Opinion | Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office.
wapo.st
Office space is leasing at a discount, making this a good time for employers to give workers individual offices, complete with desks and doors that close.
  • @abhibeckert@beehaw.orgEnglish
    2•1 year ago

    the company would need to factor in how close the nearest available housing that the employee can afford is to the office

    Define “affordable”.

    Are we talking for a studio apartment with a fold out single bed that converts the dining room into a bedroom, or are we talking enough land for your teenage kids to ride their motorcycle around without noise complaints - because the neighbours are too far away to hear it. Something in between perhaps?

    There’s plenty of housing on the same city block as my office. And I can afford to live there. No way in hell would I choose to live there though.

    My boss, by the way, lives so close to work he uses the company wifi network at home. He also starts work before breakfast and finishes work several hours after dinner, every day. And works weekends too. Your probably don’t want to get into a debate with your boss about working conditions - chances are they work under far worse conditions than you do, even if they have a private office.

    • @nyan@lemmy.cafeEnglish
      1•1 year ago

      That’s an implementation detail, but I would say: two-bedroom apartment or small detached house in decent condition (no bugs, rot, mold, etc, water and electrical working, not in the middle of a crime hotspot or environmental disaster, reasonable access to shops and services, no oddball problems like being on the approach path for a major airport) for no more than a third of the employee’s after-tax salary. A place where it wouldn’t be torture for the average person to live, with maybe one or two other people if it suits them.