So much money wasted to set up open offices that will have to revert back once we go back to work (unless they plan to leave it as it is, which is a recipe for disaster.) Or they decide to let all of us work from home, which, in my book, would be a much better alternative to anything.
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The Rise of the Remote Workforce
I wonder if Big Blew will heed the findings for itself from this survey it conducted? Naaaaaaawwwwww, wishful thinking, I'm sure. Everyone needs to be "shoulder-to-shoulder"!
IBM Study: COVID-19 Is Significantly Altering U.S. Consumer Behavior and Plans Post-Crisis –
https://newsroom.ibm.com/2020-05-01-IBM-Study-COVID-19-Is-Significantly-Altering-U-S-Consumer-Behavior-and-Plans-Post-Crisis
IBM employees should be up in arms about the poor pay and benefits, ruthless cuts to employees in the US and Europe, bloated bureaucracy, sending every and any job to India, and huge pay packages for underperforming executives. WFH is the least of the problems at IBM.
@1ieq+14VBQ1DD
Unfortunately, there are two types of science... the one we know for sure and the one we are not sure of and are still looking answers for. So for example, if you go skydiving and forget your parachute, any scientist will tell you that you are crazy jumping because gravity will k–l you. Science around viruses and other things like climate science, not to piss anyone off, is something we think we know but that we in fact really don’t fully understand. Making decisions on anything that you don’t fully understand very often leads to bad outcomes. Just look at IBM, it never understood the Cloud and the need to invest in it, what has been the result?
Ho! love it, @1inh. Sadly, a union is not in the cards for IBM employees, because each individual IBM employee thinks s/he is head and shoulders above the rest and will be among the last few standing. 100% complete su*k-up to management.
It is too bad that IBMers can't develop herd immunity from layoffs. Oh wait they can - it's called a Union!
@1gid+14VBQ1DD-
Here you go everyone. Don't listen to any of the educated, experienced scientists. Instead, listen to this anonymous, hidden voice on the internet. We should all just lead our lives by "I read it on an anonymous post on the internet so it must be true and valid".
geez.... I hate to think of the future of humanity.
By the time there is a vaccine (if there is one effective...), most (70%) of the world population will have been infected (and 99.9% will have recovered) so herd immunity will be in effect and from there the virus will most likely go instinct.
Folks, it is time to get out of your house and live your lives.
"until a vaccine is available"?
There has never been a vaccine that has been effective for novel corona viruses.
Why do people think this will change?
The majority of my location has been working remote for several years now and with the virus there is no way people will subject themselves to the "open seating" concept some brainchild thought of.
Brick and mortar is dead and been dead for a long time now. IBM needs to get with the program.
Adapt or Die
My office was closed in 2019. All of the workers became remote. At the time of closure, it was 5% occupied. I heard from senior managers the rent bill comes out of the divisions budget. There might be other departments working there, but the primary department gets stuck with the bill.
It’s still empty now, but the rent bill looks to be short of a million a year.
This is where IBM does wrong. They have huge offices across the country, but they are nowhere close to filled. Why take on such expensive leases?
How is this relevant to layoffs?
It is a very well known recipe for disaster. Here is a case study from a South Korean call center. It's not just the proximity. It's also the shared high use volume bathrooms and microwaves near said spaces.
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/8/20-1274_article
People sit barely 3-4 feet from each other in those open spaces. We wont have large face to face meetings (and with masks all day) so why bother with reopening until a vaccine is available. The chance of someone asymptomatic being a "Typhoid Mary" and getting everyone sick is pretty high. If they pull the trigger on everyone coming back and someone gets sick at an open space and then dies, they're going to have a lawsuit on their hands.