OT: Work From Home

[Chin Diesel]

HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE fear... I totally feel like they've opened Pandora's Box, and will realize that a remote teacher can teach 3-4 classrooms with aides or paras in the room.

Still needing to put in about 15 years has me terrified to be honest.

It's definitely happening and not sure if people should be afraid of it.

If it turns out to be a better model for student learning we are better off for it.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Then, just hafta make sure you ARE that teacher leading 3-4 rooms - even better, surface the concept and get out in front of it, be a leader of it. How much do you like teaching? Ever considered being a corporate trainer? Our daughter is a teacher and I've told her she could probably make a lot more as a corporate trainer but, bless her heart, she wants to teach kids.

Corporate training definitely can pay well. Engineering services (training) pays even better.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Cities, remote work, offices, etc -- this stuff is cyclical. People will still want to live in cities, particularly young people. Declaring them dead is being too intellectually lazy to look beyond the next 3 years.

Same with work from home. It's probably fine for those who do nothing but email and push paper (like most of the insurance company people in this state), and many of those companies have been moving that way anyway while making the office a less inviting space to visit with things like bench seating and "open offices" with no assigned spaces. Companies that develop actual stuff will suffer if they go full work from home. Something is lost when there is not at least occasional face to face contact, and my observation is that cooperation across functions is poorer in the WFH environment.

Also, eventually people will figure out that WFH is not necessarily a benefit, it's a way to push the cost of your employment back onto you.

Those who actually make the actual stuff will definitely be working on site for the foreseeable future. Staff who support those workers can work from home at least part time.

 

[sledog]

I think a major factor in determing 'success' of WFH is how many times your hairy butt passes thru your wife's ZOOM conferences.

 

[Deepster]

We had one. He lived 4 hours away and still felt it was so important to be in the office that he spent one week per month up in CT in the office. That was his choice but he saw how valuable it was.

Interesting. I have three managers. One in CT, the two in other states. Each manager has a mix of employees from the three offices. I see the other two managers in person 2-3 times a year and it runs like clockwork. Maybe we’re just more progressive.

 

[Excalibur]

Those who actually make the actual stuff will definitely be working on site for the foreseeable future. Staff who support those workers can work from home at least part time.

I'm talking about the engineers and designers. Those people don't need to be on site all of the time, but they certainly do for some of it.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I'm talking about the engineers and designers. Those people don't need to be on site all of the time, but they certainly do for some of it.

Absolutely. My company had about a two week break in March where they sent everyone home and then started bringing back the workers to the plants where stuff is made. At first is was one week on, one week off with two separate crews. I think it was somewhere around July when we went back to full on shifts for those in manufacturing. Keeping 6' distance wasn't much of an issue and in a manufacturing environment many workers already were required to wear PPE like masks and gloves. Ventilation was also always good prior to corona.

 

[NJHusky]

I'm talking about the engineers and designers. Those people don't need to be on site all of the time, but they certainly do for some of it.

Depends what type of engineer. Software def not but others prob need to be on site more frequently. Hard to prototype “stuff” at home

 

[glastonbury50]

I got a new job during the pandemic where I was trained from home. I was concerned about the learning curve at the beginning but it ended up working just fine. Really enjoying skipping the commute through Hartford.

 

[Zanzman]

My wife got the work from home orders until June 2021.. There's nothing more infuriating with having to get up and go teach, she's still sleeping when I leave - and when I come home she's in sweats watching Family Feud. Rage level has been very high lately.
[/QUOTEfwel sorry for your spouse

 

[uconnfan68]

My team has been virtual since we started. I was talking to a lawyer at a big firm in NYC and he said they did a survey and 85% of the people want to work at home going forward. In the past it was only partners that could do that and staff had to be in every day...now they know they can function with staff at home.

I would not want to be a commercial landlord in NYC as leases expire.

What do people think will be the future of NYC? Is the exodus temporary or has the city changed permanently?

Not just NYC... everywhere.

 

[Battasbaby]

We did a completely virtual 8 week training for 5 new hires. We had adobe boards with video and screen sharing capability, so you could see everyone in real time, read their facial expressions and connect with them as you were presenting. Feedback was it was no different than physical class room training.

They are new hires, how would they know what your normal training is like?

 

[navery12]

They are new hires, how would they know what your normal training is like?

Unless they were being hired straight out of college I assume they've had training at other jobs before

 

[Deepster]

They are new hires, how would they know what your normal training is like?

We took weekly assessments on the curriculum and compared it with previous classes. We use prior members of the training program as facilitators and get feedback. Since the class has ended, we perform quality management reviews of their work and compare them with prior class results.

 

[huskypantz]

Hey on another note, is anyone who is NOT a business owner looking to deduct monthly internet fees or any other incurred costs from 2020 taxes? I understand that itemizing is not likely possible but I'm reading that we can probably deduct a percentage (looks like 25% is the sweet spot) based on work done at home using personal internet.

