Anna works as a ‘private banker’ for one of the Big Guys (the blue one). Her team is located on a high floor in a hulking tower at the iconic corner of King & Bay in DT Toronto. At least it was.
In the Spring of 2020 everybody got a memo telling them to grab their desk cacti and go home, because some crazy virus was going around. And so began the WFH experiment. At one point that year an incredible five million people had abandoned their cubicles and corner offices for spare bedrooms and kitchen tables.
A few months later, as 2021 dawned, it looked like this arrangement would last a long time. Maybe forever. Bank workers like Anna could collect full pay and benefits, keep up with the employer-matched RRSP contributions and have time to drive her kids to school, walk the dog at 11 am, go shopping, then work until 7 pm answering the day’s emails.
Soon the revolution came. If the boss was happy with WFH, because Covid raged on and since nobody actually wanted to go downtown again, why not move out of the city to a bigger, more affordable house? So Anna did. She and her partner bought a nice little Cape Cod-style place on a leafy street. In Halifax.
In her mind, it was simple. Adjust the workday clock by an hour to compensate for the time zone, and just carry on emailing, Zooming, texting, phoning as usual and pretending she was in Toronto. Clients would never know. Her team wouldn’t care. And the bank was benign.
Well, until now.
WFH is doomed, and fading into history along with our fear of Covid as a killer virus. Tens of thousands of people have gone back to the workplace from whence they scurried. Traffic into the Toronto core is horrific again. The GO trains just got longer to accommodate more passengers. Ridership on the subway has been increasingly monthly. The subterranean PATH is coming back to life. And the vast, opulent foyers of the bank towers are again echoing with the click of high heels upon marble and slate.
This week the country’s biggest bank turned up the heat on employees who thought they could move to the distant burbs – or Nova Scotia – and stay employed. RBC’s CEO Dave McKay had this to say in a memo Tuesday: “For hybrid to continue to work effectively, we need to get the balance right and be a bit more deliberate about when and how we organize on site. That’s why, as we move into the fall, I’m asking our leaders and colleagues to come together more often in person to work and collaborate.”
It’s a gentle maple-syrupy way of ending WFH in the Canadian banking business the way it’s coming to an abrupt conclusion on Wall Street and at the big US financial institutions. And fun. Did we mention how much fun it is to commute downtown? “Technology can’t replicate the energy, spontaneity, big ideas, true sense of belonging and fun,” Dave added.
RBC says its 89,000 employees are expected at their desks two or three days a week now. That aligns with what’s been happening at TD and Scotia, although Manulife (and Turner Investments) have been fully staffed for ages.
Of course being on the workfloor two or three days a week is hell if you happen to have a boss on Bay Street and a bedroom in Barrie, Kingston or Woodstock. The Covid Refugee exodus to Bunnypatch was one of the most incredible and alarming aspects of the real estate giddiness of 2020 and 2021. Prices escalated wildly in those places, pushing property values far beyond the ability of locals to buy. In a way, the time-honoured balance of life was shattered in rural communities and small cities – to the benefit of nobody but the sellers who turned over their keys for insane amounts of money. Oh yeah, and the realtors.
Now it’s unwinding fast. BMO’s latest housing report referenced the pace of price declines in those sleepy places where the escalation was so extreme a year ago. It’s anticipated that all of the Covid premium – in many cases between 40% and 50% – will be wiped away by the end of 2022. Buyers in 2020 or last year who are called back to the office this year, and must sell to maintain their sanity and employment income, are facing tough choices.
This is recency bias at work. That’s believing what exists recently will not change. It explains why people moved far away from their jobs, thinking remote work would last forever. And why new buyers took out variable-rate loans even when five-year money was at 2%, convinced rates could never rise again.
Pandemics always end. Wars end. Booms end. Nothing rises forever. And people never learn.
Now, get back to work.
About the picture: “Well Garth, for every whining hater out there, my guess is there are many more people like me, who really appreciate what you do,” writes Bruce, in Kelowna. “It seems it is largely the whining haters who write in – but as the saying goes, silence is acceptance. So, thanks for all you do, whether it be showing us a stately old home that isn’t little sticks and ½-inch drywall can be saved (well done!), or tirelessly trying to financially educate all of us. The pictured sisters (Harlequin is the black & white, Pippin is the tortie) were with us for just over 18 years, and both sadly passed away within a month of each other this summer. Characters ’til the very end.”
157 comments ↓
Well, I guess getting told to come back to work is better than being told to never come back…
M48BC
———————————————————-
Visualizing Major Layoffs At U.S. Corporations.
“Hiring freezes and layoffs are becoming more common in 2022, as U.S. businesses look to slash costs ahead of a possible recession.
Understandably, this has a lot of people worried. In June 2022, Insight Global found that 78% of American workers fear they will lose their job in the next recession. Additionally, 56% said they aren’t financially prepared, and 54% said they would take a pay cut to avoid being laid off.
Ford has announced the biggest round of layoffs this year, totalling roughly 8,000 salaried employees. Many of these jobs are in Ford’s legacy combustion engine business. According to CEO Jim Farley, these cuts are necessary to fund the company’s transition to EVs.
“We absolutely have too many people in some places, no doubt about it.– JIM FARLEY, CEO, FORD.”
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/major-layoffs-us-corporations-2022/
Garth, I think you’re cherry picking a bit here. 5 days a week in the office is more dead than WFH is.
The RBC chief also said in this same PR round that “My view continues to be that flexible work models are here to stay across society”.
Companies big and small are clearly converging on a hybrid, deliberate meeting model. Best of both worlds. Schedule time with your team members to meet and collaborate in person to get that “spark”, work from the home office when you have to go heads down and knock out reports, coding, writing, etc.
Long time readers of this blog, like me, know what’s up.
I’m not even gonna bother applying for the next job vacancy at Turner Investments, I already know who’s going to get the job.
I look forward to the Saturday guest post from Lisa LaFlamme…
M48BC
It’s safe to assume that many of those sellers made enough $$$ to bring forward retirement plans!
Hence the chronic shortage of workers
Tom
Am I first?
Any CEO who thinks a desk job in their company that is capable of being done from home contains any “energy, spontaneity, big ideas, true sense of belonging or fun” to begin with is so far removed from the realities of that job, that they might as well be talking about underwater basket weaving. Or they’re knowingly talking out their behind.
The reality of modern desk jobs is completing your entire day’s tedious workload in 4 hours, followed by 5 hours of tedious boredom spent surreptitiously browsing the internet.
I personally know three people that did the same thing as Anna. At the time, the world felt off balance and people made decisions that they otherwise wouldn’t.
Nova Scotia was in the national press about how great we were doing with covid. And then there were ad campaigns running in Ontario that said “if you could work from anywhere, why not here?” above a picture of a beach or a camp fire.
It’s no wonder people YOLO’d over to the east coast. But reality has now set in. Halifax isn’t just a cheaper Ontario.
Two of the people have sold up and gone home. The third is making plans to do the same.
how is WFH doomed when a hybrid model is being widely adopted? this is embracing WFH (from 0 to 2-3 days), not abandoning it
also in most polls a significant percentage (20-30%) of responders claim that they’d rather quit if they would be called back to the office full time – in a market of labour shortage they have good leverage to push for permanent WFH (hybrid or not)
I like Halifax alot.
Your mortgage friend Ron Butler re-twitted :
Canadian real estate developers are being flooded with pension fund cash that doesn’t see the Bank of Canada able to hold rates at neutral past next year.
Pension funds have Billions that they have to spend
Ouch!
Now I know what No Pity in the Naked City is all about.
Tip for Anna. When commuting from Halifax it’s best to fly into Billy Bishop airport (I hear Pearson can be a real bitch).
Not me. I was let go as part of the tech crash. Company stock list 95% of value and jobs were cut. That’s at least 7 months of unemployment payback on top of 2 months severance.
Only a fool would work and pay taxes in this country. Perhaps in a year I will start looking . By then housing should be affordable again unless the traitorous puppet regime in Ottawa restarts money laundering mass migration program again.
There is nothing this corrupt government would not do to crush the middle class.
Hi Garth,
Having been a long time reader, I don’t recall you ever writing about the decumulation phase of life. Hoping you could comment on a cost effective strategy.
