Big Tech Companies At War with Employees Over Remote Work

[upnorth]

Content source

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/08/vaccines-reopenings-and-worker-revolts-big-techs-contentious-return-to-the-office/

All across the United States, the leaders at large tech companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook are engaged in a delicate dance with thousands of employees who have recently become convinced that physically commuting to an office every day is an empty and unacceptable demand from their employers.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced these companies to operate with mostly remote workforces for months straight. And since many of them are based in areas with relatively high vaccination rates, the calls to return to the physical office began to sound over the summer. But thousands of high-paid workers at these companies aren't having it. Many of them don't want to go back to the office full-time, even if they're willing to do so a few days a week. Workers are even pointing to how effective they were when fully remote and using that to question why they have to keep living in the expensive cities where these offices are located.

Some tech leaders (like Twitter's Jack Dorsey) agreed, or at least they saw the writing on the wall. They enacted permanent or semipermanent changes to their companies' policies to make partial or even full-time remote work the norm. Others (like Apple's Tim Cook) are working hard to find a way to get everyone back in their assigned seats as soon as is practical, despite organized resistance. In either case, the work cultures at tech companies that make everything from the iPhone to Google search are facing a major wave of transformation.

The gospel of a remote-work future has long been preached by a dedicated cadre in Silicon Valley and other tech startup hubs. Influencers, writers, and business consulting gurus have for years been saying that, thanks to today's technology, working in an office is destined to be a thing of the past.

Big tech companies are at war with employees over remote work

CEOs want workers back at their desks. Employees and the virus have other plans.

arstechnica.com

 

[jogs]

There's nothing better than home.

 

[CyberTech]

Google has launched an internal calculator that lets employees see how much their payments will be reduced if they decide to work from home on a permanent basis, according to a Reuters report. What’s unfair about Google’s implementation is that those who normally commute to work from less expensive neighborhoods will be made to take a larger pay cut compared to those who live in the city the office is located in.

Google has followed the decision of Facebook and Twitter to cut pay based on where employees live whereas other firms like Reddit will pay remote workers the same no matter where they live. Responding to the issue, a Google spokesperson told Reuters that:

“Our compensation packages have always been determined by location, and we always pay at the top of the local market based on where an employee works from.”

Google is reducing the pay of those choosing to work from home if they commute

Google has launched an internal calculator to help employees see how much their pay will be reduced if they choose to work from home. It hurts those who commute the hardest with cuts of up to 25%.

www.neowin.net