"New Normal" Work Schedules

[Popeye_Card]

Back on the subject of work schedules, we've been on a 4:1 schedule for office employees for the past ~3 years - 4 days in the office, 1 flexible remote work day. Your flex day isn't rigid (e.g. always Monday), and simply a courtesy notification with your supervisor if desired. It has worked reasonably well for us, and has not created a ton of friction with our "field" employees, where remote work isn't really an option. For me personally, I work from home 1 day maybe every other week, usually on Fridays. If I have a bunch of meetings every day (usually the case), often it is just easier to do from the office. My commute is super short so it isn't really a hassle to go in. Overall it is nice to just have that flexibility.

Another interesting transition for us since COVID has been more flexibility with office locations. We don't have a ton of full work-from-home employees, but we have an increasing number of employees that traditionally would have been at headquarters or one of the primary offices that now work from smaller field locations. That has been good for situations where a married couple has opportunities in two different parts of the country, for example. Or people needing to be closer to "home" to help with ailing parents, etc.

I haven't seen any indications from corporate that they are looking to scale these back. The turbulence from the Great Resignation period has subsided as well, so I don't see them expanding flexibility much either. Especially if most other peer companies are scaling back.

[BottenFieldofDreams]

Golf pants. Yoga polo shirts.

This will help.

[mikechamp]

My wife and I went to WFH 15 years ago. It has been life-changing for our family. We wouldn't live where we live, and we wouldn't be able to accomplish nearly as much (personally) on a daily basis, if we had traditional commuting jobs. We also wouldn't have been able to save nearly as much money.

It's not for everybody, and you have to have the right mindset for it. But as someone who had had a traditional commuting job, my wife and I would never go back.

[Fat_Bulldog]

My wife and I went to WFH 15 years ago. It has been life-changing for our family. We wouldn't live where we live, and we wouldn't be able to accomplish nearly as much (personally) on a daily basis, if we had traditional commuting jobs. We also wouldn't have been able to save nearly as much money.

It's not for everybody, and you have to have the right mindset for it. But as someone who had had a traditional commuting job, my wife and I would never go back.

Same for us but for about 5 years now. I can't imagine going back to traditional. I don't know if I could...

[ghostrunner]

I like working from home. Mostly it just helps with home life. You can do [expletive] around the house when you need a break, instead of doing it all after you get home. Sometimes I play a game at lunch time. Take walks on breaks. Run to the store. Today I took my wife's car in for tires. Just makes everything a lot easier.

I've always had a pretty sporadic/intermittent work day, even when I was always in the office. I'll screw around on the internet a bit, work, chat with people, work some more etc. and then work more at home later. I actually started taking ADHD meds recently, and that's helped me focus in ways I always had trouble with. But generally unless I really need to do bear down, I prefer to break the day up if possible.

[st.lewis11]

I'm basically retired now, but I worked in large offices during my 20's/30's, and I think I would miss the interaction with other people. Of course I was the one who liked flirting/joking around with secretaries & receptionists.

[cardinalkarp]

I'm basically retired now, but I worked in large offices during my 20's/30's, and I think I would miss the interaction with other people. Of course I was the one who liked flirting/joking around with secretaries & receptionists.

You’d be fired in this day and age.

[BottenFieldofDreams]

I'm basically retired now, but I worked in large offices during my 20's/30's, and I think I would miss the interaction with other people. Of course I was the one who liked flirting/joking around with secretaries & receptionists.

You’d be fired in this day and age.

More likely he’d be the secretary or receptionist (well, if they weren’t AI). Not a personal attack. Me too. Young women are studying and going to college. Young men are playing Fortnite, watching uninteresting dip [expletive] s on YouTube, and getting lapped by their female peers. Also they're increasingly rejected by and terrified of women, so not flirting at all.

Not complaining about the next generation. Complaining about my own and those before mine. We created and exploited an unfair world. Now there’s been a tiny little snapback and young men have no cultural infrastructure to navigate the new dynamics, precious few examples of how to do it, and no support from old people who think they should just roll down the smooth paved road like they did without any interest in learning that the road was slightly but significantly altered recently after decades and centuries of Trumps and Weinsteins. We tell ourselves the road wasn’t paved and downhill but freaking Mt. Everest—women, they were the ones all along with the taffy pull ice cream social. The trap our actions created sort of sprung on the guys behind us.

FWIW, and to your point, I still see some flirting at work. But it’s weird and very pussyfootish. I wonder what it’s like in younger more social environments like restaurants or something. For many reasons I’m glad I don’t have to be young right now.

[st.lewis11]

Wow at the reaction.......I wasn't misogynistic or hitting on them. It was harmless banter, and they'd jokingly flirt back. Maybe you assumed the worst, given that many people nowadays don't conduct themselves well in society or workplace.

[cardinalkarp]

Wow at the reaction.......I wasn't misogynistic or hitting on them. It was harmless banter, and they'd jokingly flirt back. Maybe you assumed the worst, given that many people nowadays don't conduct themselves well in society or workplace.

I wasn’t implying you were doing either of those things, but unfortunately in today’s corporate atmosphere…all it can take is what you think is “harmless banter” and see ya later.