&#8220;Shark Tank&#8221; star <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/great-at-killing-jobs-shark-tanks-kevin-oleary-rips-aoc-dems-on-cnn-airwaves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kevin O&#8217;Leary</a> pushed back on Martha Stewart&#8217;s dire warning to Americans to get back to the office, arguing the &#8220;economy has changed radically.&#8221;
During a Thursday appearance on <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/kevin-oleary-answers-martha-stewart-rampage-against-remote-work-people-want-work-war-zone-cities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a>&#8216; &#8220;Outnumbered,&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shark-tanks-kevin-oleary-boosts-elon-musk-bid-slams-twitter-censorship-says-fire-board-members" target="_blank" rel="noopener">O&#8217;Leary</a> was asked about Stewart&#8217;s comments that &#8220;America&#8221; could &#8220;go down the drain&#8221; if people don&#8217;t go back to working in offices. He said the problem is people don&#8217;t feel safe anymore working in places like New York City and San Francisco due to the rise in crime.
&#8220;I want to make a point here about the economy that&#8217;s changed because I live and breathe it every day with our portfolio of companies,&#8221; O&#8217;Leary said. &#8220;And getting the data is what&#8217;s interesting to me. We found out now, we&#8217;ve made the assumption two years ago that 15% wouldn&#8217;t return. We&#8217;re wrong. It&#8217;s 40.&#8221;
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NEW NORMAL: &#39;Shark Tank&#39; star Kevin O&#39;Leary reacts to Martha Stewart&#39;s &#39;rampage&#39; against remote work.<a href="https://t.co/9fXVYgJYeD">https://t.co/9fXVYgJYeD</a> <a href="https://t.co/XC3ClujvZs">pic.twitter.com/XC3ClujvZs</a>
&mdash; FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) <a href="https://twitter.com/FoxBusiness/status/1667139510260432903?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;And here are the areas of the sectors of the economy that they are not returning,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Accounting, compliance, financial services and logistics. These are the jobs that used to be in cubicles in the basement of corporations, particularly here in New York City. You can see about 50% of the offices that are B-grade are empty. They&#8217;re never going to fill up again. They&#8217;re going to have to be converted into condos or climate-controlled storage. &#8221;
&#8220;The economy has changed radically,&#8221; O&#8217;Leary continued. &#8220;The problem with saying everybody has to work in the office is you won&#8217;t be able to hire the best talent. When we went out for financial services, people in our operating company, the best talent, told us, If I have to come into an office and sit in a cubicle and drive for 45 minutes each day into a war-torn city like San Francisco, which we were trying to hire in, I&#8217;m not doing it. I don&#8217;t want to get shot on my way to work.&#8221;
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&#8220;They&#8217;re war zones,&#8221; he said about cities like Chicago, San Francisco, parts of L.A., and NYC. &#8220;So, they want to work where they get their jobs done.&#8221;
The comments came after Stewart said that she&#8217;s going on a &#8220;rampage&#8221; to get people back in the office.
&#8220;You can&#8217;t possibly get everything done working three days a week in the office and two days remotely,&#8221; <a href="https://footwearnews.com/business/business-news/martha-stewart-womens-empowerment-aging-1203472556/?mod=article_inline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stewart</a> said in an interview published Monday. &#8220;Look at the success of France with their stupid… you know, off for August, blah blah blah.&#8221;
&#8220;That&#8217;s not a very thriving country,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Should America go down the drain because people don&#8217;t want to go back to work?&#8221;

Kevin O’Leary, Martha Stewart

‘Shark Tank’ Star Pushes Back On Martha Stewart’s Remote Work Comments: ‘Economy Has Changed Radically’

'Shark Tank' Star Pushes Back On Martha Stewart's Remote Work Comments: 'Economy Has Changed Radically'

Celebrities

Entertainment

Martha Stewart

Remote Work

U.S.

