[George83728]

> The tragedy of the commons is a phenomenon described in economics and ecology in which common resources, to which access is not regulated by formal rules or fees/taxes levied based on individual use, tend to become depleted

Okay but with remote work, what's the unregulated common resource being depleted or ruined?

[anonymouskimmer]

The parent term is "Collective action problem", but, like calling all nasal tissue paper "Kleenex", people often forget the parent term and use the most well-known specific term (including me, recently).

[George83728]

Okay, so because the Blizzard employees aren't unionized, they can't force Blizzard management to back off this plan. I get that, and if those workers decided to unionize to address this issue I think that would work. But it doesn't stop them from seeking employment at other remote work companies. If the collective of employees at Blizzard can't or won't unionize, seeking employment at other companies is their next best option for those individual employees who care the most. That 'commons' hasn't been ruined, because such remote work companies really do exist and are a realistic non-ruined option.

[anonymouskimmer]

"The commons", here, is the status quo of the last couple of years in which many employees at all software companies could work remotely. This commons is now being sectioned off into companies that allow full use of this resource, and those who don't.

This is a tragedy, and it is a tragedy about a common good that briefly existed as a common good, but it's not technically a "tragedy of the commons" in the original sense.

I understand people conflating the terms in this example.

[anonymouskimmer]

Also, management can't legally unionize, at least in the US. Even middle management, who are affected by this policy change.

[antisthenes]

> Okay but with remote work, what's the unregulated common resource being depleted or ruined?

The power of workers to dictate their working conditions. Currently, this common resource is being overused by elites who are able to command remote work for themselves but not for regular level workers.

[dymk]

Remote work at Blizzard for Blizzard employees is the resource we’re talking about here

[George83728]

The suggestion to which you responded was "Or you know, you can quit and go to a full-remote company." The "commons" would be the entire job market for games programmers, not this company specifically.