About that RTO, part deux - why are Americans being pushed into a biologicalwar zone?

Why is there such a big push for RTO?

and...

Why is there such a bug push for schools to reopen?

They are related.

So why the push for RTO?

Companies are desperate for RTO. The reason is not so obvious. RTO you go back to office, you are a captive market. You will go buy coffee at Starbucks or a sandwich at local sandwich jo--t. These businesses pay rent to the towers these big companies own. This rent is called NOI (net operating income). NOI is the basis of how a building is appraised. If NOI drops (or goes to zero) the building value is reassessed lower. Additionally, if all the shops are closed, it drives shop rent down, which is a net negative for NOI and again, can help drive building appraisal lower.

Banks, Insurance companies, and pension funds are HEAVY investors in the CMBS and CRE market. They are expecting interest payments (paid through NOI rent payments) and steady income. If RTO does not happen in a reasonable amount of time (about 6 months shutdown) it means reappraisals take place and these investors begin to take losses. Because these loans are so massive, losses can be systematic and cascade thru the debt markets. AKA its very very bad for these large institutional investors.

So why the push to reopen schools?

schools in USA have a dual purpose - some education for the children, but more importantly, its day care for children and young adults. If your kids go to school, you can go to work. You have kids home you either have to pay for someone to keep and eye on your kids or you need to stay home. So businesses (and republican governers) are pushing for a return to open schools so your a$s goes back to work so companies can get that sweet NOI and you can help rich people get richer.

If you dont go back to office it upsets the applecart; the pyramid scheme of funneling income up to the rich is upset. See, it is less important to save your kids from getting covid and prevent you from dying of covid because you were forced to go back to office than it is for the "norms" to be maintained so the massive debt market the rich have built can be maintained. So the rich are pushing return to school so the debt empire they built can be paid.

And its important to note: Wells Fargo is one of the BIGGEST retail CRE/CMBS underwriter and lender in America. This means malls. Mini-malls. Shops, restaurants, bars. When covid lock downs hit, Wells Fargo is the one banks that is most exposed to losses.

I suspect Wells Fargo has been very reluctant to not push the date for RTO for this very reason - its in their best interest to get people into the office and life back to normal ASAP. To do otherwise is very counter to their profit and all those CMBS debts they hold and facilitate.

It is really hard not to be cynical in this type of scenario - the rich control government. The rich include these bank CEO's and their board who are only focused on maximizing profit over everything else. The rich do not really care one way or another if you or your kids get sick and die. The only thing that matters is their profit and the status quo is maintained.

ICU's across the country reflect a lack of empathy the rich have towards the working class or their children. Pediatric wards are overflowing and this new covid wave show no signs of abetting. There are governors in many states making masks illegal because their handlers (the rich) want to show that nothing is wrong and the covid pandemic is overblown.

Reality now is that we see in our hospitals overflowing in emergency and ICU wards with deathly sick covid patients reflects a complete lack of empathy and the hard cold reality of what the corporate state wants: profits are more important than life itself.

Charlie Scharf: "Its the right thing to do."

Tennessee:
https://www.wkrn.com/news/200-national-guard-soldiers-providing-support-at-20-tennessee-hospitals-due-to-covid-surge/

Idaho:
https://idahonews.com/news/local/idaho-gov-calls-up-idaho-national-guard-what-he-saw-in-icu-tour-was-heartbreaking

Georgia:
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/569325-georgia-governor-calls-out-national-guard-to-help-in-hospitals-as-cases

Kentucky:
https://www.harrodsburgherald.com/2021/09/08/with-covid-19-cases-escalating-governor-calls-special-session/

Wyoming:
https://health.wyo.gov/governor-delivers-support-during-covid-surge/

Alaska:
https://www.userwalls.com/n/alaska-seeks-state-medical-personnel-amid-virus-surge-2274121/

and the list keeps growing.

Be safe everyone - we are in a life and death struggle now. Protect yourself and protect your neighbors from the greed and insanity being pushed by the wealthy.

Comment! It's anonymous!

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I’ve heard one high level tech manager lament that the high attrition rate is solely due to us working remotely. He says a RTO will bring back camaraderie and stave off the mass exodus.

If senior management really believes that, does not think we are freaked out about by never ending cuts and/or getting infected at work, the disconnect with the employees is worse than I thought. The last place I want to be is in an enclosed room with my QAnon antivaxer colleague with mask below his nose, and I’m dead two weeks later.

It's the money.

Last year when things started getting a little too sporty, Gov. Ducey did have some businesses closed up.

But not nail salon's and tattoo parlors.

Both of those businesses involve being very close to other people.

And unstated reason why those types of businesses were left open?

Because Arizona is a fairly young state, and only started getting filled up with folks after AC because widely available.

So nearly every business in AZ in located in a strip mall. Even your finest dining is usually in a strip mall.

And what kinds of businesses rent in strip malls?

Yep, and if they close those down, the corporations that own the strip mall can't collect lease/rent money.

Ducey and the local GQP had no good reason for what they did, that they could say out loud.

WFH is the future, but the money folks will lose out, so they fight back in spite of the dangers to your health and the better interests of America.

I didn't say they were rosy. I said hospitalization is slightly lower than January. COVID has peaks and troughs. January was the biggest one, in TX and nationally. July/August was another peak, though the numbers were slightly lower. The most important thing is that they are finally trending downward.

The picture of TX isn't quite as rosy as that, from what I can tell: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/03/coronavirus-texas-hospitalizations-level-off/

There are slightly lower hospitalized COVID patients and deaths in TX now compared to January, and the numbers appear to have peaked and are declining. Google 'texas hospital utilization' to see the data for yourself. COVID impact nationally clearly has temporary peaks from time to time, and we're coming out of one now. Kudos to those hard working nurses out there.

Agree w OP. And a senior WF exec friend recently told me that the bank’s leadership know that most people don’t want to RTO and they like the fact that it will make people uncomfortable and keep them on their toes.

"If you say, as an individual, 'My only interest is to maximize my advantages,' which is what they say at the corporate level, then you are a sociopath" -- Jeremy Grantham

OP is spot on; corporations, including WF don't care about their employees. They generally care about optics if it's impacting the use of their products/services and stock price. Hence what we've seen over the last year on DEI pushes, not because WF suddenly got a heart but because the population demanded action. With RTO they only kept people WFH for so long because of what everyone else was doing. But they've been wanting to be back, there's daily/weekly calls held on this very topic. It's impacting a lot, especially their strategy for location/Hubs as many are now questioning why should we when it's worked well for the last 18+ months? "because I said so" - WF

Kudos to OP. I love thoughtfully written and researched posts. Completely agree with all your points.

RTO isn’t about people or our safety and productivity. It’s about control. It’s about money. It’s about making people who are on the fence miserable enough to quit to avoid paying severance for long overdue layoffs.

Wells Fargo does care.. sort of. They care about executive compensation and short term dividends. There is no long game. They care about living big, cashing out, and leaving a pretty corpse behind.

They don’t give a damn about us.. they never did.

Thread regarding Wells Fargo & Co. layoffs

About that RTO, part deux - why are Americans being pushed into a biologicalwar zone?

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