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok</a> users are fascinated by “Bare Minimum Mondays,” a trend which encourages employees to exert as little effort as possible on the first day of the work week.
Marisa Jo Mayes, a TikTok creator based in Phoenix who resigned from her corporate job, coined the phrase “Bare Minimum Mondays,” which has now garnered more than two million <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bareminimummondays?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">views</a> on the platform. Videos posted by Mayes, who now says she is self-employed, depict the 29-year-old completing various chores around her apartment and listening to podcasts before she starts her workday or schedules any meetings.
<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px;" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@itsmarisajo/video/7207599156926500142" data-video-id="7207599156926500142">
<section><a title="@itsmarisajo" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@itsmarisajo?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@itsmarisajo</a> Bare Minimum Monday: Chores Edition ⏱️🧼🎧 <a title="bareminimummonday" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bareminimummonday?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#bareminimummonday</a> <a title="bareminimummondays" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bareminimummondays?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#bareminimummondays</a> <a title="wfh" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/wfh?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#wfh</a> <a title="selfemployed" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/selfemployed?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#selfemployed</a> <a title="selfemployedlife" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/selfemployedlife?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#selfemployedlife</a> <a title="burnoutrecovery" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/burnoutrecovery?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#burnoutrecovery</a> <a title="productivitytips" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/productivitytips?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#productivitytips</a> <a title="♬ Theme From A Summer Place - Percy Faith" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/Theme-From-A-Summer-Place-6887967101529655297?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">♬ Theme From A Summer Place &#8211; Percy Faith</a></section>
</blockquote>
<script async src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script>
Mayes realizes that most people with a traditional office job do not have the luxury of delaying the start of their workday or otherwise presenting minimal effort to their employers. She advised her followers in the corporate world to “remove any wishful thinking tasks from your list” and save efforts to “overachieve” for Tuesday.
“One thing I know would have helped me when I was in corporate is to think to myself, Where might I be putting unnecessary pressure on myself?” she continued in the video. “What are you overly stressed about that you just don’t need to be stressed about?”
<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px;" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@itsmarisajo/video/7194547082965847338" data-video-id="7194547082965847338">
<section><a title="@itsmarisajo" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@itsmarisajo?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@itsmarisajo</a> Replying to @alysialovesmakeup This shift would’ve saved me so much stress &amp; overwhelm back in my corporate days 😵‍💫 <a title="bareminimummonday" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bareminimummonday?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#bareminimummonday</a> <a title="bareminimummondays" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bareminimummondays?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#bareminimummondays</a> <a title="worklifewellbeing" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/worklifewellbeing?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#worklifewellbeing</a> <a title="burnoutrecovery" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/burnoutrecovery?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#burnoutrecovery</a> <a title="wfhtips" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/wfhtips?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#wfhtips</a> <a title="♬ Theme From A Summer Place - Percy Faith" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/Theme-From-A-Summer-Place-6887967101529655297?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">♬ Theme From A Summer Place &#8211; Percy Faith</a></section>
</blockquote>
<script async src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script>
Mayes said in an <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/03/02/i-created-bare-minimum-mondays-gen-zs-latest-low-effort-work-trend/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> with The New York Post that the philosophy has “completely overhauled” her relationship with work and hopes there are effects throughout the economy. “It’s more of an opportunity for people to start untethering themselves from hustle culture, little by little, until corporate America catches up,” she commented. “The tide is turning, and I feel like employees are tired of trading their well-being to perform well at work.”
The “Bare Minimum Monday” trend drew immediate comparisons to “Quiet Quitting,” an approach to work in which employees refuse to exert more effort than the bare minimum required by their job descriptions or resign from their positions without a two-week notice. The phenomena occur as prominent technology companies and other white-collar employers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/technology-firms-send-diversity-czars-packing-in-bid-to-become-more-profitable" target="_blank" rel="noopener">downsize</a> staff to increase profitability: more than 94,000 workers have been dismissed from prominent technology firms in the first two months of 2023, according to a <a href="https://news.crunchbase.com/startups/tech-layoffs/#:~:text=More%20than%2046%2C000%20workers%20in,person%20layoff%20announcements%20this%20week." target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Crunchbase, even after companies in the sector dismissed some 140,000 positions last year.
The layoffs come as young employees at leading firms shared viral day-in-the-life videos on TikTok which showed them enjoying free perks while completing minimal work. Nicole Tsai, who previously released a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-google-employee-goes-viral-with-day-in-the-life-video-series-ending-in-layoff-news" target="_blank" rel="noopener">series</a> of videos boasting about the amenities-packed offices at Google, completed her video series with news that she had been laid off, while Riley Rojas, a project manager at Meta, posted videos of the company’s generous perks before the company <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/video-of-23-year-old-meta-employee-enjoying-perks-goes-viral-as-investor-tells-zuckerberg-to-cut-headcount" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reduced</a> their payrolls at the behest of worried investors.
Many employees in the technology sector are also incensed as executives roll back virtual work policies established during the lockdown-induced recession. Thousands of employees at Amazon, which is now requiring staff members to report to the office at least three times per week, have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/thousands-of-amazon-employees-revolt-as-ceo-makes-them-show-up-in-office-at-least-three-days-per-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">started</a> an internal Slack channel meant to challenge the end of fully remote work, while Starbucks employees <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/making-our-lives-more-difficult-starbucks-office-staff-revolt-as-company-makes-them-show-up-three-days-per-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">petitioned</a> management in the wake of a similar announcement.
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Employees generally prefer virtual work arrangements because of reduced commuting time and more flexibility, but costs for employers are often significant: 85% of managers believe the shift to hybrid work during the lockdown-induced recession has eroded confidence that employees are remaining productive, according to a <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from Microsoft.

Man sleeping on the couch exhausted

‘Bare Minimum Mondays’: New TikTok Trend Encourages Taking It Easy On First Day Of The Work Week

