Re:Return to office is 'dead,' Stanford economist says
by jon-wood on Friday December 01, 2023 @10:59AM
(#38488211)
At least currently there's probably a bell curve going on in terms of what age groups want to work in office vs remote. I've also seen younger employees want to be in the office, they enjoy the social side of it, and early in your career its easier to learn and progress if you're colocated and able to ask questions of people easily. The old-school managers are also attached to being in offices, at least partly just because that's how they learned to work so it's easier for them then adapting. You've then got people in their late 30s and early 40s who are all in on remote work, a lot of us have kids, or we moved out of the urban centres, have a network of friends outside of work, so really aren't that bothered about being in the office.
What's going to be interesting is seeing what happens as the current generation of senior management age out and retire. Do companies start to lean more towards remote work? And if so what happens about the younger workers coming into industry at that point, presumably they're still going to prefer being colocated for the same reasons, and that will need balancing with the older folk's preferences.
Re:Return to office is 'dead,' Stanford economist says
by ryandrake on Friday December 01, 2023 @10:56AM
(#38488177)
That's the same thing I thought: it was the younger people who yearned for the office. Junior employees tended to do worse with WFH, especially those who were onboarding, whereas more senior folks were more comfortable working without much supervision. Younger people also don't tend to have larger homes, with dedicated, quiet office space. Younger employees pinned more of their social life on workmates than older employees who might already have established families and community ties.
Anecdotally, I know that on my team, the younger teammates were the most eager about returning to the office. I'm nearly 50 and wouldn't go back in if you held a gun to my head.
Re:Return to office is 'dead,' Stanford economist says
by xkqd on Friday December 01, 2023 @10:50AM
(#38488154)
My observations agree with your anecdote, but in my experience it was the youngest employees who go into the office for social interaction. Meaning, fresh grads to ~26 year olds. They openly admitted they didn’t want to sit in their 600 sqft apartments all day and that they didn’t have anyone to talk to otherwise.
This sounds more like a way deeper loneliness and community problem than a workplace problem.
Anecdotally, I hear it's more younger employees who like going into an office for the social interaction.