Why Are They Sending Us Back to the Office?

I was reading a Bloomberg article this morning outlining how most banks plan to implement initiatives to start sending employees back after Labor Day. I was also recently on a call with leadership that outlined our return procedure, and all of the safety protocols they had set in place to ensure our “health and wellness” as this is of “utmost concern”. It was communicated that they were monitoring other banks processes, and didn’t want to be the first or last bank to send their employees back. Wtf??

So they’re just going to play follow the leader so they don’t have to deal with bad press? What a crock of shit. My thinking is, if they are legitimately concerned for our well being, why are they sending us back at all? I don’t even want to get into the granularities like transportation, food, and the plethora of other external risks that a bank cant control. If looked at objectively, they sent us home with total cases in the US under what, 100k? Correct me if I’m wrong. Now there are 5mm+ cases in the US, and they’re sending us back? I just don’t really understand the rationale. Gotta squeeze everything out of those already paper thin margins anyway, right boys?

Mod Note - see a related post: JPM Requiring Everyone Return to Office--Trouble Ahead

Bloomberg article: Goldman Sachs Asks Staff to Return to London Office: WFH Tracker

162 Comments
 
Funniest

Because the boomers can't stand their wives and need to get back to yelling at their analysts ~in person~

 
Controversial

Stop being so soft. Unless you have an underlying health condition, you have .1% chance of anything serious happening if you contract it. Worry more about your Uber driver getting in a crash or the mental health effects of working 80 hour weeks or all the shitty food you order on Seamless

Edit: Apparently you guys really hate the office so much that you're willing to fabricate the dangers of this virus to young people. By all available data, this is not a deadly virus to people fresh out of college, but if you insist on ignoring the facts, then go right ahead. 

 

I bet $100 you’re white. 
 

i don’t want to return to the office because me being young means I’m likely to spread the virus without symptoms. I won’t die, but the Black and Latino communities might.

we give unemployment benefits by cutting their access to Medicare. We send their kids back to school even if they’re at risk of bringing back the virus to homes where the parents work for minimum wages. And all under the premise that “us, privileged young people” won’t die? Welcome to America. 

 

Lol I love these "prospect" interns, not even FT employees, talking about returns to the office. I actually am 30 and battled COVID coughs for 2 weeks. Couldn't smell or taste anything for about 5 weeks. No, I would not recommend getting COVID by going back to the office. Unless you want immunity for the winter when it unequivocally gets worse.

 

Get over it. At some point your employer will make a decision about when and where they would like you to sit and perform the work they pay you to do. If you don’t like where that is... quit. Stop pretending like you are somehow being abused and forced in to hard labor camp to collect your 1%er paycheck. You have choices. You are a fully grown adult.

While you sit there and throw a temper tantrum about having to change out of your PJs and return to the office I would imagine these fears of yours also hold true in your spare time? Let me guess... there is NO way you have gone out to eat, met the boys at a beach house, been golfing, been to a gathering with friends, gone on a vacation/road trip, been to the gym, been to a retail store to go shopping? Wah, but it was EssEnTiaL!

Spare us the f’n rant dude - I totally get wanting to ride it at out home for as long as possible but don’t play the high-horse-rational-virus-facts card when it comes to the office.

FWIW, We left the office mid-May and have been back since July. I take the subway daily, food is fine, and you just roll with the new protocols as they are delivered.

Quitchurbitchin.

 
Most Helpful

Concern about COVID has never been about the fatality rate of infected young adults without pre-existing conditions. It has always been about the ability of the virus to spread exponentially, especially during a typical NYC commute where someone may come into close contact with 50-100 individuals on any given day. Once the virus begins the spread, it's only a matter of time before your grandparents or someone with a comorbidity comes into contact with the virus. Remind me, what's the obesity rate in the United States?

No fear. Just science. Stop politicizing a public health crisis. Christ. 

 

There is absolutely no need to go back to the office. None. We have been executing deals start-to-finish virtually including M&A, IPOs, and LBOs over the last several months. I understand the economic/political reasons for wanting to reopen the economy for most people who need to be at work to generate an income (food service, retail, etc.) but for white collar workers like ourselves there is no rational argument for needing to sit next to each other in person.

Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes.
 

As an analyst, I personally see zero reason be in the office. I can do my job entirely from my kitchen, and probably more efficiently than before. At least now when I am waiting around for my directors and VP's to get back to me I can work out, cook, or do whatever.

Do I miss office culture? Nope.

Do I miss the people I work with? Nope.

Do I miss sweating my ass off on the subway in the summer? Nope.

Do I miss freezing my ass off in the subway in the winter? Nope. 

Do I miss paying for overpriced NYC food every day? Nope. 

Do I miss shitty seamless dinner? Nope.

Do I miss waiting in the office 10pm to get slammed with comments? Nope.

Do I miss having to drag my ass out of bed at 8:30 the next day to come in? Nope. 

Do I miss having to shave and put on work clothes every day? Nope. 

Do I miss answering the phone at approximately 6:30PM to hear "Foolobbynow" and then walking downstairs to find the delivery guy isn't even here yet? Kinda - NGL usually its the highlight of my day 

 

Do I miss office culture? I work at a Frat house 

Do I miss the people I work with? I miss the boys 

Do I miss sweating my ass off on the subway in the summer? I don't sweat much.

Do I miss freezing my ass off in the subway in the winter? Nope. Agreed

Do I miss paying for overpriced NYC food every day? Nope. Agreed

Do I miss shitty seamless dinner? Nope. Agreed. 

Do I miss waiting in the office 10pm to get slammed with comments? Hit up the nearest bar, Tuesdays was group night.

Do I miss having to drag my ass out of bed at 8:30 the next day to come in? Nope. Agreed. 

Do I miss having to shave and put on work clothes every day? I miss wearing my Patagucci 

Do I miss answering the phone at approximately 6:30PM to hear "Foolobbynow" and then walking downstairs to find the delivery guy isn't even here yet? Word of advice, wait for the 3rd call. That means it's urgent and they're actually there.

 

Unless they are asians. Then they don't count.  Liberals only think blacks and Hispanics goto a non target from the moment they are born.  A poor Asian does not.  Their cultural background of hard work and intense focus on education and family ties(very little single parent homes) makes them honorary members of the white patriarchy.  Despite the fact they were out in internment camps as little as 70 years ago.  

Why are Asians, despite facing significant discrimination in American society, able to have higher average salaries, higher rates of high school graduation, lower rates of crime, lower rates of single parent homes etc etc than every race in the USA (including whites).  Perhaps black and Latino culture is contributing to this parity in results and it's not solely the fault of an oppressive white built structure of racism stopping them.

 

Ok can someone explain this to me: my bank walked us through their set of guidelines for returning to the office and the they are insanely restrictive (makes sense obviously). I'm just very confused as to what the hell the point of coming back is when you can only have a few people allowed in a conference room at a time, can't go in people's individual offices, have to wear a mask all the time, etc.

Like are we really going to all be sitting in the office still having meetings on zoom with our team because we are not allowed to meet in a conference room? Really fail to see the benefit of going through all the hassle of coming in to the office when we won't even be able to do half the things that make the office valuable...

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