Work from Home? Watch What You Wish For
In this piece from ACC Docket, James Bellerjeau, a lecturer in the LLM program of the University of Zürich and former longtime group GC with an S&P 500 company, poses a provocative proposition which should chafe the champions of remote work: "[A]s wonderful as you no doubt are," he says, "how much less attractive does an employee have to be who costs your company but a fraction of what you do, is grateful to have a job, and is willing to work extremely hard because they do not take their good luck for granted? Needless to say, who is based in a country where successful lawsuits against employers are rare, and class actions do not exist."
Bellerjeau isn't shy about questioning WFH. And he's cognizant that his opinion is not, shall we say, in the ascendancy. "I can't tell you how many people have told me I’m dead wrong for suggesting offices are still relevant," he says, citing a piece he did called, There Has Never Been a Better Time to Go Back to the Office. "While this is undeniably true, let me offer two thoughts for you to consider. The first is a reminder that we are hardly objective in evaluating evidence when we have a strong interest in the outcome. Even if you trust your own thoughts, and good for you, the second item I offer for your consideration might give you pause. Namely, if it is true that your job can be performed perfectly well remotely, does it necessarily follow that your job can only be performed by you?"
He goes further, citing the investment banks for their bravery in leading the way on reeling workers back in. Then he plays a strong trump card: Google.
"Turns out that it's not just the investment banks who realized face-to-face collaboration is kind of important. They were just the first ones courageous enough to say it," he writes. "In September 2021, Google itself announced it was paying $2.1 billion to buy a Manhattan office building."
Wait, what? The WFH champion adding office space? Whatever for? Google's comment accompanying the purchase speaks volumes:
"We know that our employees, in order to be really happy and productive, need to collaborate. Because of that need to collaborate, we've been investing more and more in office space."
Read more here at, Don't WFH Yourself Out of a Job.
Published April 4, 2022.