New TikTok Trend Encourages Taking It Easy On First Day Of The Work Week

Economy

TikTok

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/starbucks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Starbucks</a> office workers drafted a letter to management on Wednesday as executives mandated a reduction in <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/remote-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remote work</a> opportunities.
Employees within commuting distance of the company’s Seattle headquarters must travel to the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and a third day determined by their teams, according to a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/11/starbucks-orders-return-to-office.html#:~:text=Starbucks%20corporate%20employees%20will%20be,to%20two%20days%20a%20week." target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> seen by CNBC earlier this year. Several dozen office workers created a <a href="https://starbuckspartnersunited.org/?page_id=31" target="_blank" rel="noopener">petition</a> asserting that the firm would diminish productivity and violate trust with employees due to the change.
“This behavior of not listening to partners has also impacted us, the support partners. An unforeseen and poorly planned ‘return to office’ mandate is making our lives more difficult, prioritizing corporate control over productivity, diversity and inclusion, and individual job satisfaction,” the employees wrote. “Our mission of serving ‘one cup, one person, and one neighborhood at a time’ is explicitly ignored when corporate policies attempt to eliminate the individuality of our partners and stores.”
The petition added that “more is at an all-time low” and urged management to let teams “have a voice in setting the working conditions that make them happiest and most effective.” Employees generally prefer virtual work arrangements because of reduced commuting time and more flexibility, but costs for employers can outweigh the benefits of attracting and retaining talent that the policies can enable: 85% of managers believe the shift to hybrid work during the lockdown-induced recession has eroded confidence that employees are remaining productive, according to a <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from Microsoft.
The pivot away from remote work has generated controversy within some of the nation’s largest companies, especially in the technology sector. Amazon, which <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/amazon-dismisses-thousands-of-employees-in-bid-to-reduce-costs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dismissed</a> some 18,000 employees over the past several months, is likewise asking staff members to report to the office at least three times per week. Thousands of employees <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/thousands-of-amazon-employees-revolt-as-ceo-makes-them-show-up-in-office-at-least-three-days-per-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reacted</a> by starting an internal Slack channel meant to challenge the end of fully remote work; four in five members threatened in one informal survey to search for new positions elsewhere because of the policy change.
The Starbucks employees also called for executives to “respect federal labor laws” and permit store partners to freely vote on unionization. The petition comes after nearly 300 Starbucks locations <a href="https://sbworkersunited.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">elected</a> to form labor unions over the past two years and on the same day as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced that the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee would decide on issuing a subpoena for Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz for allegedly failing to comply with federal labor standards.
“While Howard Schultz is a multi-billionaire who runs a very profitable multinational corporation, he must understand that he and his company are not above the law,” Sanders said in a <a href="https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-announces-help-committee-vote-on-subpoena-for-starbucks-ceo-howard-schultz/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>. “These violations include the illegal firing of more than a dozen Starbucks workers. For nearly a year, I and many of my colleagues in the Senate have repeatedly asked Mr. Schultz to respect the constitutional right of workers at Starbucks to form a union and to stop violating federal labor laws. Mr. Schultz has failed to respond to those requests.”
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Starbucks has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/america-has-become-unsafe-starbucks-ceo-rips-politicians-in-decaying-cities-after-closing-16-urban-stores" target="_blank" rel="noopener">closed</a> several restaurants in major cities due to concerns over crime and homelessness, a phenomenon which followed the company opening their restaurants and bathrooms to people who have not made purchases. The policy change occurred after an incident involving two black men who were arrested for remaining in a Philadelphia store without buying any items.

Starbucks

‘Making Our Lives More Difficult’: Starbucks Office Staff Revolt As Company Makes Them Show Up Three Days Per Week

Starbucks Office Staff Revolt As Company Makes Them Show Up Three Days Per Week

Business

Labor Unions

Employees at many <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">companies</a> are shirking efforts from management to end <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/remote-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remote work</a> and introduce a return to physical office spaces, according to a new <a href="https://www.payscale.com/research-and-insights/cbpr?utm_campaign=CBPR23&amp;utm_medium=Org-social" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survey</a> from Payscale.
The workforce software company revealed in its most recent Compensation Best Practices Report that 51% of surveyed companies are experiencing resistance from employees who do not want to return to traditional offices, a phenomenon which occurs even as executives say lockdown mandates affirmed the importance of creating relationships between team members.
Payscale found that companies have no intention to entirely rid themselves of physical office spaces: 27% of respondent organizations will have traditional work environments this year and 31% will have hybrid environments, while only 11% offer fully remote arrangements.
The return toward more traditional work arrangements has produced controversy within some of the nation’s largest firms, particularly in the technology sector. Amazon, which <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/amazon-dismisses-thousands-of-employees-in-bid-to-reduce-costs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dismissed</a> some 18,000 employees over the past several months and implemented a freeze on incremental hires in the corporate workforce, is now asking staff members to report to the office at least three times per week. Thousands of employees responded by starting an internal Slack channel meant to challenge the end of fully remote work; four in five members threatened in one informal survey to look for new positions elsewhere because of the policy.
Other prominent companies, such as Walmart and Disney, have likewise <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/back-to-work-disney-employees-told-to-show-up-in-the-office-at-least-four-days-a-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pivoted</a> away from their virtual work arrangements in recent weeks. Employees of the former company must work at least twice per week from physical offices, while employees at the latter must work from offices four days per week, preferably between Monday and Thursday. Employees tend to prefer remote work arrangements because of time savings from avoided commutes and improved work-life balance.
David Bahnsen, the founder of Manhattan-based wealth management firm The Bahnsen Group, said in an interview with The Daily Wire that executives no longer believe that maintaining large quantities of remote workers is a positive course for their firms.
“The actions by companies speak for themselves: employees are not more productive at home, and the loss of accountability, firm culture, organic mentorship and training, and general team chemistry has been disastrous,” Bahnsen remarked. “Many large-company CEOs have told me even with hybrid work they have effectively created three or four day weekends every week for employees.”
The costs for employers garnered as a result of remote work can indeed outweigh the benefits of attracting and retaining talent that the arrangements sometimes enable: 85% of managers believe the shift to hybrid work has eroded confidence that employees are staying productive, according to a <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from Microsoft. Payscale found that some 50% of companies with remote options monitor employees who work virtually, while only some of the 26% of companies that do monitor employees use the insights to track or manage productivity.
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“There was a ‘shiny object’ flirtation with this work-from-home element that many company leaders bought into for a time, but reality has set in and the inherent benefits of employees working together in the office has become undeniable for all,” added Bahnsen, who expects that more prominent companies will scrap their remote work arrangements in the near future.

