Re:Amazon Mandating 3 days back in office come May first
by y-c-o-m-b on Friday February 17, 2023 @05:18PM
(#34841387)
My AWS manager is universally loved and very effective at these things. Our team is distributed all over the US, he's got it nailed down. I'll use Amazon's own poison here: part of "hiring the best" is hiring people that are adaptable to change like this. If they can't adapt those skills, then they're not worth hiring.
Re:Amazon Mandating 3 days back in office come May first
by morelinks on Saturday February 18, 2023 @01:01AM
(#34844367)
Amazon kept their war ship moving forward during WFH. Clearly, middle-manager body language/communication/likability doesn’t add real value.
Adapt or die, as they say.
Re:Amazon Mandating 3 days back in office come May first
by lightbendover on Saturday February 18, 2023 @03:44AM
(#34845199)
> Middle managers+ have skills that become less useful in a remote environment
A little structural unemployment is good for the economy.
- Are the benefits of office work worth the less flexible schedule and commute time?
From the perspective of middle managers+, I think it's yes at most of these companies. From the perspective of some individual contributors, probably no.
Middle managers+ have skills that become less useful in a remote environment:
- The ability to communicate well, using both their voice and body language. Additionally, they can adjust their communication style by quickly evaluating the body language and facial expressions of others. Imagine being a great communicator all your life and now you're an OK communicator.
- Likability is a skill (charisma? charm?). Managers, executives, a lot of folks have it. A lot of likability is physical. We've evolved to like certain facial expressions, eye contact, etc. Much of this is removed in a fully virtual environment. Liking someone tends to mean you trust them more, give them more slack, and work with them better. Sure, you can do this virtually, but it's limiting when it's only text and video.
...
tl;dr systematically skill we've learned or evolved that require physical presence are now under-valued. The people who have those skills want them to be useful again.