In order to save on trading costs, my thoughts are to start paring down my 14 different etf’s into three when the rsp is converted to a rif. So I’m spending $30 a month on trades, not $100 to keep the equity/bond balance correct.
Thanks!
It always struck me as a risky play. If you can convince your boss that your job can be done remotely (without any cost to the business), then why would they pay you a high Canadian wage to do it? There’s a world of people out there from South Korea to India who are happy to do your job remotely for a whole lot less.
As a senior leader in our organization, I’ve been saying for some time that this phenomena would be short lived and was based on recency bias. Was there a possibility that things would not return to 100% pre-covid conditions, yes, however, a fully WFH future was not going to happen in most cases. I warned my employees they would be expected to be back in the office for some number of days a week, if not all. If you tell me you can’t because you live 5 hours away, you no longer have an advantage over those who live abroad. I now have the advantage of hiring a replacement at a lower rate. It doesn’t matter to me if you’re 5 hours away, or 5 countries away.
Free and valuable information daily, love this blog.
Happy to report we sold our cottage in Washago when people from GTA were desperate to get away from Covid and thought they could work from the boonies, sold first day it was on MLS. The cottage was rented for 10 years, the renters paid the monthly mortgage cost and utilities, doubled our money on selling. Had some hassle with renters and large unexpected repairs while owning the cottage, also insurance, property tax, etc. but overall worked out for us.
Keep up your common sense advice and reality checks.
BDWY yesterday suggested:
Retire at 55. Use up registered investments before 65. RE worth a few mil but produces no income. Sell some RE at 80 when tfsa and non reg run out.
*************************
For paupers?
“RBC says its 89,000 employees are expected at their desks two or three days a week now.”
+++
One wonders if the large Banks and corporations realize that some staff will quit OR be willing to work as “consultants” from home.
Either way it’s a win win.
They get to wipe some of the “fat” off the white collar worker bees.
They get to absolve themselves of employer CPP , EI, pensions, medical, dental, etc.
Years ago a large engineering firm in Vancouver (Sandwell Swann Wooster) offered their employees (the high priced engineers) a choice
Stay as an employee and earn “this.”
Quit and come back as a “Consultant” and earn “THIS”
About 75% of the engineers and started back as consultants.
The underground commercial parking filled with BWM’s, Mercedes, Lotus, Lambo’s, etc etc etc.
The guys were all flyin’ high.
Then one of them got cancer.
His consulting contract was cut.
Bad for morale apparently.
He died a few months later.
Then the recession hit.
ALL the consultants were wacked.
Get ready for the “consultant work from home” offer.
Multi Billion dollar companies aint stoo-pid.
Glad you’re reveling in the fact that WFH is dead. WFH is the only benefit that we derived from Covid as a society. Improving employees’ morale, cutting traffic and pollution, increasing personal savings, saving time, improving productivity and more!
Now the geniuses at the big banks have determined that, “we need to come together more often in person to work and collaborate.” When did those monopolistic, anti-competitive, client gouging banks ever work and collaborate to accomplish any benefits for their clients? I hope that the smart employees leave the banks and go work for someplace that does offer WFH. And all the dead heads sit in traffic 4-5 hours a day.
RIP in catnip fields to the fur friends.
LOL regarding the ‘fun’ in commuting. One of the many things I do not miss is the daily battle to get on the train. No social distancing possible! Was not fun even before Covid; can not imagine it has improved now that WFW has resumed (almost) normal programming. When I venture DT these days I either drive or take an express bus. A new express began to operate just before Covid burst on the scene; even better, it terminates in our neighborhood. I might have to walk 10-15 minutes to get to the pickup point from my residence but a seat is virtually guaranteed, plus the bus isn’t usually packed so totally worth it.
Bloomberg is hopeless…
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-17/us-consumers-show-signs-of-resilience-despite-raging-inflation
https://www.marketplace.org/2022/08/03/credit-card-debt-is-up-13-percentfrom-last-year-new-york-fed-reports/
Walmart isn’t selling much outside the food aisles as per the morning radio news.
Was in Walmart the other day…not many people in the non food aisles.
Back to school shopping will be limited this year.
“‘Technology can’t replicate the energy, spontaneity, big ideas, true sense of belonging and fun,’ Dave added.”
Yeaaaah, cause that’s what the office is like. I believe most middle managers pine for return to office so that they can:
A) Justify their jobs
B) Micromanage someone (hard to do with WFH).
Sorry, but WFH is not close to dead. Hybrid, as many have stated here is the future. My company (big CDN producer) created an official post-pandemic policy stating such.
100% WFH is mostly dead. Some may be able to work in a hybrid model.
If a person moved out of town like Anna did how is s/he going to get to the office 2-3 times a week in a hybrid work model? The office being in Toronto and she in Halifax.
On the not working no more side:
Our early-50s friends who retired last year, sold their Alaska home, and bought an RV to travel the country for a few years while searching for a final resting place have been greatly enjoying the journey.
Some of their top settling options so far include Bozeman, Flagstaff… and Washington’s Wenatchee Valley, where they’ve rented a home in Leavenworth for this fall/winter. My wife and I are quite interested in their assessment, since that area is close to the border and our Canadian holdings, has good climate, and there are big financial benefits to retiring cross-border.
#5 SunShowers
#15 Bob
has it.
Twiddling thumbs from home means you can easily be outsourced.
If you don’t need to be in the Office, then the Office does not need you.
Why India’s Tata and Infosys are in the Top 15 IT Management Consulting firms in the World.
Check Infosys strategy of 24-7 and that will tell you how long WFH in Canada will last. When they invaded the US they took gobs of market share from leaders Accenture and IBM (who then emulated the Infosys model).
Companies are in it to earn Profit not provide charity to WFH’ers.
Arrogance. Self-interest. High self-worth not born out by reality. = WFH undoing.
It always struck me as a risky play. If you can convince your boss that your job can be done remotely (without any cost to the business), then why would they pay you a high Canadian wage to do it? There’s a world of people out there from South Korea to India who are happy to do your job remotely for a whole lot less.
——————-
Because if something changes and the employer actually needs the employee on site, it’s an easy option, there’s a lot of space between always on site and never on site. If they’re paying someone in India or South Korea to do the job who doesn’t have Canadian citizenship there are a number of problems with bringing them in to work even a single day, let alone a week or a month.
Also there are legitimate issues with employing someone halfway around the world unless they are willing to work at night and sleep during the day. You better hope your worker in India has reliable power and Internet service, last I heard that country had serious issues with rolling blackouts during the summer, they don’t have enough power generation, a problem that will only get worse as energy costs climb. It’s not as easy or as cut and dried as you are making out, especially if they are ESL and don’t speak/write virtually perfect English and/or French.
September is oh so far away.
Our esteemed leaders, wanting power and control will lock us down, make us do unspeakable things and WFH will be back. Or they will want to spend billions without answering questions and not have anything tangible to show for it – again, fear will be needed.
As I was pressing in my daily bike 50km, I saw once again a few older folks driving in cars alone with masks on. I wondered, how many didn’t and perhaps still don’t get the medical care they need out of excessive fear? Fear that some say has been over exaggerated? How many had their lives shortened due to not getting needed treatment. I wondered if any politician will face the consequences of what happened in long term care homes in this country, over and over again. Apparently that is a non issue and news dare not ask.
You watch, fall…will be fun. First up, it will be easy to extent ArriveCAN in the fall. We’re in the flu season, they made it through the summer. Soon after Germans will start making crappy VWs by wood fire and we’ll all find out if this summer was just a bear rally. And then Vlad will impale the EU on a BBQ skewer, unfortunately. Maybe shut down Ukraine power grid with Chernobyl II.
While my imagination is running away on the dark side, the truth is…these are all actual real possibilities. Not like I’m pulling this out of thin air now.
#15 Bob on 08.17.22 at 3:26 pm
How likely are those people in South Korea and India to patronize Canadian businesses? Do you think firms consistently laying off each other’s customers in favor of people who will never spend a dime here is a good thing for the overall business ecosystem?