 

[HCCForever]

I don't miss working at the office one bit. I am a software developer. I started working from home after moving to Florida in October since most of the people I work with are in India, Utah, Colorado and Tennessee. So I didn't have to worry about work relationships since they were pretty weak anyway. There was some initial resistance from my manager at first which was ridiculous since he works remotely from New Hampshire. COVID has made those type of arguments moot.

The only time we saw each other, except for the folks in India, was 2 to 3 days every 10 weeks for planning. We have not had planning sessions other than zoom since January. It may never happen again since we get just as much done without the company expense.

I'm an old timer so working from home is fine with me and I will be happy to do that until I retire. I used to enjoy having workmates as friends, drinking buddies and athletic teammates but those days are long gone anyway. I used to crack a beer during the workday but I haven't done that in months either since the novelty wore off

 

[temery]

I'm retired, and hope to continue to do so from home.

That's all I got. Good luck.

 

[huskiesNhoos]

anyone else work in manufacturing or similar? I've been at the office/shop throughout the pandemic and don't see a point where I would do otherwise. My role is such that I have the ability to work from home when I feel like it, but generally I like/need to be hands-on with production equipment (CNC mills, lathes, 3D printers, molds, dies, etc)

For engineers (mechanical specifically...not too sure about other fields) I see a big split between the CAD jockeys and the guys that actually get involved with the equipment. Going back to the whole future of college discussion I see a big shift in terms of career path, where if you want the ability to work from home go to college. If you're not too concerned about that go to a trade school.

 

[alexd]

anyone else work in manufacturing or similar? I've been at the office/shop throughout the pandemic and don't see a point where I would do otherwise. My role is such that I have the ability to work from home when I feel like it, but generally I like/need to be hands-on with production equipment (CNC mills, lathes, 3D printers, molds, dies, etc)

For engineers (mechanical specifically...not too sure about other fields) I see a big split between the CAD jockeys and the guys that actually get involved with the equipment. Going back to the whole future of college discussion I see a big shift in terms of career path, where if you want the ability to work from home go to college. If you're not too concerned about that go to a trade school.

I work for one of those huge aerospace companies in CT. Less than half of the office staff are in the office right now. People who can work remotely; Procurement, staff engineers, project managers are doing so. While Ops/Planning, Manuf. Engineers, QE's and such are on site spread out pretty far. Their rule is you must wear a mask unless eating or drinking including while working at your cubicle.

 

[Chin Diesel]

anyone else work in manufacturing or similar? I've been at the office/shop throughout the pandemic and don't see a point where I would do otherwise. My role is such that I have the ability to work from home when I feel like it, but generally I like/need to be hands-on with production equipment (CNC mills, lathes, 3D printers, molds, dies, etc)

For engineers (mechanical specifically...not too sure about other fields) I see a big split between the CAD jockeys and the guys that actually get involved with the equipment. Going back to the whole future of college discussion I see a big shift in terms of career path, where if you want the ability to work from home go to college. If you're not too concerned about that go to a trade school.

I work within aerospace as well. My specific team has been working from home. Some other team members do software work on proprietary information on local servers in a few buildings. No remote access to servers. They've been working on site since March without any issues.
I started working with some customers two weeks ago. They came from outside our facility and had to quarantine for two weeks. We've now been side by side for two weeks. Sometimes masked, sometimes unmasked. As far as I can tell we are all still healthy.

 

[huskiesNhoos]

I work for one of those huge aerospace companies in CT. Less than half of the office staff are in the office right now. People who can work remotely; Procurement, staff engineers, project managers are doing so. While Ops/Planning, Manuf. Engineers, QE's and such are on site spread out pretty far. Their rule is you must wear a mask unless eating or drinking including while working at your cubicle.

I work within aerospace as well. My specific team has been working from home. Some other team members do software work on proprietary information on local servers in a few buildings. No remote access to servers. They've been working on site since March without any issues.
I started working with some customers two weeks ago. They came from outside our facility and had to quarantine for two weeks. We've now been side by side for two weeks. Sometimes masked, sometimes unmasked. As far as I can tell we are all still healthy.

That's pretty similar to our setup now I'm just in a much smaller company. I've always got mask on in the office and tech dev area, but when I'm in the machine shop everyone looks at you weird if you've got one on.

Remote access has helped me so I can use stuff like solidworks and mastercam, but connection is always terrible so I find myself getting frustrated more times than not.

 

[Chin Diesel]

That's pretty similar to our setup now I'm just in a much smaller company. I've always got mask on in the office and tech dev area, but when I'm in the machine shop everyone looks at you weird if you've got one on.

Remote access has helped me so I can use stuff like solidworks and mastercam, but connection is always terrible so I find myself getting frustrated more times than not.

Interesting. I would think a machine shop, with opportunities of inhaling fine particle dust or chemicals, would be prime location for masks and gloves.

The week before labor day had me doing some hands on work and every 15 minutes, as part of the work, we were wiping surfaces with isopropyl alcohol and changes out nitrile gloves several times a day. Even working close quarters I felt very safe.

