a medium-small company. We moved to a smaller office and only require to go in twice a month
  
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riodoro1@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I would strangle anyone who appeared in this video.

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doctorcrimson@lemmy.today ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
TBH was WebMD ever actually reputable? They’re like the Forbes of the medical world except Forbes actually used to be good.

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- AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  For doctors as a reference tool, seems that way. For the layman? You have cancer.
  
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  - afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Wait what? Doctors are using the “you’ve got cancer” website? Mother of fuck that is terrifying
    
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Lightrider@lemmynsfw.com ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Fuckingcapitalists

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Bipta@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
https://imgur.com/a/cgMWjBS

I don't dare give them views to find out the answer.

They want people back "for the simple reason" that they work better together. Well, yeah, I'd agree, without a pandemic.

But healthy people work even better.

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- GuyDudeman@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  What hits me about this video is how unprofessional it is. None of these people are people I would want to work with.
  
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Igotz80HDnImWinning@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
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- IronicDeadPan@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I have no idea what this is…
  
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  - Shellbeach@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Oh, oh, OhhH!! I think it’s supposed to be a guillotine
    
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  - averagedrunk@lemmy.ml ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I just assume it’s a convoluted way to present Loss.
    
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  - blurryeyes@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    It’s dignity. DIGNiTY!
    
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  - spirinolas@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Clearly it’s a giraffe!
    
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  - Gork@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Kinda looks like Ferb’s head from Phineas and Ferb.
    
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Tedesche@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I agree the video is cringy AF, but I don’t have a problem with the company demanding its employees return to working in the office rather than remotely. There are a whole host of tangible benefits (for both companies and employees) from coming into work and I don’t see a problem with a company insisting on it. There are some industries and/or jobs in which remote work is probably fine, but most organizations benefit more from having people come into a shared workspace.

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- 0110010001100010@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Do you have any data to back any of that up? Cause the data, by in large, contradicts that: computerworld.com/…/why-return-to-office-mandates…
  
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  - BlueLineBae@midwest.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    That was a good article with lots of great sources. But my tinfoil hat is telling me that all of these large companies demanding return to office aren’t doing it because “beliefs”. They’re doing it because the people have gained too much power in the last few years and this is the strategy to put them back in their place. Lay people off in hordes while interest is skyrocketing and demand more from them if they want to keep their jobs. Make them afraid and vulnerable so we can control them better. But again… that’s the tinfoil hat talking.
    
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  - canihasaccount@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Beyond self-reports and perception-based outcomes, most extant studies that I’m aware of have found decreases in real output. For example, a randomized controlled trial by the NBER found that productivity of employees randomly assigned to work from home was 18% lower than employees randomly assigned to work in the office:
    
    www.nber.org/papers/w31515
    
    Another study found that output decreased by around 13% when employees worked from home, even though hours worked increased:
    
    www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/…/721803
    
    Cognitive performance may also decline in remote settings:
    
    academic.oup.com/ej/article/132/643/1218/6445994
    
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  - SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    *buyin’ large
    
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- scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  People always say there are tangible benefits, but then rarely ever give any actual evidence.
  
  Covid forced anyone who could work remotely to work remotely, and the economy went through the roof. Tech especially had some of their best years - ever.
  
  I also want to call out that a lot of employees that were hired during the pandemic were hired out of region - in other states, across the country. Most “return to office” mandates are veiled layoffs hiding behind the need for employees to be in person for arbitrary reasons. By forcing them back in office they get to claim employees failed to show up for work, neglecting the whole “They work in Arizona and the job is in Tennessee” bit.
  
  The brass tacks is that:
  
  Employers pay sometimes by the decade to rent office space and are annoyed that it’s sitting empty and
  
  Bad managers don’t know how to manage if they aren’t micromanaging their employees. Good managers have no problem managing remotely.
  
  It’s an easy way to cut costs by forcing people working out of state to quit while claiming they were never fired.
  
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  - AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    As a manager, here are my observations. They’re qualitative, not quantitative.
    
    When my folks are working on something independently, most are more productive at home, as long as home has fewer distractions and not more. They don’t get sucked into hallway chatter, there’s no walking to conference rooms, etc.
    
    When they’re doing something collaborative, they’re more productive at work. People will yell over the wall or drop by to ask things that they won’t make a phone call for, or even an instant message. And the communication is better and faster in person.
    
    Collaborative stuff isn’t just more productive in person, it’s better. People get into a riff of bouncing ideas back and forth and the end result is better.
    
    In my opinion, the results aren’t so stark that everyone needs to be in everyday. Productivity and quality is at least adequate when people are remote, and there are other benefits. Some of my people commute like an hour each way, so a 9 hour day becomes an 11 hour day, and that’s a big difference. Some also do things like walk the dog at lunch, connect with their kids, and other things that improve their quality of life.
    