Offshoring is a Prisoner’s Dilemma. It’s in everyone’s best interest not to do it at all, but some do it anyway for a quick advantage, which leads to everyone doing it, and then everyone suffers in a relentless race to the bottom.
Anyone that thinks they could move from Toronto to Halifax and their boss wouldn’t find out is delusional. I can’t believe so many people thought WFH would be forever. Suck it up, sell at a loss and learn from your costly mistake.
#6 Blunoser on 08.17.22 at 3:17 pm
I personally know three people that did the same thing as Anna. At the time, the world felt off balance and people made decisions that they otherwise wouldn’t.
Nova Scotia was in the national press about how great we were doing with covid. And then there were ad campaigns running in Ontario that said “if you could work from anywhere, why not here?” above a picture of a beach or a camp fire.
It’s no wonder people YOLO’d over to the east coast. But reality has now set in. Halifax isn’t just a cheaper Ontario.
Two of the people have sold up and gone home. The third is making plans to do the same.
/////////////////
It could too depend on age.
Lets say you are 50, sold your Toronto home and bought in Halifax and have a bucket full of cash. You are asked to come back to the office and you just decide to retire and enjoy a better quality of life.
Silly servant, here. My department’s deputy minister announced that we are all expected to work 2-3 days a week, starting in the fall.
Luckily I moved downtown to rent a place 10 minutes from the office, last year.
“Now, get back to work”. About friggin’ time.
Has anyone received anything but absolute poor customer service in the past 2+ years trying to contact anyone at any company?
The mantra of “You will be grateful that we even answer the phone and you will take whatever service we provide” is long overdue.
Anyone who has tried contacting a government department, a bank, an insurance company or even a telecom will tell you that WFH is an absolute failure.
Spent 2 hours 20 minutes last week on hold with 7 callers ahead of me trying to contact my insurance company to only get cut off. Called back and told would have to go back in the que with more than 30 callers waiting. When asked to speak with a Manager was told it would take 5-7 business days for them to call me. Guess who now has a new insurer?
There is a looming purge of the laptop class workforce who were briefly the biggest winners of the abuses that came out of the so-called pandemic, like your WFH example. Not coincidentally, this laptop class were also the most enthusiastic supporters of the lockdown regime. When Fauci or Tam hinted at alleviating lockdown measures, they howled like Twitter banshees with outrage, demanding longer lockdowns.
Now that the white collar laptop class have proven their redundancy during COVID, expect corporations to start thinning out these professional middle managers. Let’s be honest, what is the value of people who do nothing but spend maybe up to 2 hours per day dashing emails off among one another, and the rest of it on social media and Youtube?
Most people are missing central issues of unwinding WFH: they assume the employer gives a crap and that their bosses are logical.
Newsflash Snowflakes: Employers don’t care about your dog walk routine and your boss is, very likely, at least as stupid and evil as you think.
And to clarify, I’m not picking on your boss, just pointing out that it ain’t all about you.
Once you get your brain wrapped around the idea that people are 95% illogical life gets much easier because it’s more predictable.
Dave’s optimization strategy:
————
Sometimes it is good to bypass the blog for a few days and then see the comments.. Can’t help but chiming in Mr. Dave’s case yesterday.
It is not Garth’s role nor anyone on this blog to comment on the ethics or morality of someone who is legally optimizing his financial position and who (from the way he describes things) was not someone born into privilege. Although I would not at all feel good in pursuing his legal scheme (nor would I have felt it right for my kid collect COVID bucks when he could have… but instead made his own job that summer), it is not my place to comment. On the flip side, I find it also rather offensive that one-person corporations were able to hire family members to perform essentially no duties to offset taxes (which also by the way decreases funds for the Gov’t purse that could fund social programs). These “bogus” but legal schemes were well documented. I find it ironic that Garth would never pass an ethical judgment on those scenarios as they were often done by doctors who are “valuable” to Canada.
Live and let live… “ethics” often depends on who is viewing it. Better to curb the moral outrage for something that is more nefarious.
“Pandemics always end. Wars end. Booms end. Nothing rises forever. And people never learn.”
That true. The sheep never learn a lesson from anything. Expecially when it comes to buying overpriced houses in the GTHA. Moving to costa rica is a better option than paying $2million for a semi through should cost no more than $200k
So, how is Anna doing? Is she moving back?
#5 SunShowers
The reality of modern desk jobs is completing your entire day’s tedious workload in 4 hours, followed by 5 hours of tedious boredom spent surreptitiously browsing the internet.
—
It’s precisely that thinking as to why WFH will likely not work for many. To the sucker still employing you, they pay you for 8h. And not for you to work 4h and decide that’s it because relatively everyone feels that’s it. Notwithstanding I don’t think most are good at managing their productivity in or out of office, but it’s much easier to watch Netflix or walk the dog out of sight.
and then add to that the trackers -employee productivity management to meet their efficiencies/targets and then paying them accordingly. Oh right they blamed the culture.
=========
FRANKFURT, Aug 17 (Reuters) – – multibillion-euro tax fraud
In the scheme, known as “cum-ex” or dividend stripping, banks and investors would swiftly trade shares of companies around their dividend payout day, blurring stock ownership and allowing multiple parties to falsely reclaim tax rebates on dividends.Government officials say it involves some 100 banks on four continents and at least 1,000 suspects.
Authorities seeking to hold individuals and institutions to account in one of Germany’s largest post-war frauds and claw back money for government coffers have raided the local offices of banks including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Barclays. The mastermind behind the complex tax ploy was extradited from Switzerland to stand trial in Germany.
It’s been interesting looking back in my email at some promotional Line of Credit emails from BMO:
Interest Rate: 5.98% (Dec 30, 2021) – 10k
Interest Rate: 6.23% (Mar 28, 2022) – 15k
Interest Rate: 6.73% (Apr 26, 2022) – 15k
Interest Rate: 6.73% (May 16, 2022) – 15k
Interest Rate: 7.23% (June 28, 2022) – 10k
Interest Rate: 8.23% (July 26, 2022) – 10k
No thanks!
Garth, I don’t know anyone that claimed that everyone that went to WFH was going to stay WFH forever. But here we are post Covid and millions more Canadians then pre Covid have some sort of WFH arrangement. Clearly it is here to stay if Daves big call to action is for his leaders to pretty please come back in part time. If WFH is over, why not just mandate 100% return to office?
FWIW we have more the 5k people still working from home. We grew over double digits last year and there is no set date for return to work. I hope we do open offices back up and settle into hybrid – I miss seeing colleagues when I travel to our offices. But from what I’m seeing, hybrid is the new model, employers will just not be able to attract talent to sit in cubicle farms.
https://www.law.com/international-edition/2022/02/23/switzerland-approves-extradition-of-ex-us-law-firm-partner-at-centre-of-cum-ex-storm/?slreturn=20220717164253
Acceptable.
I wonder how many people acted on Garth’s heads up to buy a condo in downtown TO when prices were crashing?
If you did, good for you!
WFH is bad for productivity so it has to end for the most part, at least in the private sector where productivity actually matters, even in the bank cartel.
In the public sector where unions make the rules and productivity is irrelevant WFH still the norm.
I am hearing lots of high heels on the Go Train lately on Kitchener line and the train used to be normally empty by Georgetown but not any more ;)
This presents an interesting paradox, doesn’t it? Bunny patch got a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to stick it to the city folks who thought they’d get the best of both worlds. The city pay with the rural lifestyle.
Here’s the problem for all the Anna’s out there: if your employer can get your responsibilities done from a remote location, why are they paying you a Canadian wage? They will find someone from India or the Philippines who will do it for a lot less, and expect a lot less for doing it.
Interesting though, isn’t it? The boss man seems to think his employees miss all the “fun” from the office. Incredible. Chaining people to a desk makes them more productive and enhances their enjoyment of work.
As expected, it is easy to find much more nefarious optimization strategies than what Dave was doing.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/mingfei-zhao-cra-jeopardy-1.6552742
His self-reported taxable income for 2014 and 2015 averaged out to be essentially equivalent to what Dave was claiming. Problem is that the CRA has re-assessed his income to 1.28M for those two years (a slight discrepancy on the self-reported income). Somehow with such a low income he was able to buy an iconic mansion in Vancouver. Dave should try likewise as it would improve his outlook and emotional well-being.