 

[Edward Sargent]

I think working remotely was already happening with companies selling off large office campuses. Look at IBM in Kingston. The company I worked for shuttered a huge corporate headquarters in western Jersey to move back to its original headquarters in in Union County which was once deemed to small. I spent a couple of days at the Forrestal Center in Princeton and you have massive empty office buildings belonging to some of the largest companies. Those that weren't already vacant have a half dozen cars in the parking lot. How about big box stores? They are all bleeding money and eventually will give in to online purchasing. Macy's for example huge presence in NYC - its only a matter of time before the cost of that presence has to be cut. As for NYC, some leadership would help but I agree with Fishy its dire.

 

[HCCForever]

Interesting articles in The Economist this week talking about the future of work. Different countries have different opinions on whether the office is obsolete. 84% of office workers are back in France while only 40% are back in Great Britain. But more importantly from my perspective is how this affects mass transit. NYC subway system has a $16 billion shortfall. I never took a Metro North to NYC for work but it was nice to have that option to go to MSG or NYC in general.

 

[mussels]

it was nice to have that option to go to MSG

Yes - how this all affects the Big East Tourney is the real issue. Everything else with the work stuff is details.

 

[Lefty2one]

But more importantly from my perspective is how this affects mass transit. NYC subway system has a $16 billion shortfall. I never took a Metro North to NYC for work but it was nice to have that option to go to MSG or NYC in general.

I heard on the radio this morning (from Cuomo or de Blasio's office, can't remember which) that NYC's wealthy should expect a significant tax increase in coming the years to make up for the decline in tax revenue from lost businesses and residents. Good luck with that. If there's one thing the wealthy are good at it's finding tax loopholes to keep their money.

NYC is going to face some serious challenges in the next decade. The city will be fine, but it'll be interesting to follow nonetheless. It's been what, a 25-30 year golden era for NYC? Even with 9/11 and the recession. What goes up always comes down.

 

[August_West]

I think working remotely was already happening with companies selling off large office campuses. Look at IBM in Kingston. The company I worked for shuttered a huge corporate headquarters in western Jersey to move back to its original headquarters in in Union County which was once deemed to small. I spent a couple of days at the Forrestal Center in Princeton and you have massive empty office buildings belonging to some of the largest companies. Those that weren't already vacant have a half dozen cars in the parking lot. How about big box stores? They are all bleeding money and eventually will give in to online purchasing. Macy's for example huge presence in NYC - its only a matter of time before the cost of that presence has to be cut. As for NYC, some leadership would help but I agree with Fishy its dire.

NYC is gonna be just fine.

 

[NJHusky]

NYC's wealthy should expect a significant tax increase in coming the years to make up for the decline in tax revenue from lost businesses and residents. Good luck with that. If there's one thing the wealthy are good at it's finding tax loopholes to keep their money.

What the wealthy are good at is making/keeping money. What Cuomo/DiBlasio fail to realize is that for many/most people that live/work in NYC, this has proven they don't need to stay there. They can live anywhere and come to NY when they want.

The city/state combined max rate is 12.7% i believe. How much higher do they want it go? 15% Someone making 1M can save 125-150k (without investment income)/ year by moving to Miami...That's a lot of plane flights to NY.

David Tepper moving to FL cost NJ 140 million in tax revenue/year...let's see how many NY hedge funds are still in NY in 2022 if they go forward with a tax increase. The people that will get screwed are those that make good money but not enough to be location agnostic

 

[superjohn]

What the wealthy are good at is making/keeping money. What Cuomo/DiBlasio fail to realize is that for many/most people that live/work in NYC, this has proven they don't need to stay there. They can live anywhere and come to NY when they want.

The city/state combined max rate is 12.7% i believe. How much higher do they want it go? 15% Someone making 1M can save 125-150k (without investment income)/ year by moving to Miami...That's a lot of plane flights to NY.

David Tepper moving to FL cost NJ 140 million in tax revenue/year...let's see how many NY hedge funds are still in NY in 2022 if they go forward with a tax increase.

Pritzker is pushing a new progressive tax vote which he says won't effect 97% of people but it's all a sham. If this doesn't effect most people this time it will in the near future and this will just make the weathy leave Chicago and the wealthy burbs. Many would be okay with paying higher taxes if the money went towards balancing the budget and fixing the pension crisis but it's always the same. The politicians just look at it as a license to spend more of our money and they keep going to that well.

 

[NJHusky]

Pritzker is pushing a new progressive tax vote which he says won't effect 97% of people but it's all a sham. If this doesn't effect most people this time it will in the near future and this will just make the weathy leave Chicago and the wealthy burbs. Many would be okay with paying higher taxes if the money went towards balancing the budget and fixing the pension crisis but it's always the same. The politicians just look at it as a license to spend more of our money and they keep going to that well.

Yup...Lot's of folks from Illinois in my part of FL. That 97 % number is nice except when u realize in NJ the top 1% pay 1/3 of the income tax. You don’t need a lot of people leaving to upset the balance