Remote Working News and Discussions
Re: Remote Working News and Discussions
Australian Labour Laws Need Updating Now that Remote Work is Here to Stay
September 7, 2023
Introduction:
September 7, 2023
Introduction:
Conclusion(Eurekalert) Australia’s employment laws and regulations must be updated to reflect the changing nature of work, with many people continuing to work from home long after the COVID-19 pandemic.
That’s according to University of South Australia Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour Dr Ruchi Sinha who says labour laws and protections should be updated to clarify issues related to work hours, overtime, and breaks in a remote work context, now that almost half of all employees are working from home at least once a week.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report on the welfare and wellbeing of Australians launched yesterday found that prior to the pandemic, 13% of people aged 18 and over with a job reported working from home most days, according to the ABS Household Impacts of COVID-19 Survey.
By April 2022, 46% of people had worked from home at least once per week in the previous four weeks.
Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1000936“It’s important too to balance remote and in-office work by considering hybrid work models that meet the needs of both employees and employers. Things like face-to-face events and meetings arranged at cafes and restaurants can help with loneliness as well as culture building.
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40lightyears
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Re: Remote Working News and Discussions
One big effect of the Covid-19 pandemic situation is remote work. A lot of employees are still working remotely, and of course, it's convenient for them, but a side effect is that they are less productive.
I own a logistics company that works with trucks from the USA and EU. I've sent a lot of dispatchers working remotely from home, and 60% are still at home, and I've observed a lot of delays and mistakes, or they are not making the monthly plan.
As a solution, I've integrated this employee productivity measurement tool related to the KPI system where they earn their bonuses. It sends me automated reports of their efficiency and productivity, and in this way, I refine the workflow process. Also, based on these results, I give them bonuses.
I own a logistics company that works with trucks from the USA and EU. I've sent a lot of dispatchers working remotely from home, and 60% are still at home, and I've observed a lot of delays and mistakes, or they are not making the monthly plan.
As a solution, I've integrated this employee productivity measurement tool related to the KPI system where they earn their bonuses. It sends me automated reports of their efficiency and productivity, and in this way, I refine the workflow process. Also, based on these results, I give them bonuses.
Last edited by 40lightyears on Fri Sep 29, 2023 9:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Remote Working News and Discussions
I'll have to disagree with the broad brush remote workers are less productive. The agency I work for have praised shifting to remote work has increased productivity and employee satisfaction based on studies it conducted.40lightyears wrote: ↑Tue Sep 26, 2023 12:15 pm One big effect of the Covid-19 pandemic situation is remote work. A lot of employees are still working remotely, and of course, it's convenient for them, but a side effect is that they are less productive.
I own a logistics company that works with trucks from the USA and EU. I've sent a lot of dispatchers working remotely from home, and 60% are still at home, and I've observed a lot of delays and mistakes, or they are not making the monthly plan.
The real issue is how companies manage their remote workers. If they are less productive, it is likely because the company has not adopted the best practices for remote working. You can't expect to engage with the workers in the same way you have pre-Covid without certain fundamental changes and expect better results right off the bat. A company with in-office workers and one with at least half are remote workers are very different animals in terms of management styles, technology infrastructure, onboarding practices, training, etc. Basically, you'll have to almost reinvent your business.
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weatheriscool
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Re: Remote Working News and Discussions
Downtown Tech Office Shuts Down Its Free Cocktail Bar For Employees, CEO Says 'The Office Is Dead'
27 October 2023
An experiment in 2020s incentivizing the workplace as a dot-com-era adult playground where work also occurs has ended with a whimper in downtown SF. Tech company Expensify is shutting down its bar, which it opened earlier this year, after six months.
The bar, and the non-office-like office dubbed Expensify Lounge, was from the beginning "an experiment," as CEO David Barrett told the Chronicle in April. The company purchased a legit liquor license for a quarter million dollars, installed a proper U-shaped bar where laptops were welcome, and hired a full-time concierge/barista/mixologist to man the bar. And in a theatrical flourish, every workday ended with the sabering of a Champagne bottle, and bubbles all around for anyone who wanted some.
But now, as Barrett told employees in a Thursday blog post, they're nixing the lounge thing and just hoping people will still drop by the office to interact where they can. The focus, when it comes to team building, will be on trips that the company takes and encourages — like an all-hands trip to Spain last year, and its much-ballyhooed Offshore program, which the Chronicle wrote about in 2022, in which employees can take expenses-paid trips together to wherever they want, just to get work done.