As I said earlier, “ethics” is largely in the eye of the viewer. To me, this is outrageous, and I hope that the CRA actually follows through and collects the
“jeopardy order” of $770,710 once this property is sold. We will never know of course as the details on the follow through of the CRA and the pushback they encounter from lawyers is rarely made public.
I laugh at all the delusional recency bias snowflakes who think business will accommodate the snowflakes best interests over their own.
WFH will not last, and, Bitcoin is going to zero.
Tell them this and they lose their minds thinking it is different this time, it isn’t.
Put on your big boy pants snowflake.
If that was the case for the banks they could hire workers in English speaking countries where the currency is worthless and pay them instead of Canadian workers on their computers. Of course they all have to come back to work at the office.
#25 Søren Angst on 08.17.22 at 4:04 pm
See #28
#38 Rainshowers on 08.17.22 at 4:39 pm
I get paid to complete tasks required of me. If I am able to complete all the tasks in 4 hours instead of 9, is it my fault for being too efficient?
Why are we clinging to an outdated social convention that was minted over 60 years ago? Do you really think not enough has changed in that time to justify re-examining this?
8 hours a day/40 hours a week isn’t a law of the universe, handed down by god and written in stone. We can change the work day/week, we’ve done it before.
After all, 100+ years ago, you’d be called a lazy good-for-nothing if you wanted to work 40 hours a week instead of 60+. So wanting to work less then was valid, and there’s no reason why it wouldn’t continue to be valid now.
I would have relocated in Alberta. Low rents no surtaxes or supersurtaxes or provincial tax. Some people can’t even think in the first place when working away from home. You just had to live there at the end of last year.
Come on Garth, using a bank (any Canadian one) as an example of a forward-thinking, efficient, and flexible organization is QUITE the stretch. Ill just keep typing this from my partially shaded deck front deck in the mountains (with a view). It’s 32 degrees today, lovely and nowhere near the smog, traffic, or inflexible organizations that seem to terrorize society. Oh, and I work for a very large, multi-national, multi-billion company that has mandated that work-from-home is permanent globally. Yes permanent.
So why doesn’t RBC HO just relocate to say North Bay, or Sault St. Marie? Then folks could just make the drive across town (2 min) to the office. This drive from Barrie or St. Kitts into the big smoke is dumb, and unsustainable. We need some vision here.
The only big news today was that Zellers is coming back.
One can expect to use Club Z points, visit Zeddy the bear, and eat a chicken gravy sandwich followed by some jello in the Zellers diner.
STOP Dissing Woodstock!!!!!!!!!
This is a great small city and it is an embarrassment that you were born here, Turner.
We were going to name a small dog park after you. Forget that.
Instead, we’ll put your name on the bucket where the plastic bags of dog poop are collected.
Enjoy walking the PATH in the 416 with its dirty underground air, no views, thieves and panhandlers. We’ll stick to Southside Park and Cowapolooza, thanks!
So the powers running Alberta got drunk, cracked their heads on the beer fridge, and all of a sudden want people from British Columbia to pick up and move there.
Fair enough, but for boneheaded immigrants like myself, that probably means moving to Calgary or Edmonton.
I’ve been to Calgary in August, I liked it, I also liked the fridge magnet I saw at the waterfront market that stated “Canada, just like Australia, except friggin’ cold!”
So what about anyone who would like to move there but not to one of the main cities?
I looked back at The Top 25 Small Canadian Cities for 2022, and I saw 3 from Alberta.
10. Lethbridge.
Winds of history cradle this Southern Alberta prairie powerhouse.
“Of all Alberta’s second cities—the oil and gas engines of industry like Red Deer or Fort Mac, or the pockets of urbanity among natural wonders like Banff, Canmore or Drumheller—none are Wild Rose Country distilled as much as Lethbridge.”
14. ST. ALBERT.
Wealthy, healthy and keeping it in Alberta.
“For years now, St. Albert has provided a secret key to living in the Alberta Capital Region—aka Edmonton and its surrounding areas. Its location just minutes away from northwest Edmonton.”
22. AIRDRIE.
A bedroom community wakes up to its potential.
“In a province known for wild swings in fortune tied to the price of fossil fuels, one small city has been trucking steadily for decades. Just 30 minutes north of Calgary and a few minutes away from its well-connected airport, things are looking sunny in Airdrie (and not just because it ranks in the top five for the most days of sunshine). The city has enjoyed a population increase of 20 per cent since 2016, at a time of supposed Albertan exodus by skilled workers.”
Never been to any of these places personally, one aborted attempt though.
So after visiting Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump, I was on my way to visit Lethbridge, started get late and so turned the car around and headed back into Kananaskis.
Can’t have it all.
I guess getting drunk with a friendly guy from Okotoks by the campfire was a fair trade off…
M48BC
All you have to do it go to sites like Reddit and see how many people do very little all day and collect the same paycheck and are proud of it. Lots even boast about the software they use to mimic keyboard and mouse strokes to fool the monitoring systems and make it look like they are working at their desk at home. I am sick of having to take literally weeks to sort out things that used to take a day or two by some of these “efficient and productive” companies/organizations. WFH needs to end, enough of the tail wagging the dog.
Pandemics always end – in a world of 7.5 billion people or less. We don’t have any long term data for more than that. Based on the limited sample size, pandemics never end.
I’m still wfh x2 jobs and get 15 emails a day offering the same thing. I guess Toronto isn’t the world. Who knew?
It is all energy so we all had best direct it toward the things that will obviously make the world a better place. Just like we should be doing with the current, see.
I know, I know.
In her mind, it was simple. Adjust the workday clock by an hour to compensate for the time zone, and just carry on emailing, Zooming, texting, phoning as usual and pretending she was in Toronto. Clients would never know. Her team wouldn’t care. And the bank was benign.
Well, until now.
———
Well, Anna is stupid and deserves what happens now.
Had she been honest upfront and gotten authorization from her employer to move to Halifax, none of this would be an issue. The bank would have probably offered her a position in the Halifax office instead and the issue would be resolved.
Lesson: Always be honest and get authorization to make such life changing decisions.
I know several people who were transparent with the employer (the blue bank), got their authorizations and moved to Halifax. They are not being asked to return to Toronto.
Let rural Canadian real estate fall some more! Ha haha
The worst part about working in an office is the other employees and managers. The ones that feel free to interrupt your thinking at any random moment to ask a stupid question that has already been answered if they had only read their email. There is no fun or big ideas generated from being in person. In person meetings are the single biggest time-waster since sliced bread, and with the on line meetings we at least thought about the medium and how to make the best of the limitations. And for all the people that ask, why pay a high Canadian salary to WFH if we can pay a cheap overseas salary. The difference is you get different things. I’ve been part of at least three organizations outsourced their IT help desk to a cheaper labour force. It didn’t go well. One person in the office that spoke the native language for where the outsource office was, cleaned up big time by taking the phone when the caller finally got to talk to a person. In another, trying to explain why the query they wrote didn’t work, and mine did, was an exercise in frustration. In all cases, what was outsourced, was eventually in-sourced again. That last contract I worked from home during the pandemic? I wouldn’t have taken it if I had to commute downtown to the office.
We know some work can be done effectively from home. It should continue, where the worker wants it. In most cases, management wants people back in the office so they can go back to the old ways, micromanaging workers.
Be thankful, Canadians. You could’ve been living in soon to be third world Europe. They’re restarting their coal plants and some old nuclear reactors so they don’t freeze in the dark this January. I suppose wind mills and solar panels have their limits. As far as less showers, Europeons are good with that.
GT- Traffic into the Toronto core is horrific again…
‐—————————–
So getting people to waste their livelihood in congested,polluted cities due to vehicle CO emissions is your happiness because your REITS will be secured?
I don’t know man, but obviously your ilk need to get a reality check. More government pressure to tax all these derivatives transactions would do wonders to get funds for better mass transportation and all the other needs our aging population is putting pressure on. Tax the sh*t out of the wrinkles and let’s get this economy turned around.
Somebody pee in your cereal, kid? – Garth
RBC should consult the military about compelled fun.
I don’t always have fun at work, but when I do, it’s mandatory.
