RTO orders look like a way for elite, work-obsessed CEOs to grab power back

"elite"

> "For most employees, life is partly work, but partly things outside work," Stanford economist Nick Bloom said. "These elite CEOs probably work 100-plus hours a week and they're much more work-focused." The mandates symbolize the sharp disconnect right now between the way CEOs and employees think about work.

I see that Nick Bloom is as highly cited researcher with a bunch of clout, but his speculation that people like the Goldman sachs ceo "work" anywhere near 100 hours a week really throw into doubt his veracity.

That said the rest of his work seems solid, just an odd off the cuff remark imo, or a different definition of "work"

The part of this that is so bizarre to me is that the offices to which folks are being asked to return are frequently ergonomic wastelands of poorly ventilated open floor plan desk motels that are difficult to sanitize effectively, if employers are even trying.

The policies aren't even coherent enough to motivate companies to actually make their workplaces conducive to effectiveness.

It's also a great way to prop up the value of commercial real estate investments. It's pretty hard to justify the sky-high rent for that restaurant that everyone used to go to, but having everyone back in offices changes that.

> Who prioritize work over work-life balance.

I do believe that this should rather refer to the theater where work merely appears to happen.

More like, they're bleeding money on Commercial real estate

It's a feature of capitalism.

They're worried you might be working two jobs, or might make/join a startup and compete with them, or generally not feel enslaved to your employer.

At at the very top, at the big shareholder level, they don't want the middle class having too much freedom, because they do pose a potential threat to them.

Still waiting for the wave of innovation from those who quit to work on their own companies from home.