I have several thoughts on this. The first is that I don't see it as leading to disintegration of cities, as projected by many SF authors of the 1950s, because there are too many benefits to living in an urban center, notably proximity to all the things which can't be tele-worked. The advantage of being able to get a plumber when your pipe bursts in the middle of the night cannot be denied! In fact it may improve the economic vitality of cities, because there will be less pressure to give big tax breaks in order to attract large office-type employers. What I would see is a greater emphasis on quality of life.
Another is that this represents a further shifting of costs from employer to employee. We've seen a lot of this, for example, "credentialism" in hiring, which is not only a way of shifting training costs, but also in effect of having the employee indemnify the employer, who can disclaim responsibility for evaluating whether the person hired for the job was really suitable for it. On the other hand, the reduction of transportation costs, as well as time lost in transit, might well make the employee come out ahead anyway.
A third is that there is probably substantial benefit to the kind of collaboration which can take place in an office environment, but that it is very unevenly distributed across (a) fields of work, & (b) types of workplace. Often, making any kind of changes requires forcing the hands of the managers. We shall see what results the experiment returns!
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2020-05-25 04:20 pm (UTC)Another is that this represents a further shifting of costs from employer to employee. We've seen a lot of this, for example, "credentialism" in hiring, which is not only a way of shifting training costs, but also in effect of having the employee indemnify the employer, who can disclaim responsibility for evaluating whether the person hired for the job was really suitable for it. On the other hand, the reduction of transportation costs, as well as time lost in transit, might well make the employee come out ahead anyway.
A third is that there is probably substantial benefit to the kind of collaboration which can take place in an office environment, but that it is very unevenly distributed across (a) fields of work, & (b) types of workplace. Often, making any kind of changes requires forcing the hands of the managers. We shall see what results the experiment returns!