Comments by "looseycanon" (@looseycanon) on "Bloomberg Originals" channel.

  1. I've been saying it for a while, that working from home doesn't work for everyone. There are problems with it. Big problems, to which there are solutions. However, companies must be willing to carry the expenses associated with them, not as legally as possible shift them on to their employees, which is the default mindset of managers these days. Be it actual monetary expense, or one more subtle, less likely to be noticed. What are some of these? 1) Internet costs. As much as people buy their Internet connection for other reasons, a single connection might not be enough to provide truly reliable access to the Internet, therefore, secondary backup connection need's to be established. Question now is, who is going to pay for that connection? One could argue, that it's only needed for work, so the company should pay for it, or at very least, reimburse the employee for establishing it. And that's just Internet access, what about employee's home network? It too, need's to be reliable, necessitating upgrade to prosumer or even enterprise gear, which can get expensive fast. 2) Control freak. There are bosses who demand absolute control over their employees, going as far as completely invading their privacy. A seemingly legitimate demand of the employer for maintaining security of his data accessed from either his or employee's computer could result in massive invasion of privacy. Home networks are typically not segmented in to VLANs, meaning a nosy employer could access private and incriminating data, which even the police would need a warrant for. 3) Housing costs. There is actual research out there, which suggests, that it is beneficial to have clearly divided work space from other spaces, most importantly those used for recreation. However, very few flats and houses are within reach of employees, who could benefit from working from home. Either housing costs must dramatically fall to allow people to save enough to buy a house, or wages need to go significantly up, or companies must provide assurances to banks for their employees, so that they will be able to get appropriate housing. Plus, new housing standards need to be put in place and landowner's position need's to be significantly weakened, because that is what's driving up costs partially. To sum up, there are three, potentially four things that need to happen, if telecommuting is to become a reality. 1) micromanagement and employee monitoring need's to be curtailed or outright banned. 2) Real wages need to rise 3) Housing need's to be made far more affordable And in case of hybrid options 4) Public transport need's to become truly available and reliable. Three buses in the morning, three in the afternoon and three in the evening and nothing else won't suffice for working from home partially. We're talking at least every thirty minutes a bus or train even to the smallest hamlet and it must connect it to public transport hub. From anywhere to any place of work, no more than three changes must be made possible and all on single fare and single ticket. Otherwise, there will not be any drive to go that route.
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