DELETED (Sexist)
Re: #67 WFH is here to stay
Boy this WFH is just dandy. Tried getting a hold of customer service at Koodo about an erroneous bill. Sorry we will have to schedule a call back on Friday on your concerns after I’m done taking the kids to the park. LOL!
Looking now on changing cellphone companies.
What could be more fun than saving a down payment on a home you couldn’t afford to buy any way?
At $8,000 a year it would take 50 years to buy a $400,000 home if their were any. On the other hand if home prices were divided by 20 such a scheme might work, may be.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/tax-free-first-home-savings-account-here-are-the-basics-1.1806897
@#15 Bob on 08.17.22 at 3:26 pm
It always struck me as a risky play. If you can convince your boss that your job can be done remotely (without any cost to the business), then why would they pay you a high Canadian wage to do it? There’s a world of people out there from South Korea to India who are happy to do your job remotely for a whole lot less.
–
this is the grand myth that the anti-wfh crowd try to perpetuate.
Imagine the recency bias of the Leute losing their homes in the Ukraine (is that still happening?). Or certain populations of the earth who are so poor they dig through garbage with hopes of finding anything to sell…is tomorrow going to be the same? You bet! Are there any ‘Julies’ in Mumbai?
So sorry you suckers have to go back to the cubicle. What a life. Enjoy your Teslas…I’ve heard there exists a smugness bias as well. I’ve got a hug for that! With melting results…
Og
“Pandemics always end.”
PLAGUE OF JUSTINIAN 541-549 AD
What Was The Plague of Justinian?
Despite the catchy name, the Plague of Justinian was identified as the bubonic plague, otherwise known for its 14th Century cousin, “The Black Death.” The disease earned its name from Justinian, the ruler of the Byzantine Empire at the time. It also has a double meaning, as Justinian’s handling of the crisis was almost its own form of infection.
As farmers and other workers were dying by the thousands, Justinian was unable to complete many of the projects he had started and began to raise taxes and change the tax code.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_of_Justinian#:~:text=The%20plague%20of%20Justinian%20or,by%20the%20bacterium%20Yersinia%20pestis.
#68 Kato on 08.17.22 at 6:42 pm
RBC should consult the military about compelled fun.
I don’t always have fun at work, but when I do, it’s mandatory.
—————————————-
I remember once, after three days of no sleep we had a “forced rest”.
Now the “forced march” while wearing the “mortar bra” was a different matter. My friend the mortar bra, close to my heart and filled with multiple 5 pound HE bombs…
The Infantry, where I learned that you can be so tired that you will fall asleep while standing up, but fortunately your knees buckle before you hit the ground.
Good times….good times….
Cats are great. Our lulu is a gansters little female 17 yr old everyone thinks shes 4 and she is so gentla and afriad of no dog or bear. She like the deer in the back yard. Makes me smile.
#67 WFH is here to stay on 08.17.22 at 6:33 pm
GT- Traffic into the Toronto core is horrific again…
‐—————————–
So getting people to waste their livelihood in congested,polluted cities due to vehicle CO emissions is your happiness because your REITS will be secured?
——————————
Dude where’s this? Philippines Manilla? Maybe Shanghai? You have no idea what pollution is if your talking about Canada.
Get out more take a trip around the world.
Kanadastand is in the top cleanest countries on earth.
I pulled the chute on CR.TO 50c to $6 bucks. good news is in on some of these energy plays.
I like the idea of WFH.
I’d monitor the computer and try and get 12 hour days out of them for the privilege of not coming in.
It’s all about perspective.
Bless RBC’s CEO Dave McKay, who like many of his ancient warrior predecessors has a crystal clear understanding of the conscious and subconscious elements of the human psyche. What this means, for all of you ‘conniving lazy bastards’ who go ‘off the reservation’ when backs are turned is this: Big Dave is ‘calling you on your bullsh_t’!
Consider confidentiality issues and intellectual property protection issues. Successful companies need to feel safe from ‘opportunistic preying’ by who knows what or who.
That safety can’t be found under the pile of dirty laundry in a household where the pot smoking, sweat pants wearing, unshaven employee able to avoid scrutiny goes out to walk his pooch and forgets to lock the door or his computer screen.
Do you think for one moment that Banks aren’t familiar with cases where family members uncover ‘pin’ numbers of other family members and raid their bank accounts or other nonsense. Any of you peeps out there feel warm and fuzzy about your own financial profiles being fully viewable from unsecure spaces all over the country by careless people who leave their passwords lying around in plain sight ?
Never mind all these tedious arguments about how technology can solve all problems, how more productive some can be without the distraction of actual interaction with other human beings, and for dog sake please park ‘work/life balance’ in the same waste basket as ‘affordable housing’ and ‘safe injection sites’. Do you want a career or not?
Only a completely self absorbed, entitled generation would ever be stupid enough to think it was all about ‘them’. Life is a hard climb. Lose your flip flops and slip your feet into a pair of Timberlands or Sorels.
That cat photo is like Sail Away and me. I am more like the one on the right. The same green eyes. I bought an antique golf putter in Bozeman a number of years ago. You might enjoy it Sail Away, but you would miss the ocean.
Note to Flop: Lethbridge is windy and has other issues similar to Thunder Bay. Airdrie is ‘tornado alley’. St. Albert is just an Edmonton suburb. Like Sail Away you might miss the ocean. It isn’t locations, but restlessness that needs to be examined.
@#5 SunShowers
The reality of modern desk jobs is completing your entire day’s tedious workload in 4 hours, followed by 5 hours of tedious boredom spent surreptitiously browsing the internet.
—
It’s precisely that thinking as to why WFH will likely not work for many. To the sucker still employing you, they pay you for 8h. And not for you to work 4h and decide that’s it because relatively everyone feels that’s it. Notwithstanding I don’t think most are good at managing their productivity in or out of office, but it’s much easier to watch Netflix or walk the dog out of sight.
–
its incredibly easy to measure employee productivity.
makes no difference where your employee is.
@#70 Brian on 08.17.22 at 7:00 pm
Re: #67 WFH is here to stay
Boy this WFH is just dandy. Tried getting a hold of customer service at Koodo about an erroneous bill. Sorry we will have to schedule a call back on Friday on your concerns after I’m done taking the kids to the park. LOL!
Looking now on changing cellphone companies.
–
you’re already at the bottom of the barrel cell company wise. Where you gonna go lol?
I love the people here who talk about outsourcing roles to other countries if they can’t force their staff to come into the office.
You’ve obviously never heard of data sovereignty, privacy and security laws that have to be followed for specific industries.
Thanks to COVID, I now WFH from AB as an executive for a company in ONT who will never ask me to come in. My team is distributed across Canada, and we don’t need to sit next to each other to get shit done. We do have quarterly in-person team summits, paid for by the company though.
Those with outdated notions, insecurity and a need to micromanage and justify real estate leases will always want people in the office.
I’m not like that.
If this weblog were a truck it would be an Extended Cab Long-box 1 Ton 4×4 Dually.
With the towing package natch.
Aka something that the Yellow Tractor guy would daily drive.
“Now, get back to work.”
You forgot to add “humbug” at the end of that statement
Bruce – sorry about your kitties, they were beautiful.
Seems like a good time to start an online bank and poach this talent.
Haha, listen to the snowflakes lose their minds. I really like the guy labelling others as “anti-WFH”. Typical wokester talk.
I actually prefer “WFH denier” to “anti-WFH”, hilarious.
“WFH is doomed”
=================
Good. Hopefully, telephone waiting time might get reduced by a couple of hours.
I don’t think WFH is all that new.
I remember when visiting Grandpa ,who worked mainly from home, when not on the road.
There was, in the kitchen, what was called a Telex machine.
“Go get my Union Rep, we need to have a discussion!”
lotta dinosaurs congregating in here tonight :)
enjoy your drive in to work tomorrow.
I’m Going To Need Those TPS Reports ASAP. So, If You Could Do That, That’d Be Greaaaaat.
@#90 Quintillian
“I remember when visiting Grandpa ,who worked mainly from home, when not on the road.”
++++
Yep.
My Grandpa also worked from home.
He was a farmer.
