[malloci]

I can only imagine the overhead expenses saved by a company embracing the full wfh option in this manner.

Of course, so many large companies were in the process of building large new buildings / campuses as the pandemic hit, so I can also see this as a way to ensure those large investments aren't seen as a waste.

[raybb]

I wonder how the math works for the financial aspect of this. Building an office is an investment in the sense of it being good for your staff to go there and work well yadayada. It's probably also an investment in the sense of the value of the land and the surrounding areas which the probably own a chunk of too. Kinda like how McDonald's is more a real estate company that is good at finding renters (aka the people who run the fast food joints).

I've been interested in learning more about the financialization of housing lately and this isn't exactly the same but it feels similar.

[konschubert]

Most companies rent their offices, they are not in the real estate business

[brianwawok]

You buy less offices, but likely need more managers and spend more time in zoom. It’s not as clear cut as most people assume.

[karmelapple]

I’m curious why you think you’d need more managers.

Whether meetings are in Zoom or in person doesn’t necessarily change how much effort is expended. It really depends on the team from my experience, not the medium of the meeting.

An unproductive team will have unproductive meetings whether in person or on Zoom.

[brianwawok]

I have run both in person and fully remote startups. It takes way more time and effort to manage a remote team well.

(FWIW we are 100% remote right now, but there are for sure drawbacks)

[karmelapple]

Would be happy to chat about this or learn more. I am a manager of a remote team, and have not been a manager of an in-person team, and I can't quite envision how much more challenging my work is compared to if my team was co-located each day.