My favorite quote:
While employees in the office might kill time messaging friends or flipping through TikTok, remote workers take advantage of being far from the watchful gaze of bosses to chip away at personal to-do lists or to goof off.
Nearly half of remote workers multitask on work calls or complete household chores like unloading the dishwasher or doing a load of laundry, according to the SurveyMonkey poll of 3,117 full-time workers in the U.S.
Oh noes, people actually doing things that are useful for their families instead of even more computer time.
It’s insane that this is even considered strange or surprising. When I work from home, I take longer lunch breaks and I often stop working earlier, but I’m still three times as productive compared to sitting in an office.
At home, I actually get focused time to do something and think. At the office, this is extreamly difficult with all the distractions and noise constantly interrupting my train of thought.
There is a concept that companies and managers need to wrap their stupid brains around. And that is that they are paying for your work not your time. So long as you complete the jobs and tasks they ask of you and need from you it shouldn’t matter what the hell you’re doing otherwise.
But they’re dumb Boomer infected brains have been programmed to expect people to sit in cubicles and offices like drones and stare at computer screens all day long. All so rich CEOs can walk through the building and feel more impressive.
P.S. obviously this is referring to salaried jobs not hourly jobs.
Gonna blow some fucking minds here: There are dishwashers in offices! And all sorts of other bits and pieces like coffee makers to futz around with. Got to be seen to be doing your share! Make a pot of coffee! Unload the dishwasher!
Honestly I am sure I waste just as much time or more when I’m in the office. And I’m interrupted more often so I’m less productive generally.
Me as a programmer
- Exhausted working on something realizing I’m no longer being productive and stuck on a problem.
- Decide to take a break and go empty the dishwasher
- Comes back more refreshed and almost immediately solve the problem.
Edit: Side note - companies I worked at that had dishwashers also expected employees to take turns emptying it / loading dishes others didn’t put in it.
I have a day job and a night job, and I do surveys for money between work tasks and read books on my phone. My night job I can pretty much do one handed while doing whatever on my phone. I don’t care at all.
Do office workers actually work? No, but they make coffee, collaborate, and network.
Collaboration is actually useful. The phrase you’re looking for is synergizing the cross-functional modalities.
Alright stop, collaborate and listen
While experiencing overwhelming anxiety that their boss is going to come around the corner and chew them out for not working.
Don’t forget smoking.
Offices still have smokers, right? The nearly retired old lady who smokes two packs a day and is way too familiar with the young men?
I’ve not worked in an office in like a decade, so I don’t know.
Yeah she’s still there and her name is Pam. Really interesting lady when you get her talking.
Oh yeah theyre interesting and usually fun.
It’s the bitch who doesn’t smoke who hangs around trying to fish out rumours who’s not a good time.
If people realized just how much overpaid goof off was going on in the business positions between Director of Whatever and CEO and Company President most workers would rip their bosses asunder and wear their heads as hats.
I once worked with a colleague within an academic setting for a EU wide project. We were understaffed. She constantly complained about how she works extra hours at home and on weekends. Well, my problem was she wouldn’t let me work at work because she used at least 5 hours of the day to trash talk colleagues behind their back (including me when I was on sick leave or, probably, out to pee). Damn I wonder why she had to work that much after working hours.
Fuck this corporate propaganda.
Work from home and be happy.
Businesses during covid: we are seeing an all time high in productivity from our workers due to them working from home, this is amazing!
Businesses after covid: these people working from home are nothing but lazy leeches who probably arent even doing their job and are robbing us of our money, despite all our previous statements to the contrary and verifiable statistics counter to this narrative we’re now pushing!
despite all our previous statements to the contrary and verifiable statistics counter to this narrative
This was by far the most frustrating part of the RTO push at my old company. The unofficial motto I was always told was “Show me the data”, as it was basically impossible to push for any sort of decision without solid data to back it up, even if everyone in the group thought it was a good idea.
When RTO was announced and the big all people town hall was held, multiple group heads stood up and asked the execs why they were doing this, and what data they had to back it up. Literally, and I quote from one of the execs, “Well, we don’t really have any, but we feel that people will be more productive, will be sharing more ideas and innovating when in the office.”
Yes, the executive at a multi-billion dollar automotive company literally said with a straight face to thousands of engineers who’d been working almost entirely from home for the past 3 years “This decision is based on feels, not reality”. Even better was since there was already an initial non-mandatory RTO push, some absolute chads even interrupted them to pull up hard data showing they had been tracking productivity since the RTO push, and their group members were significantly less productive on days they were in-office. Not only that, but they also showed there literally wasn’t the office space to fit everyone. The exec just hand waved it away and said “I’m sure we have plenty of desks for everyone”.
It’s absolutely infuriating seeing these people getting paid millions, if not billions, to suck so hard at basically everything.
I worked at a different company that was big on “data driven decisions”. They had tshirts made that literally said something like"data > feelings"
Before the pandemic, someone mentioned that studies were showing 4 day work weeks were effective and made people happier. The CEO just said “Yeah we’re not doing that.” Didn’t read the article or the study. Just nah.
After the pandemic, they were making people go back into the office. Same energy.
So what I’m saying is management and leadership are often just gutfeel idiots. Expensive babies.
It was never about RTO or Productivity. It was all about getting people to quit to reduce the bottom line. Otherwise they would have had layoffs and would have looked bad and cost more money in severance. It’s all just trying to save money.
If they’re mad about people shopping while working from home I have bad news.
People shop from their phones while working at the job site too. I see several of my coworkers doing this frequently. Shit, I’ve done it.
Sure, we can’t shower on site unless you’re a firefighter or something, or have a gym at workplace, but still.
Employers need to reign in their power hungry bullshit. You don’t own your employees, and if the work is getting done on time, you have nothing to complain about.