#79 the Jaguar on 08.17.22 at 7:40 pm
That cat photo is like Sail Away and me. I am more like the one on the right. The same green eyes. I bought an antique golf putter in Bozeman a number of years ago. You might enjoy it Sail Away, but you would miss the ocean.
———
Cool. We’ll be elk hunting nearish Bozeman this fall, so will check it out. Visited a few years ago and really liked the area.
#31 Steph on 08.17.22 at 4:16 pm
Silly servant, here. My department’s deputy minister announced that we are all expected to work 2-3 days a week, starting in the fall.
Luckily I moved downtown to rent a place 10 minutes from the office, last year.
————————————————
This cheeky moment brought to you by…
Finally, someone who’s honest! The deputy minister for his department announced that he expects everyone “to work” 2-3 days a week, starting this fall. As opposed to working 0 days a week.
It’s all become clear to me. And just like that, this fall, all the current government related backlogs suddenly disappear ‘cause the civil servants finally start working again!
I just started a new job today with the big blue bank you’re talking about. The position is fully wfh, was advertised as such & the reason I applied for it
from another perspective to which i subscribe:
How renting could financially damage a generation of young adults -. Carrick
#89 AK on 08.17.22 at 9:01 pm
“WFH is doomed”
=================
Good. Hopefully, telephone waiting time might get reduced by a couple of hours.
*******
That’s by design whether they work from home or work.
@#90 Quintilian on 08.17.22 at 9:02 pm
I remember when visiting Grandpa ,who worked mainly from home, when not on the road.
There was, in the kitchen, what was called a Telex machine.”
Was Gramps one of them there fancy secret agents? Better call my brother-in-law, Billy Bob on this there matter….
A harbinger of an economic slowdown?
Hudson’s Bay opening Zellers in “select HB locations”…
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/hbc-resurrects-zellers-1.6553473
Why the “budget buying” side of Hudson’s Bay was allowed to shrink to near death in the first place is anyone’s guess.
Perhaps the retreat of Target back to the States helped the Bay’s decision to bring back cheap products for the lower middle class.
People want to save money.
What a novel concept.
A few days ago I reported the situation in Canadian hospitals with dwindling care vs the new vogue of medical tourism to hospitals in Asia where first class health is abundant and delivered immediately. I have experience with both systems and can attest to the absolute difference between the two systems.
However, a dark turn has been taken by the Trudeau regime, that of Mr Trudeaus green lighting of activist doctors spinning euthanasia as the solution to Canadas underfunding. Read this article, it says it all. What’s going on is horrifying and disgusting. Canada is a rich country with a government whose preference is to spend tax payers wealth elsewhere. Instances of euthanasia because of a patients chronic inability to access physiatrist care? That smacks of another regime we thought would never again raise its ugly head.
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/another-case-of-a-sick-canadian-offered-death-instead-of-treatment-this-time-a-veteran
The next phase of “The Year of the Strike” in BC.
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2022/08/17/pea-bc-strike-notice/
As I noted several months ago.
385,000 govt “workers” are set to “not work”.
A novel concept in govt union settings I’m sure.
Anywho.
One wonders when the BC govt will legislate Liquor store cannabis distribution as an “essential service.”….
https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/b-c-cannabis-stores-grapple-with-delivery-stoppage-as-bcldb-workers-go-on-strike-1.6030957
One million stressed out wokesters that can’t get their pot……is a political juggernaut.
#80 KLNR on 08.17.22 at 7:45 pm
@#5 SunShowers
The reality of modern desk jobs is completing your entire day’s tedious workload in 4 hours, followed by 5 hours of tedious boredom spent surreptitiously browsing the internet.
—
It’s precisely that thinking as to why WFH will likely not work for many. To the sucker still employing you, they pay you for 8h. And not for you to work 4h and decide that’s it because relatively everyone feels that’s it. Notwithstanding I don’t think most are good at managing their productivity in or out of office, but it’s much easier to watch Netflix or walk the dog out of sight.
–
its incredibly easy to measure employee productivity.
makes no difference where your employee is.
—————–
You gotta kidn me.
There is no way to measure an employees’ contribution to the bottom line.
Most supervisors go by face time.
Ok.
Lets hear how you measure your employees “productivity”.
China’s drought has been affecting hydro electric generations.
Then there is Europe
https://fortune.com/2022/08/11/europe-drought-rivers-dry-energy-crisis/
“Europe’s drought is a problem for coal, nuclear, and hydro plants—but the economic impact goes way beyond energy”
Perhaps work from home will be mandatory in the future (for those that can) to lighten our automotive foot print. Our thinking may be forced to change as we realize new realities.
Dear shareholders. Do you see the freight train a’coming down the track? European companies are facing a hard winter, with the running out of natural gas thingy and all. Betting on Europe can’t be a good idea, the way things are going over there. Don’t you think?
Garth,
I picture your ideal workplace like the Ministry of Information Retrievals from the movie Brazil
RBNZ Governor Apologizes for Low Rates Sending Inflation to 32-Year High
Dh was the last downtown-Toronto dweller in his big five IT department when we moved 90 minutes west in 2016. They were at four-day weeks before the pandemic bc no one could afford to live there. Lots of these guys are from cultures with large multigenerational households. They were commuting in from the outer GTA and further for years. They don’t even have an IT office space in that blue bank division downtown anymore, AFAIK. Cheaper and more efficient to keep them remote.
#106 The General on 08.17.22 at 10:16 pm
Dear shareholders. Do you see the freight train a’coming down the track? European companies are facing a hard winter, with the running out of natural gas thingy and all. Betting on Europe can’t be a good idea, the way things are going over there. Don’t you think?
———————
I’m following the situation in Germany.
Right now it’s pretty precarious.
But they are already working on solutions.
It’s gonna be a tough winter.
But they will come out stronger.
Not their first Rodeo.
I hope Anna didn’t pick up any slang while down east. Can just picture her sayin to the Boss, “stay where ya be and I’ll come where yer at”
Dear Anna,
We regret to inform you that you have been replaced by a new employee named, SQ-2. We thank you for your service and enjoy your lobster chowder.
https://japantoday.com/category/tech/robot-security-guards-patrol-tokyo-metropolitan-government-building
My wife has worked for three employers since covid has begun. All have been a bit different to their approach.
Walmart corporate, fully back to the office 6 months ago.
Nike, slowly returning to the office.
Current company, fully remote but needs to fly back to the headquarters once a month.
#95 Sail Away on 08.17.22 at 9:31 pm
#79 the Jaguar on 08.17.22 at 7:40 pm
Bozeman is good and woke. Plenty for Sail Away to gnash his mandibles at before scuttling back to Nanaimo soup kitchens for a snack.
#65 The other Keith in Calgary on 08.17.22 at 6:25 pm
The worst part about working in an office is the other employees and managers. The ones that feel free to interrupt your thinking at any random moment”
Indeed, lest we forget that famous quote from Sartre, “l’enfer c’est les autres” or Hell is other people
#5 SunShowers on 08.17.22 at 3:15 pm
The reality of modern desk jobs is completing your entire day’s tedious workload in 4 hours, followed by 5 hours of tedious boredom spent surreptitiously browsing the internet.
+
#53 SunShowers on 08.17.22 at 5:40 pm
I get paid to complete tasks required of me. If I am able to complete all the tasks in 4 hours instead of 9, is it my fault for being too efficient?
———————————-
Aren’t you one of those who complain about wages not going up?
You can’t have it both ways.
If your “tasks” take you less than the 8h you are being paid for then you should get more tasks and a raise.
If you want to watch NetFlix for any period of the work day other than your breaks then you deserve a raise…never.
Those who complain that “boomers were able to support a family on one income” while at the same time are only actually working 4h a day themselves need to do some introspection.
Seriously, how does that conversation go?
“I want a raise”
-How are you a better(more profitable) employee compared to last year?
“I get all of my work done in 4h”
-And that benefits the company how?
“Uh. Umm. Err.. “
#53 SunShowers on 08.17.22 at 5:40 pm
I get paid to complete tasks required of me.