Late night working from home in new dress code

‘Reality Has Set In’: Majority Of Firms See Resistance From Employees Who Do Not Want Remote Work To End

Majority Of Companies See Resistance From Employees Who Do Not Want Remote Work To End

Jobs

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/amazon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon</a> employees are furious as the company rolls back <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/remote-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remote work</a> arrangements, with some threatening to quit and others drafting petitions in reaction to a recent announcement that they must report to the office at least three times per week.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/large-companies-roll-back-remote-work-make-employees-show-up-to-the-office-at-least-part-of-the-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> to employees on Friday that the company believes “teams tend to find ways to work through hard and complex trade-offs faster” when they are in the same physical location. Shortly after the announcement, hundreds of Amazon staffers started joining an internal Slack channel called Remote Advocacy; there were more than 14,000 members of the channel as of Tuesday, according to a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-employees-plan-to-fight-against-return-to-office-policy-2023-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Business Insider.
Nearly 80% of workers in the channel claimed they would start to look for another job because of the new policy. &#8220;This is going to be absolute chaos and make everyone&#8217;s work distracted for probably a quarter, maybe longer,&#8221; one disgruntled employee wrote. &#8220;It&#8217;s hard to be productive with so much uncertainty injected into our lives.&#8221;
The shift toward more traditional work arrangements, however, comes as Amazon seeks to downsize amid macroeconomic tumult and a decline in consumer demand that followed the lockdown-induced recession. Amazon <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/amazon-dismisses-thousands-of-employees-in-bid-to-reduce-costs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dismissed</a> some 18,000 employees over the past several months and implemented a freeze on incremental hires in the corporate workforce.
Employees in the Slack channel nevertheless drafted petitions against the return to office policy. &#8220;We, the undersigned Amazonians, are responding by petitioning for the right to choose where to work, including remote locations,&#8221; an early version of the document said, according to Business Insider. The petition included survey data which found 56% of Amazon employees desire “monthly sync-ups in the office,” while 31% want to work in the office one or two days per week.
Employees tend to prefer remote work arrangements because of time savings from avoided commutes, as well as flexibility to balance work and personal matters, according to a <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/355907/remote-work-persisting-trending-permanent.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a> from Gallup. The costs for employers, however, can outweigh the benefits of attracting and retaining talent sometimes produced through virtual work policies: 85% of managers believe the shift to hybrid work “has made it challenging to have confidence that employees are being productive,” according to a <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from Microsoft.
Jassy and other executives said the lockdowns affirmed the importance of creating meaningful relationships between team members. “It’s easier to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture when we’re in the office together most of the time and surrounded by our colleagues,” he wrote to employees. “When you’re in-person, people tend to be more engaged, observant, and attuned to what’s happening in the meetings and the cultural clues being communicated.”
Other companies, such as Walmart and Disney, have likewise <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/back-to-work-disney-employees-told-to-show-up-in-the-office-at-least-four-days-a-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pivoted</a> away from their virtual work arrangements in recent weeks. Employees of the former company must work at least twice per week from physical offices, while employees at the latter must work from offices four days per week, preferably between Monday and Thursday.
Many firms have included carveouts that allow top performers to continue working from home. Walmart will permit some employees to remain full-time remote staff members even as they force others to relocate while technology hubs across the nation are shuttered; Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a leading skeptic of virtual work arrangements, has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-remote-work-is-no-longer-acceptable-at-tesla" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that he would consider allowing “particularly exceptional contributors” at the automaker to work remotely.

Amazon

Thousands Of Amazon Employees Revolt As CEO Makes Them Show Up In Office At Least Three Days Per Week

Thousands Of Amazon Employees Revolt As CEO Makes Them Show Up In Office

Fired

Large Companies Roll Back Remote Work, Make Employees Show Up To The Office At Least Part Of The Week

Companies Make Workers Show Up To The Office At Least Part Of The Week

Big Tech

Walmart

Zoom announced on Tuesday that the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">company</a> would dismiss 15% of its workforce as the demand surge caused by government <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/lockdowns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lockdown</a> mandates continues to subside.
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan said in a <a href="https://blog.zoom.us/a-message-from-eric-yuan-ceo-of-zoom/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> to the company that some 1,300 individuals would lose their positions. Beyond the slowdown in new demand, he referenced broader <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">economic</a> uncertainty and its effects on customers to spend on services.
“We built Zoom to remove the friction that businesses felt when collaborating. Our trajectory was forever changed during the pandemic when the world faced one of its toughest challenges, and I am proud of the way we mobilized as a company to keep people connected,” the executive wrote. “To make this possible, we needed to staff up rapidly to support the quick rise of users on our platform and their evolving needs.”
The company tripled in size within two years, but neglected to “take as much time as we should have to thoroughly analyze our teams or assess if we were growing sustainably, toward the highest priorities.” Members of the executive team will reduce their base salaries by 20% and forfeit their corporate bonuses, while Yuan will pass on his bonus and 98% of his salary.
Shares for Zoom increased 9.9% on Tuesday following the announcement. The company’s stock has declined 40.7% over the past year, significantly underperforming the S&amp;P 500 Index and the technology-heavy NASDAQ Composite.
Many companies allowed employees to work from home when lockdowns shuttered offices across the country three years ago. As the mandates subsided, however, many firms have experienced difficulties drawing workers back to the office. Time savings from avoided commutes, as well as new opportunities to more easily balance work and personal matters, are primary benefits cited by remote and hybrid workers, according to a <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/355907/remote-work-persisting-trending-permanent.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a> from Gallup.
On the other hand, costs induced by virtual work arrangements are palpable for employers: 85% of business leaders say the shift to hybrid work “has made it challenging to have confidence that employees are being productive,” according to a <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from Microsoft.
Several executives have voiced a preference for employees to cease remote work. Tesla CEO Elon Musk <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-remote-work-is-no-longer-acceptable-at-tesla" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> employees at the electric automaker that work-from-home is “no longer” acceptable and commented on social media that those who disagree with the new rule “should pretend to work somewhere else.” During a meeting with Twitter employees before his acquisition of the social media company was finalized, Musk was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/freedom-of-speech-and-freedom-of-reach-elon-musk-tells-twitter-employees-users-should-be-able-to-tweet-pretty-outrageous-things" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> about remote work, leading him to assert that working “on location physically” is far superior to other arrangements.
The dismissals at Zoom follow headcount reductions among other technology companies. Microsoft, Google, and Amazon <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-white-house-brushed-off-concerns-about-mass-firings-at-microsoft-and-amazon-now-google-is-laying-off-employees-too" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> their intentions to decrease payrolls by more than 40,000 combined workers over the past few weeks as key investors noted that rapid increases in compensation has caused lower profitability. Many companies increased hires after the lockdown-induced recession in response to elevated consumer demand.
More than 66,000 workers have been dismissed from leading technology firms in the first month of 2023, according to a <a href="https://news.crunchbase.com/startups/tech-layoffs/#:~:text=More%20than%2046%2C000%20workers%20in,person%20layoff%20announcements%20this%20week." target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Crunchbase, even after companies in the sector dismissed some 140,000 positions last year.

