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 MilsteinMar 22, 2023
The lack of understanding and critical thinking are *breathtaking*
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 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 threadDan Walker
@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.
Mar 23, 2023 at 4:01amWeb