—————–
This is the line right here highlights something fundamental that changed somewhere between boomers and millennials:
It used to be understood that you were paid for your time and results were simply expected. Now there is an entire culture of “that’s not in my job description” and “If I’m faster I should have more time to scroll on Facebook”
Yes, sometimes the reward for doing a job well and efficiently is more work, but unless you are a terrible negotiator it also translates into more money.
Or more time scrolling Instagram I guess. Just don’t be shocked at a lack of raises or an increase in offshoring.
A certain orange online bank had no physical people available to receive a very physical cheque I needed to deposit. They lost all my business as a result. WFH is no longer tolerated by me and many others.
You could always sell your place down east and move to Alberta to retire. “Alberta is calling.”
Inflation in the United Kingdom has surged to a new 40-year high and is now in double digits. Official data for the month of July shows the consumer price index accelerated to 10.1% from 9.4% in June.
I think this is the big wild card. If there is a wealth effect that suggests people spend more when they are seeing their net worth go up (see the insane times of 2020-2021), the inverse has to be somewhat true. When one’s finances are in the gutter, one spends less. The question is how many people will be gutterballs and thus, how much (or how little) this affects the overall economy. Steeeeeeeeeeeerike!
Many of us posted right here all along since summer 2020 that WFH was here to stay in a HYBRID method of 2/3 days a week. That was very evident early on.
A company that insists on 5 days a week in the office for workers that were able to work effectively for 2020-2022 from home will lose good employees to competitors who are flexible.
But yes, agreed that buying a home in a province far away from your office was never a smart move unless it was agreed in writing with your employer at the time that you can stay remote working perpetually.
Don’t exhale just yet…….(snippet, NP)
“Global oil markets face a high risk of a supply squeeze this year as demand remains resilient and spare production capacity dwindles, the new head of OPEC said.
“We are running on thin ice, if I may use that term, because spare capacity is becoming scarce,” Al-ghais said. “The likelihood of a squeeze is there.”
“China is still a source of phenomenal growth,” he said. “We haven’t seen China open up exactly — there’s a strict COVID Zero policy — I think that will have an impact when China gets back to full steam.”
“Chronic underinvestment for several years is really what’s taken us to where we are today,” he said.
World markets may also face strain as European Union sanctions on OPEC+ member Russia over its invasion of Ukraine come into effect in December. (December? 10 mths later?)
Hey, Sail Away: have you noticed the ENP that you belittled me over for mentioning my knowledge of here, has doubled in value since your wife purchased in your words, a very large volume of SPY at this weeks high, where it has finally climbed back to the price of her purchase many months ago?
Bozeman is quite touristy. Big Timber, is the real deal!
WFH? I’ll give you WFH … 1978. Before PCs, before cell phones, a thermal paper fax machine, and a dictaphone. Oh … and a new company car every two years.
@#104 Ponzies Productive Plebes
“Lets hear how you measure your employees “productivity”.
+++
I think it’s in inverse proportion to their whining.
Or.
In the olden days of colonialism aboard a British Ship.
The floggings.
The Meowing has returned.
I has been __1__ day(s) since a dog photo.
All dogs and no cats make Garth a dull boy.
(Now we’re anxiously waiting to see if the blog can go dogless for 2 days in a row.)
Do Real Estate Boards always lie and obscure price drops?
Apparently not.
Found this on a BNN article this morning
“The benchmark price of a detached home in the city of Toronto was $1,515,763 in July, compared to $2,073,989 in February, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board.”
Openly showing the 27% decline since the February peak. And this is apparently for a benchmark detached home. Looks honest to me.
Speaking of fun…less tax revenue is less fun it appears.
How dare young people stop drinking booze to be healthier and avoid weakening their immune systems during a pandemic? We need the tax revenue at any cost!
>
Drink more alcohol, Japan urges its young people
Japan has launched a drive to get young people to drink more alcohol.
The move comes after many stopped drinking during the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to less revenue for the National Tax Agency.
Now, the agency has invited anyone aged 20 to 39 to submit ideas for strategies to increase alcohol consumption, including promoting drinking at home.
Entrants to the “Sake Viva!” contest have until Sept 9 to come up with ideas, with the winning plan being announced in November and adopted by the NTA.
Consumption of alcohol in Japan has fallen by 25 per cent in the last quarter-century, for reasons including an ageing population.
The trend was exacerbated by the pandemic as young people stopped going out to restaurants and socialising as much.
In 2020, taxes from alcohol sales saw their biggest fall in three decades. In that year consumption of beer, which was the worst affected drink, was down by over 20 per cent.
Earlier this month, an NTA official told the Japan Times that the move to working from home had also impacted drinking and taxes.
The official said: “Many people may have come to question whether they need to continue the habit of drinking with colleagues to deepen communication.
“If the new normal takes root, that will be an additional headwind for tax revenue.”
According to the World Health Organisation alcohol consumption per head is significantly less in Japan than in the UK, although still more than in China.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/08/18/drink-alcohol-japan-urges-young-people/
Hotel room rates are up
From StatsCanada: “Traveller accommodation prices rose 47.7% in July compared with the same month a year earlier, with prices rising the most in Ontario (+70.0%).”
That’s good news for the Hotel and Motel industry and its employees.
Boss, “stay where ya be and I’ll come where yer at”
It’s, “stay where yer at and I’ll come where yer to. “
@#104 Ponzius Pilatus on 08.17.22 at 10:09 pm
#80 KLNR on 08.17.22 at 7:45 pm
@#5 SunShowers
The reality of modern desk jobs is completing your entire day’s tedious workload in 4 hours, followed by 5 hours of tedious boredom spent surreptitiously browsing the internet.
—
It’s precisely that thinking as to why WFH will likely not work for many. To the sucker still employing you, they pay you for 8h. And not for you to work 4h and decide that’s it because relatively everyone feels that’s it. Notwithstanding I don’t think most are good at managing their productivity in or out of office, but it’s much easier to watch Netflix or walk the dog out of sight.
–
its incredibly easy to measure employee productivity.
makes no difference where your employee is.
—————–
You gotta kidn me.
There is no way to measure an employees’ contribution to the bottom line.
Most supervisors go by face time.
Ok.
Lets hear how you measure your employees “productivity”.
–
you must be one of those low skill managers if you can’t measure your employees productivity without looking at the back of their head.
#112 Rob O. Cops on 08.17.22 at 11:02 pm
Dear Anna,
We regret to inform you that you have been replaced by a new employee named, SQ-2. We thank you for your service and enjoy your lobster chowder.
https://japantoday.com/category/tech/robot-security-guards-patrol-tokyo-metropolitan-government-building
>>>
We’re really heading for this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-kdRdzxdZQ
#104 Ponzius Pilatus on 08.17.22 at 10:09 pm
“Lets hear how you measure your employees productivity”
Extremely easily.
Compare the tasks they were able to complete in a day in the office to the tasks they are able to complete in a day working at home.
If they can complete more tasks at home than they could at the office, they are by definition more productive (unless they’re putting in free overtime at home).
What kind of weirdo judges employee productivity by “face time” instead of actually examining their output?
#117 SoggyShorts on 08.18.22 at 12:16 am
That was never the case. Job descriptions are not some novel concept that just emerged in the last 20 years.
The reason for this “culture shift” is because of increased productivity, what once took 8 hours now takes 4, and the benefits of that have not been distributed to the more productive workers (either in the form of a shorter work day for the same pay, or more work for more pay).
Some jobs (like mine) can’t scale up tasks to fill out 40 hours in a week. The solution is to shorten the work week, hypothetically to 20 hours with no reduction in pay. This will allow people to either have more leisure time, or find a second full time job (again, at a hypothetical 20 hours with no reduction in pay), to round out a full 40 hours a week of work between 2 jobs, that would allow them the “boomer experience” of supporting a family on 40 hours a week.
#124 Wrk.dover on 08.18.22 at 7:24 am
Hey, Sail Away: have you noticed the ENP that you belittled me over for mentioning my knowledge of here, has doubled in value since your wife purchased in your words, a very large volume of SPY at this weeks high, where it has finally climbed back to the price of her purchase many months ago?