Key Speakers At The BoxWorks 2019 Conference

Zoom Drastically Downsizes As Lockdown Demand Falters, CEO Will Reduce His Own Salary By 98%

Zoom Drastically Downsizes After Lockdown Demand Falters

Lockdowns

Unemployment

For decades, companies have kept an eye on employee productivity. The utilization of monitoring technology to track job performance isn’t new for many fields. In lower paying, hourly jobs, for example, tracking employees has been normal behavior for quite some time.
But now more industries, faced with an increasing number of remote employees, are rolling out innovative forms of workforce monitoring, and not everyone is on board.
For example, grocery cashiers at Kroger, UPS drivers, and Amazon factory workers have all experienced tracking. Now, higher-paying, white collar jobs are starting to implement it and employees aren’t happy. The constant monitoring could make workers feel less trusted and push them to do their work in a less ethical way.
The Daily Wire spoke to Chase Thiel, an assistant professor at the University of Wyoming and an expert in business ethics. He said Microsoft can monitor workers’ movements and even their heart rate while they work.
“Microsoft allows employees — they can wear a smartwatch and then it&#8217;s got this app on it. [That] collects these biometrics, like heart rates, et cetera. And it can give employees a wellness score and I don&#8217;t know how frequently it gives them this wellness score, but it kind of collects information about the employee,” he said.
Thiel also described a &#8220;voluntary program&#8221; where &#8220;they asked employees if they would like to be implanted with a microchip that essentially would act like a company badge &#8230; but it was just implanted, but it would also &#8230; collect information about employees, their whereabouts, their activity level, things like that, their body rhythms, had the potential to do all of those things.&#8221;
&#8220;Very extreme,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I haven&#8217;t heard of another example of a company doing something like that, but &#8230; it gives you an illustration of what kinds of technology exist.&#8221;
There has been an increase in monitoring within certain physician jobs, academic officials, architects, and even people who work in nursing homes.
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/14/business/worker-productivity-tracking.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">highlighted radiologists</a> who were shown reports of their periods of inactivity and also given insight into how their work compares to their coworkers.
Workers in higher paying jobs now complain about the practice in much the same way blue collar workers have pushed back against it in the past. 
J.P. Morgan measures how its workers use their time during their workdays with a software <a href="https://www.efinancialcareers.com/news/2022/05/jpmorgan-spying-on-employees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> &#8220;Workplace Activity Data Utility.” It <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jp-morgan-chase-secretive-of-employee-tracking-sytems-2022-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tracks their time</a> on Zoom calls, when they’re in the office, and how much time they use certain applications.
Barclays Bank used to send messages to employees that would prompt them to work harder. One example was <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/markmurphy/2020/02/21/barclays-forced-to-stop-big-brother-employee-tracking-system-after-backlash/?sh=3d0a79ab6ac1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a message</a> that said, “Not enough time in the Zone yesterday,” but they abandoned the practice after workers pushed back.
With the rise of remote work, employers can hypothetically keep better track of people who aren’t working in the office.
However, some studies question whether these monitoring practices are even effective.
Research by the Harvard Business Review <a href="https://hbr.org/2022/06/monitoring-employees-makes-them-more-likely-to-break-rules">showed</a> that workers who were monitored were much more likely to break rules, work slowly on purpose, take breaks that weren’t allowed and even steal office items. They did another study that showed workers who were told they were being tracked were more likely to cheat when completing assignments.
Advice on how to trick the trackers, though, can be found on <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@katrant/video/7054782854823185710?is_from_webapp=v1&amp;item_id=7054782854823185710&amp;lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok.</a> One way is with a “mouse jiggler,” which makes it look like someone is active.
The legal side is another component. In most states, employers have leeway in how they choose to implement these tracking measures. 
Thiel explained the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, saying, “as long as there&#8217;s a business necessity or &#8230; an employer can demonstrate a business necessity, they have the right to monitor employees in a variety of ways.”
New York&#8217;s <a href="https://www.natlawreview.com/article/new-york-employers-required-to-notify-employees-electronic-monitoring" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new law that started this year</a> invoked new requirements on private employers that makes them tell employees they are electronically tracking them.
 Connecticut and Delaware also put laws in place related to watching employees, but attempts to create similar legislation in California stalled because business groups pushed back on it, saying it could actually infringe on employee privacy.
CalChamber, a business advocacy group, <a href="https://advocacy.calchamber.com/2022/04/26/calchamber-tags-ab-1651-as-a-job-killer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the California bill would actually decrease workers’ privacy because it would cause employers to look at all of an employee&#8217;s communications to verify if the employer is even allowed to keep or look at that information. They also said it would eliminate small businesses “for even a good faith mistake due to its excessively punitive enforcement mechanisms.”
Some of the discontent with employee tracking might stem from a broader discomfort with being watched. Most Americans are not <a href="https://termly.io/resources/articles/data-privacy-statistics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aware</a> of data and privacy rules in the U.S..
 Lawmakers and citizens are starting to raise the alarm on how such tracking might be dangerous when it comes to national security. 
Recent examples of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/after-paying-twitter-millions-fbi-says-other-possible-big-tech-payments-are-protected-for-law-enforcement-purposes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FBI infiltration</a> of social media giant Twitter reveal how government entities are able to view and access user information. The use of foreign governments getting their hands on information about Americans, such as that of China when it comes to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tiktok-banned-from-devices-issued-by-u-s-house-of-representatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok</a>, is also a concern many across the country share.
While some are concerned with companies keeping an eye on their workers, the true threat may lie right in their very hands.
This article has been revised for clarity.

