Remote Working News and Discussions

User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Remote Working News and Discussions

Post by caltrek »

Surviving Remotely – What Impact Did Remote Work Have on Employee Psyche?
March 21, 2022

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/947146

Introduction:
(EurekAlert) On March 11, 2020, when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, life changed dramatically for most Americans. While much of the world was already feeling the impact of the virus by that point, the declaration was when the virus “hit home” for Americans. Sports leagues shut down. Public schools closed. And many white-collar workers were forced to turn kitchen tables, spare bedrooms, or garages into “temporary” office space.

What impact did the massive and abrupt move to remote work have on the employee psyche? William Becker, associate professor of management in the Pamplin College of Business, attempts to answer this and related questions in his recently published research, “Surviving remotely: How job control and loneliness during a forced shift to remote work impacted employee work behaviors and well-being.”

Becker’s paper investigates the impact of job control — or a person’s ability to influence what happens in the work environment — and work-related loneliness on employee work behaviors and well-being during the massive and abrupt move to remote work amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In the paper, Becker draws upon job-demands control and social baseline theory to link employee-perceived job control and work-related loneliness to emotional exhaustion and work-life balance. He then posits direct and indirect effects on employee deviant work behaviors, depression, and insomnia.

“Our findings reinforce that greater perceptions of job control are generally beneficial for employee well-being and productivity,” explained Becker. “However, not all employees perceived high job control during the forced change to remote work, which could be due either to the fact that the change was forced by the COVID-19 pandemic or to the way organizations handled this shift, or both.”

As the country approaches the second anniversary of the pandemic, many of the changes brought about by COVID-19 have become permanent fixtures in our day-to-day lives, including remote work. Because of this, organizations and human resource professionals will need to adapt to the new dynamics of work.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
Yuli Ban
Posts: 4631
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:44 pm

Re: Remote Working News and Discussions

Post by Yuli Ban »

And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Remote Working News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

Working 9-5 doesn’t mean being chained to a desk. Someone tell Jacob Rees-Mogg

Mon 25 Apr 2022 15.32 BST

The joke must have seemed merry at the time. The “minister for Brexit opportunities” leaves a calling card on his absent officials’ desks saying: “Sorry you were out when I visited. I look forward to seeing you in the office very soon.” He also suggests in a Mail on Sunday article that they might like to stick to what he called “the shires” and forgo their London weighting allowance.

The mind reels at the replies Jacob Rees-Mogg may receive. They could include: “Have been up all night trying to think of opportunities for the 98 British scientists told to relocate to the EU if they want any research money.” Or perhaps: “Have been at home trying to think of opportunities for British farmers we have refused to protect from EU imports for a fourth time.” Or perhaps even: “I just can’t face another opportunities meeting in Whitehall.”

Rees-Mogg’s Brexit has been largely responsible for 91,000 extra officials being appointed since 2015-16, of whom about 25,000 are attributable to Brexit. Lockdown and Brexit may have sent civil service productivity plummeting, but that is the fault of ministers, not officials. For two years, Rees-Mogg and his boss have been ordering workers to stay at home, causing many upheavals in their working lives as they have juggled work with other responsibilities, such as home schooling. Not all officials are like butlers, at the disposal of Rees-Mogg’s click of the fingers.

It is clear that the idea of office work as the “white-collar” equivalent of clock-watching factory work is dead. The pandemic and the digital revolution have shattered the relationship between labour and location. After a post-lockdown surge, data is now showing the “return to work” has plateaued. Tube travel into central London midweek has steadied at between 60% and 67% of pre-Covid levels, with a significant rise only on Thursdays, much favoured by the “three-day hybrids”. Law and finance firms are reporting offices at between 30 and 60% of capacity. Retail footfall has stabilised at 80% of pre-Covid numbers. The property consultants Remit estimated in February that clerical occupancy was as low as just 25%, far below pre-pandemic levels. This may change over time, but something drastic has happened and is unlikely to be reversed.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... l-servants


Image
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Remote Working News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

The comments section is an absolute dumpster fire.

-----

Apple employees demand more flexibility after returning to office

Allison McDaniel
- Apr. 29th 2022 1:24 pm PT

Earlier this month, Apple had employees return to work at the corporate office in a hybrid format. The process has been gradual. They’re currently in the office one day per week, but according to company policy, by May 23 employees will need to be in office at least three days per week.

However, some employees have not warmed up to the idea of returning to the office. Organizing under a new group called “Apple Together,” these individuals are advocating for employees’ well-being and rights. In a letter addressed to company leadership on Apple Together’s website Friday, these employees push leadership for increased flexibility.

https://9to5mac.com/2022/04/29/apple-em ... exibility/
User avatar
R8Z
Posts: 267
Joined: Mon Jun 28, 2021 6:25 pm
Location: Remote

Re: Remote Working News and Discussions

Post by R8Z »

wjfox wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 5:05 pm The comments section is an absolute dumpster fire.
I agree. These are the people that wouldn't be able to adapt in an automated society. They also represent the ones that follow the motto "if I suffer you must suffer too".
And, as always, bye bye.
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Remote Working News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

Half of UK employees ‘threaten to quit’ if they aren’t offered flexible working

Monday 2 May 2022

How would you react if you were suddenly told you had to go back to the office full-time?

If you were in the privileged position of being able to work from home during the pandemic, you might have got used to the flexibility of managing your hours and the increased freedoms of not having to commute.

Now, many bosses want people back in the office – but it looks like they could have a fight on their hands.

New research has revealed that almost half of UK office workers (47%) are ready to walk away from their current job and look for new opportunities if flexibility is not provided by their employer, rising to 60% in workers aged 25-34.

However, almost half of UK businesses (48%) are insisting that their employees return to the workplace, at least on a part-time basis.

https://metro.co.uk/2022/05/02/half-of- ... -16569231/
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Remote Working News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

Return to office work: Apple’s machine learning director resigns

May 08 2022

After just over three years, GAN inventor Ian Goodfellow is leaving Apple because he finds the three-day mandatory attendance at Apple Park too strict.

After more than two years in the home office, Apple is slowly asking its employees to return to the office. Since April, employees should spend at least one day a week in the office, since the beginning of May it has been two days, and from the end of May it will be three days.

This had already led to protests from some Apple employees, but so far they have not been able to change Apple CEO Tim Cook’s mind. Due to Apple’s home office policy, Ian Goodfellow, a well-known AI researcher, is now leaving Apple Park.

According to The Verge reporter Zoë Schiffer, Goodfellow is leaving Apple because of the company’s back-to-office policy. The Reporter quotes an internal email from Goodfellow: “I strongly believe that more flexibility would have been the best strategy for my team,” the AI researcher writes.

In his mid-30s, Goodfellow is considered the inventor of GA networks, the technology behind deepfakes and numerous AI models for synthetically generated media or features such as AI-assisted upscaling.

https://mixed-news.com/en/return-to-off ... r-resigns/
User avatar
raklian
Posts: 1747
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:46 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: Remote Working News and Discussions

Post by raklian »

wjfox wrote: Sun May 08, 2022 8:15 pm Return to office work: Apple’s machine learning director resigns
This should be seen as a warning sign to companies something similar will happen should they implement return to office policies.

I predict there will be a boom of remote working startups consisting of former employees who had to quit their former jobs because of this policy.
To know is essentially the same as not knowing. The only thing that occurs is the rearrangement of atoms in your brain.
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Remote Working News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Remote Working News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

Post Reply