https://fortune.com/2023/08/03/michael-bloomberg-billionaire-return-to-office-federal-agencies/
Empty offices are a problem that could result in another run on the banks, some economists have warned, with swaths of new office buildings financed on short-term loans with no leases taken out to pay for it. Morgan Stanley estimates that $1.5 trillion in commercial real estate loans are due to be repaid by 2025.
With 176 offices across the world—some of which cost more than $1 billion to build—it’s perhaps not a surprise that Bloomberg is keen to get his own staff back through the doors, a sentiment echoed by JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon.
But we proved the work can be done remotely for a sustained period of time. It cuts down on traffic and lessens exposure to illness. We have a new model of work and there’s no putting the toothpaste back in the tube
Even if covid was gone (it isn’t), wfh made me realise that seasonal colds and flus aren’t a necessity. Like they’re just an inconvenience for the most part, but they’re an inconvenience that can mostly be avoided at almost no cost. Actually, a negative cost if you account for rent and commuting costs.
It is, in fact, to the benefit of many businesses to downsize their physical presence in the office. If the only people who benefited from work from home were workers, we would see this policy abolished very quickly, but as it turns out, capitalist firms also hate landlords. This is a showdown between the FIRE sector and the whole rest of the economy, and I don’t think FIRE is going to win. Sure, these investment banks can drag all of their workers back to downtown Manhattan, but that is not going to bridge the gap.
What do you mean by the FIRE sector? Isn’t part of this push back to the office due to commercial real estate interests? I’m sure there are FIRE people who own “investment property” but I don’t know if that is the strongest force at play here. Not disagreeing with you just trying to get a better picture in my head.
Isn’t FIRE, Finance, Insurance, Real Estate? These seem to be the folks who are most deeply invested in returning people to work. The people who took out massive loans on these properties to develop them, with the expectation of steady rental incomes. A secondary effect of the abundance of unrented office space is a slump in development, as well as a slump in the value of residential properties in the immediate vicinity of these downtown economic zones (Who’s going to pay premium rents for an apartment in Midtown when they can telecommute from Maine?). Insurance, while being a very broad industry, is tied very closely with the Real Estate industry, and because of the extreme commodification of housing, this has broad effects on the entire financial economy.
Porky and the PMC can’t stand the idea of their workers not being completely under their thumbs.
If you work from home, the work gets done, but you might also be doing something like reading a book, or watching Netflix while working. You might be working in casual clothes, or playing with your cat.
In an office though, Porky has control. They can dictate everything, police everything. Make sure every minute has you working, police your clothing choices, force overtime, force office team building events. The PMC thrives on control.
“The government should force people to commute for 2 hours a day so I can buy more yachts”. Wow very cool
I love this, it’s a problem for society because it’s a problem for me personally because I stand to lose money. You like your lives at home? You prefer less carbon emissions? You don’t want a middle manager minder peaking over your shoulder all day? How does that affect me or my bottom line, though?
looking for jobs rn and you would not believe how much more these places have to be paying to get me genuinely considering full time in person work. 100% fuck that, i want to keep my headphones in and not have to get up at bullshit times in the morning, suck my dick about it bourgeoisie
I don’t get the financial advantage of RTO to a company that was more in the business of using the space than selling/leasing it out. If they owned the space, what’s the problem? Maintenance is easier, you can remodel whenever and now have the option of selling. If they were leasing, they can stop or renegotiate for better terms. Are has fallen for a sunk cost fallacy?