Three dimensional render of security cameras pointed at empty office chair

From Microchips To ‘Mouse Jigglers,’ Workplace Monitoring Is On The Rise

From Microchips To 'Mouse Jigglers,' Workplace Surveillance Is On The Rise

Corporations

Readers Pass

Surveillance

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/disney" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Disney</a> CEO Bob Iger told employees at the entertainment conglomerate that they will now be expected to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/remote-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">work</a> at least four days each week in the office.
The company’s board of directors <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/reeling-disney-fires-ceo-as-woke-culture-blamed-for-stock-plunge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">restored</a> Iger, who previously served as chief executive for more than a decade, to his former job at the end of last year and removed would-be successor Bob Chapek from the top position. Iger said that employees &#8220;currently working in a hybrid fashion will be asked to spend four days a week on-site, targeting Monday through Thursday as in-person workdays,&#8221; according to a <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/disney-ceo-orders-hybrid-employees-back-office-four-days-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> obtained by Fox Business and other outlets.
&#8220;As you’ve heard me say many times, creativity is the heart and soul of who we are and what we do at Disney,&#8221; the executive remarked. &#8220;And in a creative business like ours, nothing can replace the ability to connect, observe, and create with peers that comes from being physically together, nor the opportunity to grow professionally by learning from leaders and mentors.&#8221;
Many companies permitted employees to work virtually when government lockdowns shuttered offices across the country three years ago. As lockdown mandates subsided, however, many firms have experienced difficulties coaxing workers back to the office. Time savings from avoided commutes, as well as the flexibility to balance work and personal matters, are primary benefits cited by remote and hybrid workers, according to a <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/355907/remote-work-persisting-trending-permanent.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a> from Gallup.
Other business leaders have also expressed a preference for employees to cease remote work. Tesla CEO Elon Musk <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-remote-work-is-no-longer-acceptable-at-tesla" target="_blank" rel="noopener">informed</a> employees at the electric automaker that work-from-home is “no longer” acceptable and commented on social media that those who disagree with the new policy “should pretend to work somewhere else.” During a meeting with Twitter employees before his acquisition of the social media company was finalized, Musk was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/freedom-of-speech-and-freedom-of-reach-elon-musk-tells-twitter-employees-users-should-be-able-to-tweet-pretty-outrageous-things" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> about remote work, leading him to assert that working “on location physically” is far superior to other arrangements.
The costs of virtual work arrangements are palpable for employers: 85% of business leaders say the shift to hybrid work “has made it challenging to have confidence that employees are being productive,” according to a <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from Microsoft.
Disney has experienced challenges over the past year partly due to the iconic company positioning itself against legislation in Florida that prohibits instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity for students between kindergarten and third grade, ultimately causing a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-disney-could-win-back-the-trust-of-its-lost-conservative-fans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">loss of trust</a> among some consumers. Iger told employees soon after his reinstatement that he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-disney-ceo-says-company-will-quiet-things-down-regrets-predecessor-battled-desantis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">regretted</a> the company’s decision to oppose the parental rights legislation, citing the “delicate balance” between telling stories and “listening” to audience members.
In an exclusive <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-poll-over-60-of-americans-back-floridas-limits-on-k-3-lessons-on-sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a> from The Daily Wire, 64% of Americans, including 62% of Democrats and 57% of independents, supported the Florida law that Disney publicly opposed.
Share prices for Disney have fallen 39% over the past year against the 16% decline witnessed by the S&amp;P 500 index. Among other concerning metrics, Disney reported a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-subscriptions-at-ultra-woke-disney-slow-to-a-crawl-after-company-loses-left-wing-political-battles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">significant slowdown</a> in new domestic subscriptions for flagship streaming service Disney+ after leaping into the fray of contentious social issues, as well as the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/animated-gay-teen-romance-film-is-woke-disneys-latest-box-office-bomb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">failure</a> of multiple movies that featured same-sex attraction and were nevertheless oriented toward young children.
Disclosure: The Daily Wire has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/introducing-dw-kids" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced plans</a> for kids entertainment content.

Cropped shot of wooden coffee table with laptop, smartphone and a cup of tea in the living room at home by the window against beautiful sunlight

Back To Work: Disney Employees Told To Show Up In The Office At Least Four Days A Week

