If only there was an objective way to measure the productivity of a commercial enterprise.... like with money... oh wait, they have been making MORE money? With LESS productive workers? Curious

Here is a link to the actual study (PDF via GDrive)

One of the authors of this paper is from the Chicago School and the Hoover Institution. Both are pro-business, anti-worker. They also don't do any research of their own, but cite other papers that show the 5-20% reduction.

However, the methodology mentioned in the papers is suspect. First, they show that remote workers have the same productivity, but work longer hours. So the net output doesn't go down, they just spend more time working. Which raises the question: How many more breaks were they taking throughout the day? Being remote means a much more flexible schedule, so it's not uncommon to take longer breaks if you're a salaried worker.

Another study was IT professionals shifting to remote work at one company at the start of the pandemic. This one showed an 18% reduction in productivity. But considering the timing of this and that company culture and procedures can contribute to this, it doesn't seem to be a valid data point.

Then they bring up some common criticisms of WFH, which I've seen and refuted since I started working from home 2009: People can't communicate, working in groups is harder, and people can't control themselves. Yawn.

Honestly, the fact that they cherry picked hybrid work as being equally productive shows me this isn't about productivity, it's about keeping offices open. Which makes sense considering one of the authors is affiliated with groups that want to prop up the commercial rental business.

Let's be honest, Forbes has been a trashhole for a while.

Totally bullshit. When I'm in the office I'm constantly approached by coworkers wanting to chit chat. Sometimes even when I'm in a Teams meeting with headphones on.

Listened to a podcast about this earlier in the week. The research test case was call center workers. Seems like bullshit to generalize like this for all work types. Also, let’s remember how high productivity was during the pandemic when everyone was working from home.

For me personally, my productivity is boosted. Without a commute I end up working an additional 2 hours a day. I have more time to focus and spend less time at lunch. In the office, my coworkers and the environment is distracting. I spend an hour at lunch with my coworkers.

Additionally, all meetings are now remote. Even in the office, people call in from their desks. There is no reason to be in the office.

It's both decreasing productivity AND saving the economy!!!

https://fortune.com/2023/08/01/remote-work-preventing-economy-from-recession/

Such an incredible paradox 🤯

I swear, when I'm called into the office I get fuck all nothing done. Like once in a while there's a reason for me to be on site, and I do that thing and nothing else all day.

Distractions, interruptions, noise, general discomfort. Seems every time I actually start making progress on something, a person stops by my desk and that basically erases whatever I did. So it always ends with "I'll do it tomorrow when I'm at home".

I dunno giving people more freedom tends to improve their productivity and they get more work done in less time than some micro manging wanker

When I come to office (one day per week), I come to have a great time with colleagues. No one forces me, I can work fully remote, it's just nice to have colleagues around. We go for a vape, for a lunch, for a walk. Good times. Ohh, and also few meetings that day, since I live ~150km away from office lol.

I openly say in office that I can't work from office. Basically socializing and that's it. Productivity almost zero.

While on the other hand, working from home is where I shine. I can fully focus on my scripting/coding/automation stuff.

I'm okay with decreased productivity. I don't own stock in the company.

good thing it reduces productivity! we produce too much shit anyway.

It's funny how these kinds of articles always read exactly the same. I honestly want to know what offices they are using for these supposed metrics because it seems like people are doing everything they can to just endure and waste time while in actual offices.

Cries in real estate value

Look I work from home, I think everyone who can (and wants to) work from home should work from home most of the time. But people are definitely less productive working from home, and I think the people who say that most people are more productive are delusional.

There are more important things than just raw productivity numbers, western workers have been working far too hard and far too long for the last half century, and I think we should return to a more humane approach to working.

Also froma purely selfish capitalist perspective I don't neccesarily think the productivity boost of being in person is worth all the costs of a bigger office, cleaning staff etc.

Fuck Forbes!

A lot of people seem to just be reacting to this without reading and understand. Granted, Forbs does not go sufficiently in depth to the findings to make this easy.

From what I've read on this, the underlying study here has valuable information that we can all use, understand, and digest.

Does your role require a lot of colaberation? You may need to ensure you have something better than email and phones to replace your ability to talk to someone who would have otherwise sat next to you.

Do you have a lot of junior employees? You will likely need to spend more effort on ensuring they get the quality training they need.

Like.... Sure. A CEO could easily read the title of this article and decide to just bring everyone back to the office without thinking critically. But that doesn't mean we should do the opposite we should be arming ourselves with this information so we can know how to counter our boss's arguments to ensure we can get what we want.

There are tons of other studies that show massive increases in productivity. These bullshit studies are probably sponsored by commercial real estate landlords. They're losing $850B per year since 2020.

Lmaooooooo Forbes runs a story on a report that's still in draft (the references section header reads very incomplete), just to spread propaganda that "working from home doesn't work!!!!!!!!"

I like going into the office sometimes and the one I'm in is real nice, but I know some are awful, and commutes can be way longer than mine! (one-way 40 minutes by bus).

The same study says hybrid work (1-4 of 5 days remote work) provided on average a small positive change in productivity.

Sure, some people work better when surrounded by colleagues. Those people usually know that and will seek out on-site work, because it probably also makes them happier.

People who are more efficient at home probably also feel better at home and will seek out remote work.

If you want a much smaller hiring pool, more office upkeep costs and more transport emissions, sure make everyone come into the office... it's so dumb to do this.

IMO if your sector lends itself to remote work and it's not working for your company, you're doing something else wrong.

12ft.io link to the article

How else will they justify spending money on these huge office buildings (monuments to capitalists) to their investors if you aren’t there pretending to be busy?

Linking the paper "cited" in this article here. It's almost like the author didn't even read the executive summary...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kqbngD8pemqxAkZmWCOQ32Yk6PXK9eVA/view

Do these folks factor in people who have to waste 1 hour in commuting to and from the office? Or do they pay for that as well?

I skimmed through it real quick, but I didn’t see anything where they defined how they measured productivity. Did I miss that part?

I'm shocked people still read: Forbes, fortune and business insider.

What ever legitimacy they once held in the business world is long gone. All three of them went click bait long before COVID (BI was always a click bait outfit) and I find their content to be on par with UK gossip rags or the National Enquirer.

Suggestion, start filtering out these three sites from your news gathering and stop sharing articles on social media from them. It'll make the world a better place!