    Most (but not all) of my people will choose to work from home when they have a choice. That being said, I’ve lost count of the number of times people have said something like “I’d forgotten how much I appreciate connecting with people in person to solve problems, or even just chat about the weekend.” The balance might be in favor of work from home, but for most it’s not all good.
    
    I’ve noticed that when I’m on site, employees drop by to talk about things that they almost never do when one of us is home. Even though I personally also prefer working from home, I don’t do it as much because I think being a manager is more effective when I’m there.
    
    Overall, I think a hybrid arrangement makes the most sense for the work we do. You can debate what the right ratio of on site vs off is, but I think some in person collaboration mixed with some affordance for people working from home works best overall.
    
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  - downhomechunk@midwest.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I don’t think I’m a terrible manager and I’m definitely not a micromanager. One problem I had managing a remote team was how to deal with people who were clearly not working when they should have been. I could never prove it so I could never do anything about it.
    
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- _number8_@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  why should people’s lives be drastically worsened just so organizations benefit (in nebulous, bullshit, business school ways)?
  
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- Anticorp@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  There are zero tangible benefits to coders reporting to the office. They are less productive, less happy, and more frequently interrupted.
  
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- forrgott@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  False. The vast majority of office jobs can be completed more efficiently via remote work, with less personal cost to the employee, too. I can’t actually think of any office job that can’t be done just as well, if not better, working from home.
  
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- FlyingSquid@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I worked a hybrid schedule at my last job. There was not one single benefit for me to come into the office half the week. I achieved nothing there that I didn’t achieve at home because all I needed was a computer, an internet connection and two monitors, and, despite it being open plan, we still did all of our communications on slack and all of our meetings on zoom. I just wore noise-cancelling headphones all day. I was interrupted maybe once a week at most and usually by someone who wanted to know where someone else was.
  
  It didn’t even benefit the company because it was an office in a large industrial space and they could have removed the offices and put in more equipment if they just made all of us, not one of whom needed to be in the office to do our work, work from home.
  
  And if you tell me that socialization is a benefit, you can fuck right off. I already have friends and a family if I want to socialize. If I make a friend at work, fine, but if they’re all just polite acquaintances, I’m happy to live with that. I can count on my fingers the people I’ve worked with in the past who I’ve lost touch with that I’d even remotely care about if they got back in touch with me.
  
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- guacupado@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  There are a whole host of tangible benefits (for both companies and employees) from coming into work and I don’t see a problem with a company insisting on it.
  
  There’s nothing backing this. Just a bunch of CEOs saying they’ve “noticed” productivity. Which they have to say. The only actual study I’ve ever seen said there was zero benefit partly because having to host all the workers and provide amenities for them counters any benefit that could possibly happen, with company annual performance not showing any increase.
  
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- pseudonym@monyet.cc ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  The tangible benefits:
  
  Riffing
  
  Hallway banter
  
  ??
  
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  - Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Free (bad) coffee
    
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  - thanks_shakey_snake@lemmy.ca ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Vibes you forgot vibes
    
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- squiblet@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  There are plenty of benefits from remote working too, as well as drawbacks from office work, and it hasn't been decisively shown that at-office work is always better. For some management styles, sure, I guess. The sort of work they do - website development, I'm guessing? - has been shown to be amenable to a remote work style. Advantages include being able to hire people from all over, not have to spend big money on an office, employees can save money on housing and cost of living (don't have to live near a city center) and automobile (don't have to pay for gas to drive in or maybe even have a car) and time of commute - rather than get up, shower, drive for an hour and park, they can just start work. If the employer makes tasks and time flexible, also child care, which can be crucial for some people (it can be very expensive). And if the employer really wants, they can pay people less and save those costs themselves.
  
  Of course, some employees like it, some don't - there are people who work better remote and some prefer being around colleagues. I agree the choice of offering remote work belongs to the employer.
  
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- circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Can you list those tangible benefits?
  
  As someone who has worked remotely since 2016 (well before covid), I don’t see them for a company such as WebMD.
  
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afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I don’t understand why you even need employees if your entire website is just this weird little game that you can’t win or lose and ends with “cancer”. It is like the traditional labyrinth, go right or go left or go straight, don’t matter. As long as you keep moving you are going to always get to the same spot. There are early 2000s flash games that had more complexity.

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Anticorp@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Well aren’t they big and bad…

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thericcer@reddthat.com ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
A company may ask things of their employees, it’s not a free for all…

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- tehciolo@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Sure sure. Completely agree.
  
  And employees may say no.
  
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