Disney Employees Must Return Back To The Office At Least 4 Days A Week

Disney

General

As the holidays ramp up, some workers across the United States will take much-needed breaks from the daily tasks of the workplace. However, others might be less inclined to do so. Either way, the vast benefits to taking time away from work — whether short or long — is something all Americans need to consider as the holiday season approaches.
While there’s discussion about the importance of taking short breaks from work, the same benefits can almost certainly be applied to longer spans of time off, as well.
Since studies show sitting in one position most of the day is unhealthy, ‘movement breaks’ are important for physical and emotional well being, as <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/changepower/201704/how-do-work-breaks-help-your-brain-5-surprising-answers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported by Psychology Today</a>. Sitting for long periods of time can increase the risk of “heart disease, diabetes, depression, and obesity.”
Taking time away from work in the short term can also help reduce “decision fatigue,” since making lots of back-to-back decisions can get tedious and decrease a person’s ability to think through problems.
Avoiding needed breaks can also lead to less creative breakthroughs, the outlet noted. People who take walks are able to think more creatively than if they remained stationary, according to one <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/minding-the-body/201603/become-better-writer-be-frequent-walker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from Stanford, as noted by Psychology Today.
“Four experiments demonstrate that walking boosts creative ideation in real time and shortly after,” the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24749966/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study noted</a>, adding, “Walking opens up the free flow of ideas, and it is a simple and robust solution to the goals of increasing creativity and increasing physical activity.”
There’s also a phenomenon called “waking rest,” which helps people to ruminate on what they have learned.
University of Washington Medicine’s <a href="https://rightasrain.uwmedicine.org/mind/well-being/taking-breaks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Right as Rain publication</a> noted how taking snippets of time off can be good for keeping up with mental and physical health.
“Many people don’t often have a choice in how much rest is available to them. The way society is set up, we treat rest as a privilege, not a right,” Julia Kocian, a social worker and UW Medicine Graduate Medical Education mental health counselor, said.
Sleep has long been <a href="https://health.gov/myhealthfinder/healthy-living/mental-health-and-relationships/get-enough-sleep" target="_blank" rel="noopener">associated</a> with greater health benefits, and getting the required amount of sleep is beneficial for adults and <a href="https://www.parents.com/health/healthy-happy-kids/the-7-reasons-your-kid-needs-sleep/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">children</a>. However, benefits can also be found from simply taking the much-needed time to rest.
“What we’re learning is some of the same consolidation activities that happen in our brains when we’re asleep also occur when we rest,” Samantha Artherholt, a psychologist and clinical associate professor in the UW School of Medicine Department of Rehabilitation, noted.
“I view rest as intentionally slowing down or stepping away from an activity, while taking a break can be more active, like going on a walk or stretching,” Artherholt said. “The goal of any sort of rest or break is it should feel relaxing. You should feel refreshed and better after the break than you did before.”
People’s brains produce different types of waves depending on what they&#8217;re doing. When <a href="https://mybraindr.com/4-types-of-brainwaves-and-how-they-impact-your-mental-health/#:~:text=Delta%20Brainwaves:%20This%20brainwave%20is,at%20rest%20or%20deeply%20asleep." target="_blank" rel="noopener">someone is relaxing</a>, experiencing deep meditation, or asleep, the brain produces delta brainwaves, which are needed for renewal and recovery, according to MyBrainDR, which treats people who are depressed or suffering from insomnia and other issues.
If a person does not feel the ability to concentrate on specific jobs, the site noted, it might be because he or she is not feeling the right type of brainwaves for the job he or she needs to do. 
Kocian discussed the importance of getting into different brain patterns.
“The idea is we need to spend time in different brain states. When we engage in a variety of activities that require more and less focus, our brain can spend time in the different states, which helps it function and allows us to be creative, to problem-solve and to store information,” Kocian said.
Americans tend to work exceedingly hard and sometimes don’t even take long breaks.
Forbes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinecastrillon/2021/05/23/why-taking-vacation-time-could-save-your-life/?sh=27dc314624de" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on a recent study that discovered 26% of participants had never taken two weeks of leave at the same time. Workers also changed their vacations since the pandemic hit, but the fact that so many had never taken a prolonged vacation is telling and concerning.
Avoiding taking breaks can lead to long term health problems and complications can even be fatal.
The outlet also noted that the World Health Organization <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57139434" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released a study</a> revealing that in 2016, 745,000 people died from heart disease and stroke because of long days spent working. 
The study discovered that putting in at least 55 hours per week was connected with a 35% higher likelihood of stroke, as well as a 17% higher chance of passing away from heart disease when contrasted with a 35 to 40 hour workweek.
The trend is not true for every demographic, and it revealed that men who were middle-aged or above comprised almost 75% of the people who died because of the long working hours.
The pandemic also impacted the way people around the world do their jobs and working from home might have had a worsening effect on the ability to take time away from work. The WHO research did not include the pandemic time period, but with more people working from home and suffering from economic hardship, WHO authorities said these two factors might have upped the risks connected with working long days, per the BBC.
&#8220;We have some evidence that shows that when countries go into national lockdown, the number of hours worked increase by about 10%,&#8221; WHO technical officer <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57139434" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Frank Pega said, per the BBC.</a>
Working remotely might also increase the likelihood of working more than employees are necessarily expected to. The Office for National Statistics in the United Kingdom discovered that those who sometimes worked at their houses during 2020 were working on average six hours per week more — hours that were not counted as overtime, the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57139434" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Those who never worked from home were working 3.6 hours per week of unpaid overtime, on average.
Since 2011, employees who never work at their houses on average have carried out more paid overtime; but people who work at home worked more unpaid overtime. 
“Homeworkers were more likely to work in the evenings compared with those who worked away from home in September 2020,” the report added. 
While the benefits of taking time off should be remembered throughout the year, the holidays are a key time to take that needed break in order to return to work with the necessary stamina and creativity to tackle the year ahead.