I work from home since 2012, so almost 12 years. The small company where I work started allowing remote working with me, and then many colleagues followed. Now we are 100% remote with one day a week in office. All my workmates and I know very well that we are far more productive when at home compared to when we are in office. My commit history also confirm this. I will never take in consideration another developer position if not allowed at least 80% of remote working.
I’m in the exact same position now, 80% from home. It’s incredible.
100% wfh is hard to beat when looking at new positions. I’d have to at least double my income for me to go into the office
I’ll absolutely turn off the camera and do laundry or make lunch during a Teams meeting. I’m still on the audio and participate. I’m just able to be productive at work AND at home simultaneously.
Right? Shocker, I’m able to listen to a thing actively and vocally contribute while doing something mindless like doing/folding laundry or making food because they use different parts of my brain.
The meat mech is capable of doing something physical with no thought, while engaging language processing for something else.
This was my experience as well but I found it a drag. My family loved me working from home, because I did more of the housework, great dinners on time, basically I did more so then they did less. Wildly productive overall, yes. Work took longer for me, less condensed, probably better work product that way, so sure everyone was getting better work from me but it was unbalanced. Husband and kids did less.
I don’t have a commute really, 20 minute walk or 4 minute drive, which I know is unusual, but I do like working in the office and leaving my laptop there better. Work stays at work. It’s not a strong preference, would do either but life more balanced for me with the office job.
I take much shorter lunch breaks, but longer naps. Much more comfortable on my couch than in my car like I used to have to do.
Amen. I work through lunch, honestly. I’m sitting at home at my computer, may as well eat something and work for the 30m or so. I have no reason not to, besides not working for the sake of not working.
This article can be applied the same way to Office workers. No they’re not working 100% of the time. What’s a problem is if they’re exceedingly unavailable or underperforming at their job and affecting others.
Shit, my desk used to be next to the kitchen. I made lunch and ran/emptied the dishwasher at the office and the bosses didn’t whinge about how I spent my time. I also did a bunch of my ideation on the office couch.
But do the same things in my home and it’s a problem? That tells me what the real issue is: the threat of agency.
My management prizes my ability to write complex things ina professional and easily digestible manner. However part of that process might look like I’m doing nothing at all, while I’ve got a half a draft written and I’m just sitting there for an hour and a half doing sudoku puzzles while what I’ve written vs what I need to say percolates in my brain. And yet I have to be cautious about it because some of them are convinced we work in a widget factory, where ass in seat and hands on keyboard equals work produced.
I stay at home to work on cool projects and I go to the office to get through mountains of boring administrative tasks and socialize. The whole time at work issue being discussed isn’t as important as labour productivity.
I’m constantly preaching that “we don’t work in a widget factory, there is only the work there is to do, and if it’s all done, wtf are you complaining about? Asses in seats does not correlate to work completed. As long as we’re available to complete tasks, you’re getting what you’re paying for.”
Gotta love how the articles frames it. While at work people “kill time” with tik tok but at home they “goof off” folding laundry
Corpo propaganda and normies larp it.
I feel like they’re just trying to use variety in their wording and either configuration would have upset you
Killing time implies you have time to kill. Goofing off implies avoiding work you need to do.
I can tell you it wouldn’t… We usually do not have multiple words because they are completely and 100% interchangeable.
It is the exact same message manipulation when a cop outright murders someone the headline often says something super tangential like “Perp lost life in altercation with police”… words matter and you’d expect journalist to know this
I still think it’s overly cynical and not likely to be a conspiracy in this case but I do agree that it’s a general concern, highlighted especially now with the genocide in Gaza, so I don’t think you’re wrong to feel that way. I’m still choosing to be charitable in this case, however.
I still think it’s overly cynical
Definitely could be… I know this of myself and I have been working on it
I think many of us feel that way, given how the world has evolved in my adult life I don’t blame anyone.
I’m killing time right now because there’s nothing to do but yet I can’t go home and clean up the clutter that’s accumulated from being stuck at work all day with nothing to do.
When I used to work in office:
- Wake up at 7am, get ready to go and take a 1 hour commute in, usually there by 9:00
- Try to find parking, walk to office, morning break room coffee and chatter, usually settle in around 9:30
- Get interrupted multiple times by desk drive bys
- Take 2 hour lunch around noon with multiple coworkers because why not
- Get interrupted multiple times by desk drive bys
- Leave at 4 to try and avoid some traffic
Now that I work from home:
- Wake up and hop online to work, usually settle in by 7:30am
- No desk drive by interruptions
- Eat at my desk during meetings or while simultaneously working
- Sometimes start laundry or something during the day, but who cares?
- Usually work later than 5
Every time I get asked about going back into an office my response is “Why would you want me to be far less productive?”
So that we feel vindicated in actually owning your productive time. So that management can show they add value by watching you work.
To collaborate with the team, of course…
My friend’s job has hybrid RTO and it basically means half the team is still out when you’re in the office so they still meet on Zoom/Teams, haha…what a waste
The other reality is that even with full RTO, in a position like mine, I’m working with groups spanning about 12hrs of time zones. I’m not seeing half the group anyway, so what’s the point of going in when everyone is still taking the calls at their desks?
Same here… we get one day in the office, I have tried to make the best of it but nobody cares, I find myself there with less than half the team to:
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hop around until I get a desk where everything I need works
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get interrupted by people not on my team all the time because why not say hi
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get complaints because all my meetings are Teams anyway and everyone is mad they hear a crowd when I am not muted
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Lose 45 mins of my life getting ready and another 1.5 in traffic (round trip) to work less in the office
You are missing the best part, the highly increased chance of dying from the most dangerous form of modern day travel.
I miss risking my life every day for a job.
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