👩🏻‍⚖️ RTO leads to discrimination charges

Good Morning,

Congrats to the World Series-winning Texas Rangers, but I also have a question for the MLB: why are there still playoff games played in the afternoon during the week? Feels like a missed revenue opportunity to not have them in the evening, and further, a huge hassle for fans to attend.

Playoffs aside, I wonder if any teams make it easy to work remotely from the ballpark. Sure, a stray Microsoft Teams chime might disrupt the atmosphere, but with a few guidelines in place I think “work-from-ballpark” coworking lounges might be enticing for midweek afternoon games.

After all, what other sports have as much downtime as baseball?

I suppose maybe I’ve pissed off the traditionalists now, but many traditionalists also want people back in the office five days a week… so I’m not too concerned 🙂 

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Need to Know

💰 Expensify CEO shut down its luxury RTO experiment.
The company put a luxury bar & lounge in its San Francisco office, expecting it to draw employees back in. But CEO David Barrett just admitted that the experiment failed to sufficiently bring workers back to the office. This may serve as a bellwether for other CEOs as well; if a free luxury cocktail bar isn’t bringing employees back to the office, it could be another strong indicator that businesses demanding RTO are fighting a losing battle. (Fortune)

🚙 Viral Gen Z TikTok shows the utter dismay of commuting.
There’s a good chance you’ll have flashbacks to your pre-covid jobs when listening to this rant about leaving early in the morning, arriving home late, and not having time for much else other than eating dinner and going to sleep.

The fact is, that was reality for most knowledge workers in America before the pandemic. We didn’t have other options, and it was a rite of passage; everyone did it.

While beginning a career in the office with peers has a lot of benefit, it’s refreshing to see that younger generations are far less likely to put up with commuting when they are fully aware of the existence and prevalence of remote work. (TikTok: @brielleybelly123)

🧑‍⚖️ Return-to-office has led to more disability discrimination charges.
As more companies bring employees back to the office, more employees are asking to continue remote work for mental health reasons, primarily involving anxiety, depression, and PTSD. While most requests are accepted, the approval rate has declined since the beginning of the pandemic.

Employers would do well to remember that the advent of remote work allowed for a far-higher labor force participation rate for those with illnesses or disabilities; forcing a return for those with mental health illness for the sake of an office policy is unnecessary, unethical, and in many cases, illegal. (Wall Street Journal)

🔋 Remote work is “turbocharging“ the productivity debate.
It seems every month there’s a study that claims remote work makes people more or less productive. Newsflash: everyone works differently!

Fortunately, this debate has proven that productivity shouldn’t be about “presenteeism,” which was weighted far too heavily in the past. Traditional measures of productivity are far less reliable in today’s environment.

Individuals need to have results to strive for, and a measurable path to achieve those results. In the best scenarios, remote work has allowed companies and individuals to better understand what truly drives outputs - without factoring in “butts in seats.” (Bloomberg)

💬 Workers willingly exchange privacy for WFH privilege.
According to an international Qualtrics survey, employees who can work remotely or hybrid are more willing to allow their employers to monitor digital communications, such as emails and chat messages, for the purpose of making workplace improvements. Employees who commute to the office, however, are far less likely to allow employers the same visibility. The general takeaway is that flexible work options are likely to lead to higher job satisfaction. (Insider)

🎵 Spotify reinforced its WFA (work from anywhere) policy.
The streaming giant shifted to WFA two and a half years ago, and has decided to continue, with some clarifying points.

First, those who are employed by Spotify for their first full-time job will be in-person for the first year. Even as a remote advocate, I like this idea. Entering the workforce for the first time while physically surrounded by colleagues is likely a far better experience than entering the workforce virtually from home.

Second, Spotify is letting individuals and teams decide how, and where, they work best. By leading with trust, the organization empowers its employees to take more ownership of their own decisions. That policy of flexibility will ensure they continue to attract top talent. (Spotify)

🔎 Difficulty monitoring employees is bosses’ #1 problem with remote work.
While I’d love to tell these bosses to simply “get over it,” the problem seems to be one that also involves motivating employees and guiding them - which are things a boss should do even if they’re not a micromanager. Plus, activity monitoring systems aren’t effective and only erode trust, leaving companies without a simple path forward.

The solution, from ZipRecruiter’s Chief Economist, involves the following: “Invest in middle managers as connecting leaders between front-line employees and upper management and encourage them to work one-on-one with their direct reports to outline clear workflows and expectations.” (CNBC)

📚 Bonus article: “What great remote managers do differently.”
We’ve shared this before, but after the CNBC article above, it’s worth sharing again here. (Harvard Business Review)

Stuff We Like

The catch-all section for anything we find that could be useful for remote workers.

• H1B Tracker

  Today there aren’t many good resources for job seekers looking for work visas. But this Google Chrome extension is one of the best resources we’ve seen to address that. It works with job searches on LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, and Google to highlight companies that have sponsored H1B visas recently.
  
  

• Herman Miller Holiday Sale

  The ever-popular Aeron and Embody ergonomic chairs are 25% off through November 28th, and everything else is 20% off sitewide.

• 5 Gifts for Remote Workers

  Tech Crunch is kicking off the many gift lists to come this holiday season with 5 ideas for remote workers, including a laptop stand, Airpods, and a ring light.

Couldn’t help myself - I googled coworking at baseball stadiums, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised. In September 2022, the Seattle Mariners hosted a “Work From The Ballpark Day” where they sold $50 tickets that included a meal, WiFi access, and space to work in a second-deck cafe.

Not a terrible idea - they sold all 150 tickets for the event. But according to the article, the Colorado Rockies in Denver get credit for the first attempt at offering tickets for remote workers during games… in 2018!

I hardly ever watch baseball, but programs like this could definitely convince me to attend afternoon games every now and then.

Cheers,
Grant

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