Barrett makes some bold statements this week about the general push to repopulate offices, after noting that even a free cocktail bar and drinks and cappuccinos delivered to desks wasn't really enough to lure people back in any significant way.
"I think it's safe to say that anyone going to the office every day is likely going because they feel pressured to (either by their boss or their peers), not because it's actually their preferred place to be," Barrett writes. Which isn't to say there's no place for offices going forward... we're just never going back to a regular 9-5 office culture, a staple of not just our modern culture, but also the foundation of most urban planning."
https://sfist.com/2023/10/27/downtown-t ... e-is-dead/
27 October 2023
An experiment in 2020s incentivizing the workplace as a dot-com-era adult playground where work also occurs has ended with a whimper in downtown SF. Tech company Expensify is shutting down its bar, which it opened earlier this year, after six months.
The bar, and the non-office-like office dubbed Expensify Lounge, was from the beginning "an experiment," as CEO David Barrett told the Chronicle in April. The company purchased a legit liquor license for a quarter million dollars, installed a proper U-shaped bar where laptops were welcome, and hired a full-time concierge/barista/mixologist to man the bar. And in a theatrical flourish, every workday ended with the sabering of a Champagne bottle, and bubbles all around for anyone who wanted some.
But now, as Barrett told employees in a Thursday blog post, they're nixing the lounge thing and just hoping people will still drop by the office to interact where they can. The focus, when it comes to team building, will be on trips that the company takes and encourages — like an all-hands trip to Spain last year, and its much-ballyhooed Offshore program, which the Chronicle wrote about in 2022, in which employees can take expenses-paid trips together to wherever they want, just to get work done.
Barrett makes some bold statements this week about the general push to repopulate offices, after noting that even a free cocktail bar and drinks and cappuccinos delivered to desks wasn't really enough to lure people back in any significant way.
"I think it's safe to say that anyone going to the office every day is likely going because they feel pressured to (either by their boss or their peers), not because it's actually their preferred place to be," Barrett writes. Which isn't to say there's no place for offices going forward... we're just never going back to a regular 9-5 office culture, a staple of not just our modern culture, but also the foundation of most urban planning."
https://sfist.com/2023/10/27/downtown-t ... e-is-dead/
Re: Remote Working News and Discussions
California tech company films bizarre video pushing return-to-office plan
Jan 12, 2024
Internet Brands, an El Segundo-based tech company with subsidiaries like WebMD and CarsDirect, has what may be the return-to-office fight’s most bizarre corporate messaging yet.
The company made a video titled “Internet Brands Return To Office - a Message From Company Leadership,” that is still on the company’s public Vimeo page despite spirited roasting on social media. Executives from Internet Brands’ internet brands are so wide-eyed and declarative, they appear to be at their breaking point in wanting more workers at the office. “Too big of a group hasn’t returned,” CEO Bob Brisco complains, near the video’s opening.
The vehicle to deliver that message has it all: rapid jump cuts, odd sound mixing and executives clearly reading their lines from teleprompters. There’s plainly faked office b-roll and the obvious use of green screens. There’s even some enthusiastic (and awkward) sashaying to the New Orleans classic “Iko Iko” — one wonders if participating employees received compensation.
https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/int ... 605785.php
Jan 12, 2024
Internet Brands, an El Segundo-based tech company with subsidiaries like WebMD and CarsDirect, has what may be the return-to-office fight’s most bizarre corporate messaging yet.
The company made a video titled “Internet Brands Return To Office - a Message From Company Leadership,” that is still on the company’s public Vimeo page despite spirited roasting on social media. Executives from Internet Brands’ internet brands are so wide-eyed and declarative, they appear to be at their breaking point in wanting more workers at the office. “Too big of a group hasn’t returned,” CEO Bob Brisco complains, near the video’s opening.
The vehicle to deliver that message has it all: rapid jump cuts, odd sound mixing and executives clearly reading their lines from teleprompters. There’s plainly faked office b-roll and the obvious use of green screens. There’s even some enthusiastic (and awkward) sashaying to the New Orleans classic “Iko Iko” — one wonders if participating employees received compensation.
https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/int ... 605785.php
