Return to office is 'dead,' Stanford economist says

Re:Return to office is 'dead,' Stanford economist says by smith7018 on Friday December 01, 2023 @10:26AM (#38487813)

Those investments in office furniture, remodels, etc. are already sunk costs though. Why would they be used to justify RTO? If anything, it's more expensive to have people come in and use (read: destroy) furniture and equipment.

This is a genuine question. The RTO push has befuddled me for awhile because the money that's already gone into the offices (like the leases) were decided on awhile ago and will be paid out regardless if people come in or not. Perks like free lunch and snacks also cost more when you force people to come in. So I don't really understand the financial aspect of it.

Maybe it's management needing people in office to justify their jobs for some reason? I don't know.

Edit: I'm staff-level for what it's worth. I've also noticed that this article doesn't actually reflect reality; nearly every job listing I saw this year said that the applicant will have to be in the office 1-5 days a week.

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Re:Return to office is 'dead,' Stanford economist says by tessierashpool on Friday December 01, 2023 @10:32AM (#38487888)

Those investments in office furniture, remodels, etc. are already sunk costs though. Why would they be used to justify RTO?

you answered your own question. sunk costs fallacy.

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Re:Return to office is 'dead,' Stanford economist says by smith7018 on Friday December 01, 2023 @12:46PM (#38489673)

Industry-wide? I guess I'm naive for thinking that some companies must have some smart people in the room and point out the fallacy

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Re:Return to office is 'dead,' Stanford economist says by ghaff on Friday December 01, 2023 @01:25PM (#38490297)

I know a lot of people here think executives are idiots but I really have trouble believing that any CEO is sitting there thinking "Damn. If I don't get people back into the office, all these office chairs we spent good money on will go to waste."

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Re:Return to office is 'dead,' Stanford economist says by smith7018 on Friday December 01, 2023 @03:02PM (#38491510)

Exactly. Same with "Damn. We have to drive away our best talent to fill occupancy in the office we already signed a lease on despite rent being a fixed cost that isn't impacted by occupancy." Like, it just doesn't make sense to me.

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Re:Return to office is 'dead,' Stanford economist says by ghaff on Friday December 01, 2023 @03:39PM (#38492024)

I do understand to the degree tax incentives get involved. But, whether having deluded themselves or not, I do believe most execs pushing RTO are doing so for reasons they think are sound for collaboration, cultural, or other rational reasons.

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