Office

Working For A Living: Here’s Why Time Away From The Office May Be Just What The Doctor Ordered

Health

Mental Health

Social Issues

Over 300 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/virginia">Virginia</a> bureaucrats have quit since Republican Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/glenn-youngkin">Glenn Youngkin</a> announced in May that state employees must show up to their jobs following more than two years of remote work since the onset of the COVID pandemic. 
Employees from five different state agencies resigned after Youngkin’s new work policy, some specifically citing “telework options” as their reason for leaving, ABC 8 News <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/over-300-virginia-state-employees-resign-in-wake-of-gov-youngkin-s-telework-policy/ar-AAZnoBi?ocid=msedgntp&amp;cvid=0325e002c9cb41bd8cc179656ee1357f">reported</a>. 
“Unfortunately we’re not surprised by this information,” Virginia Governmental Employees Association (VGEA) lobbyist Dylan Bishop told the outlet. “We had anticipated that the shift in policy would result in an exodus of workers, which is really concerning because of the state’s recruitment and retention issues.”
On May 5, Youngkin ordered all state workers to return to in-person work by July 5 to “balance the demands of government services with the needs of our public servants.”
“The governor is excited to welcome the Commonwealth&#8217;s workforce back in person and is encouraged by their continued dedication to serving Virginians,” Rob Damschen, Youngkin’s deputy communications director said in a statement, according to ABC 8 News. “We know an office-centric environment fosters collaboration and teamwork and provides an even greater level of service for all Virginians.”
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) took the biggest hit following the governor’s order with 183 employees leaving the agency, according to public records obtained by ABC 8 News. Twenty-eight VDOT workers named “telework options” as their reason for leaving the agency. Other VDOT employees said they were quitting over compensation.  
Between May 5 and June 27, the Virginia Department of Health lost 78 employees, and the Virginia Employment Commission had 38 workers quit. The Department of Housing and Community Development and the Department of Emergency Management lost 13 workers combined from May 5 through the first week of July.
Youngkin’s policy change was met with immediate <a href="https://www.wric.com/news/politics/on-state-employee-survey-youngkins-telework-policy-called-total-chaos/?ipid=promo-link-block1">resistance</a> as some bureaucrats mentioned the burdens of childcare and high gas prices as reasons they oppose returning to in-person work. A survey of 400 state employees released by the VGEA in early June showed that 50% of respondents were concerned with high gas prices and 25% mentioned childcare as the number one issue they were against returning to the office. 
The VGEA requested Youngkin to delay the new in-person policy to September 12, but Youngkin kept the July 5 date.
The new policy allowed for bureaucrats to submit applications to work remotely for part of the week. Agency heads must approve requests for remote work one day per week, while any requests for two days of working from home each week must be approved by cabinet secretaries. Youngkin&#8217;s Chief of Staff Jeff Goettman reviews any application for three or more days of remote work each week.

Glenn Youngkin

Hundreds Of Virginia Bureaucrats Quit After Youngkin Makes Them Show Up In-Person

Virginia

A class-action lawsuit argues that Amazon should pay employees’ work-from-home expenses incurred during the height of COVID-19 — and a California judge rejected Amazon’s request to dismiss the lawsuit on Wednesday.
David Williams — a senior software engineer at the e-commerce giant — “sued his employer for refusing to foot his monthly home office expenses,” according to <a href="https://www.theregister.com/AMP/2022/06/03/amazon_lawsuit_wfh/">The Register</a>, “on behalf of himself and over 4,000 workers employed in California across 12 locations.”
The lawsuit contends that Amazon should expect to pay $50 to $100 per month for electricity and internet costs accrued when the company sent employees home due to the spread of COVID-19. Amazon, however, argued that it is not responsible for the expenses because it sent employees home in reaction to government lockdown orders, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-01/amazon-workers-close-in-on-trial-to-recoup-work-at-home-expenses#xj4y7vzkg">Bloomberg</a> reported.
In his order rejecting Amazon’s request to dismiss the suit, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria said that the firm would not be absolved of liability even if its argument were valid. He referred to California labor law, which says that an employer must “indemnify his or her employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties.”
More than two years after COVID-19 sent the United States economy into a recession, millions of Americans are continuing to work from home. As of February 2022, 59% of employees who said they could do their jobs from home were working remotely all or most of the time — a significant increase from the 23% who did the same before the spread of COVID-19, according to <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2022/02/16/covid-19-pandemic-continues-to-reshape-work-in-america/">Pew Research</a>.
Indeed, many executives are wrestling with the decision to call their employees back into the office. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, for example, told executives this week in an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-remote-work-is-no-longer-acceptable-at-tesla">email</a> that “remote work is no longer” acceptable at the electric automaker.
“If there are particularly exceptional contributors for whom this is impossible, I will review and approve those exceptions directly,” he noted, adding that the workplace “must be a main Tesla office, not a remote branch office unrelated to the job duties, for example being responsible for Fremont factory human relations, but having your office in another state.”
Replying to a social media commenter asking for a response to people who think “coming into work is an antiquated concept,” Musk remarked: “They should pretend to work somewhere else.”
In the United States, only 22% of employees can work virtually between three and five days a week without decreasing productivity, according to a report from consulting firm <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/whats-next-for-remote-work-an-analysis-of-2000-tasks-800-jobs-and-nine-countries">McKinsey &amp; Company</a>.
Other countries’ legal systems are weighing similar questions about their labor laws in the wake of the lockdowns. When a German man <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/german-court-rules-that-moving-from-bed-to-home-office-counts-as-commuting-man-gets-workers-comp-for-slipping-down-the-stairs">fell down the stairs</a> and broke his back while moving from his bed to his home office, a court ruled that his journey was “insured as an activity in the interest of his employer, as a commute to work.”
Killian O’Brien, who lectures on German law at University College London, told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/10/success/wfh-commuting-germany-court/index.html">CNN Business</a> that firms in the central European nation must prepare for “an increased category of activities and events that you can carry out… that will now be covered,” adding that insurers will likely “have to revisit this ruling often.”

An Amazon Engineer Thinks The Company Should Have Paid His Bills During Work-From-Home. His Lawsuit Is Advancing.

Engineer Sues Amazon Over Work-From-Home Policies, Argues Company Should Pay For Electricity, Internet

COVID

Internet

Lawsuit

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