Sarah MilsteinMar 22, 2023

The NYT ran an opinion piece today, "Is Working From Home Really Working?" You are smart and can probably tell from the headline alone that the piece itself is not working--and in the same way it accuses American workers--has a bad attitude

It is a fine example of muddy thinking and just embarrassingly bad writing. So it's unclear why the Times--which, btw, was a forerunner in allowing some staff to work from home about two decades ago--would publish it

Show threadSarah MilsteinMar 22, 2023

There is a lot to say about the piece, and I'm not going to say most of it; the 2,300+ comments are surprisingly good. But it surely must have drawn an editor's notice when the third graf tried to pass this off:

"Until Covid, most employed Americans had workdays that followed a decades-old pattern: Wake up, shower, breakfast, commute, spend at least eight hours in an office or a factory, commute home and maybe enjoy a glass of wine or a beer."

Show threadSarah MilsteinMar 22, 2023
I'm not sure whose day that is describing, but I gather somebody without kids, who doesn't need to eat lunch or dinner, take care of their home, their health, their loved ones, or connect with other humans outside work
Show threadSarah Milstein
The lack of understanding and critical thinking are *breathtaking*
Mar 22, 2023 at 9:32pmWeb
Show threadSarah MilsteinMar 22, 2023
Ok, I'm rereading the whole thing and getting mad again, because the assumption it's relying on are disproven by almost all available data and anecdata. The logic is...missing. And the only case it could possibly be trying to make is that rich people aren't benefiting enough from exploitation these days. I don't want to spend my emotional energy analyzing this mess
Show threadSarah MilsteinMar 22, 2023
But I will say: when you are at the point of blaming SVB's collapse on remote work, you have well and truly shown your whole ass. The writer manages Bloomberg's money, and his explanation for the bank failure is that the execs didn't all work in the office all the time 🫠
Show threadbsky: @daniloc.xyzMar 22, 2023
@sarahm translation from NYT Opinion bullshit to plain English: “the rich dare you to eat them”
Show threadBrooke BinkowskiMar 23, 2023
@danilo @sarahm Let's start taking them up on it
Show threadirrelevantMar 23, 2023
@danilo @sarahm The NY Post headline ran said, "Half Ass Shows Whole Ass".
Show threadShe smashesMar 22, 2023
@sarahm that is some bullshit. Thank you for taking one for the team and warning me to avoid this garbage. 💖
Show threadBigbeeMar 23, 2023
@dbsmasher @sarahm This is the new, undeniable reality.
Show threadPhilip Mallegol-HansenMar 23, 2023
@bigbee @dbsmasher @sarahm @coachtony In my particular case: The office Wi-Fi even happens to be less stable than at home! So the meeting is objectively worse for me having shown up in-office. Yet some managers seem to love it.
Show threadDroid Boy Mar 23, 2023
@philip @bigbee @dbsmasher @sarahm @coachtony They love your handsome face. Understandably.
Show threadPhilip Mallegol-HansenMar 23, 2023
@droidboy @bigbee @dbsmasher @sarahm @coachtony Haha, that is one way to interpret the situation 😅
Show threadBjörn 🌸 StarkimarmMar 23, 2023

@philip

Yeah, I mean I use computers fot several hours per day for some 35 years. Of course my private IT and workplace is better than what is found in offices (aint no controller got money for dat).

@bigbee @dbsmasher @sarahm @coachtony

Show threadAnnMar 23, 2023
@bigbee @dbsmasher @sarahm
Yes, but only one is in pajama bottoms 🤣
Show threadDan WalkerMar 23, 2023
@bigbee @dbsmasher @sarahm one place I was at had everyone come into the office but there were never enough meeting rooms so we’d just have all our meetings online while sitting next to each other. Dumbest thing ever.
Show threadMatt FranzMar 24, 2023

@bigbee @dbsmasher @sarahm After working remote from 2013 to 2019 (6 months before COVID) I went back to the office and was shocked it was like this. So pointless.

And folks a few buildings away from each other in a moderately sized tech campus still just talked to each other over Webex. And people who had worked together for over a decade maybe met each other in person a handful of times. 🤷‍♂️​

Show threadkellegousMar 31, 2023
@sarahm There were a number of articles that week that all attributed recent failures to remote work and used shaky non-reason to be broadly dismissive of work done away from the office ("we've had a long enough vacation; back to the office!"). I tried to avoid being conspiratorial ... but the timing was just too suspect.
Show threadSarah MilsteinApr 1, 2023
@kellegous Up next: dID u KnoW ReMOTe w0rK caUSes CanCEr