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Of course. Your comment caught my interest and Enphase has been on the watchlist since Dec 14, 2021. It’s done quite well- volatile. Still watching…
I would never belittle you personally, but might disparage a fast-dropping stock and sorta connect you to the slide. Sorry… that’s the theme amongst my stock-buying friends to make sure we’ve done the homework and aren’t just getting emotional. Ridicule can be constructive.
No better response than coming back with 100% gain. Good work!
#129 Shawn on 08.18.22 at 8:32 am
“Do Real Estate Boards always lie and obscure price drops?
Apparently not.”
Interesting take Shawn.
When is a lie not a lie?
Is it lying if RE Pumpers cleverly disguise by omission?
“Q2 detached home sales up in 40% of GTA pockets, 31% of GVA, compared to Q1”
https://blog.remax.ca/hottest-areas-in-greater-vancouver-greater-toronto-housing-market/
#75 Dogman01
“… that you will fall asleep while standing up…”
Been there and done that. Thanks to the Canadian military and CFB Petawawa, three thing that I hated the most in life are a) cold b) hunger and c) sleep deprivation.
Did my winter warfare training with Royal Canadian Regiment there years ago. It was stupid but no regrets.
Work from home (wfh) is a new instrument in the orchestra of employment. Domestic outsourcerers (do) will encourage employers to create new strategies for success. An individual might wfh as a do for many employers around the place, near and far. In the future, offices will be mobile, like an ice cream truck bringing joy and fulfilment to all those willing to participate.
The house I’m having built is way behind schedule.
Most days, the trades don’t show up.
I guess they must be working from home.
Working from home is Effing the Dee.
I can tell you while there has been some rebound back to the office in the software industry, increased flexibility and remote work will be a permanent fixture. Much of this is driven by extreme competition for software developers.
ah another “platform” of “efficiency” blind bidding online buyers beware
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/unreserved-auction-home-inspection-damage-1.6552791
https://publicintegrity.org/?s=appraisal%20fraud%20
https://www.appraisalinstitute.org/ReportExploresAppraisersRoleinHousingBubble/
#27 JPaul on 08.17.22 at 4:09 pm
Because if something changes and the employer actually needs the employee on site, it’s an easy option, there’s a lot of space between always on site and never on site. If they’re paying someone in India or South Korea to do the job who doesn’t have Canadian citizenship there are a number of problems with bringing them in to work even a single day, let alone a week or a month.
Also there are legitimate issues with employing someone halfway around the world unless they are willing to work at night and sleep during the day. You better hope your worker in India has reliable power and Internet service, last I heard that country had serious issues with rolling blackouts during the summer, they don’t have enough power generation, a problem that will only get worse as energy costs climb. It’s not as easy or as cut and dried as you are making out, especially if they are ESL and don’t speak/write virtually perfect English and/or French.
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My team is already spread between Canada, the UK, and a bunch in India. Our HQ is in Canada. Our bosses like having at least some people who are in the same time zone and speak the language natively. Also, if they could actually find someone in India with my 20+ years of experience in my field (software QA) for cheaper, or less than me, they’d probably hire them. We’ve spent a lot of hiring people for our Bangalore office, and it’s not easy to find people like that.
what is happening in Arizona should be a warning
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/08/18/trumps-man-in-arizona-might-get-the-last-laugh-00052519
Trump-backed Jan. 6 attendee who vowed to “decertify” 2020 could be Arizona’s next election chief
Mark Finchem is a supporter of the far-right Oath Keepers militia who attended Trump’s Jan. 6 rally
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…” As the mayor of Peterborough The attempted citizen’s arrest of officers in uniform, followed by those individuals being taken into police custody, has rocked the city of roughly 80,000 people.
Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien responded to the weekend protest on social media with a frustrated tweet, telling QAnon protesters to “f–k off, you f–kwads.”
Why is that? I’m trying to understand what it is, why those words appeal to you and why you think they’re effective?
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-wednesday-edition-1.6553693/peterborough-mayor-defends-her-use-of-the-f-word-in-response-to-weekend-protest-1.6553815
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An Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre threat report prepared by intelligence officials during the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa earlier this year noted the protest attracted various anti-government figures, including QAnon and Didulo.
Why is this person not arrested?
“In June 2021 [Didulo] encouraged her online followers to kill health professionals, burned a Canadian flag and symbolically raised another, declaring the new Kingdom of Canada in Ottawa,” the report stated.
People associated with QAnon, urged on by Didulo, have distributed cease-and-desist letters across North America to demand an end to COVID-19 restrictions. More recently, they’ve been encouraged to place police officers under arrest.
Didulo promoted a campaign dubbed “Citizen’s Arrest for We the People in the Kingdom of Canada” on her social channels and was one of a few dozen people who attended the Peterborough event.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/protest-peterborough-arrest-special-investigation-1.6552575
Intelligence report flagged possible ‘violent revenge’ after Ottawa protest shutdown
Social Sharing
Report also advised extremist ‘influencers’ would leverage outcome for continued recruitment
Jim Bronskill · The Canadian Press · Posted: Aug 17, 2022 8:26 AM ET | Last Updated: August 17
Even surgeries can now be done remotely.
#136 Sail Away on 08.18.22 at 9:50 am
No better response than coming back with 100% gain. Good work!
___________________________
I know nothing about ATI, except it just goes up and seems to have the corner on domestic defense aerospace type metals that China has probably been dominating the world in lately. Might be a good one. I bought pre open yesterday, and got the flukey open dip, as one of my $2500 CDN plays to assemble a do it myself ETF.
My first real industrial. I call RR’s transport. And RUS, retail, just like I do SPB, because they are.
Work from home, Homer shows ingenuity,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_rF4kcqLkI
On the Pemament Rolling Economic Shutdowns. It’s 2.5 years into a multi-year plan and they just wish us the best Hospital Capacity lololol. Keep your credit card at the ready.
These Globalist Ghouls want us to pay for this substandard care, “Public Private Partnerships” is the cutesy term. This was all PLANNED. Now being rolled out.
https://www.cp24.com/news/ontario-to-reveal-next-steps-of-plan-to-stay-open-thursday-hints-at-changing-status-quo-1.6030946
The government’s goals, she said, are to “provide the best care possible to patients and residents while ensuring the resources and supports are in place to keep our province and economy open.”
“The Progressive Conservative government has been under fire for saying they have not ruled out the privatization of health care in Ontario as a way of dealing with major staffing shortages in hospitals.”
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— Good news for the Dolce Crew. The 5th is coming up.
.Quebec starts offering fifth dose of COVID-19 vaccine to long-term care residents (kitchener.citynews.ca)
— This reminds me of 2021?:
.Quebec launches ‘massive’ COVID-19 vaccination campaign ahead of fall (thestar.com)
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— I called it Jan 1st. Tongue-in-cheek but what a wag I was.
#8 TurnerNation on 01.01.22 at 11:17 am
2022 schedule (Thanks to our sponsor, Fizer):
January: TFSA contribution; 3rd booster
March: RRSP contribution; 4th booster
June: 5th booster
September: 6th booster
December: 7th booster. Annual winter lockdown
shocking report ignored by health secretaries
Nothing in this report is surprising” Dr Julia Patterson, BBC Radio London 25.07.22
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ippffPOD8BE
Doctors Put NHS Privatisation and Outsourcing on the UK Map
Peter Russell | Disclosures | 03 August 2022
An online map compiled by doctors to chart the extent of privatisation and outsourcing in the NHS has been updated to include all of the UK.
Dr Julia Patterson, EveryDoctor’s chief executive says that much of the public and NHS staff are unaware of the level of NHS privatisation and outsourcing. “With the NHS currently on its knees, people deserve to know where public money is going, and who’s really providing our nation’s healthcare.”
She hopes that the EveryDoctor map will make all this transparent.
The map shows over 40 privatised services in Hull and over 30 in Sheffield. It pinpoints some 600 privatised GP surgeries in England, including 40 run by AT Medics, a firm recently bought by Operose Health. Operose Health is a subsidiary of the US-healthcare firm Centene. Many other firms are perhaps more familiar and known private providers in Yorkshire – Spire, for example, in Elland. Others are less familiar, and the map shows who provides a range of services, including alcohol liaison (Wakefield), drug and alcohol services (York), vasectomy (Redcar) and dialysis (Rotherham, Scarborough and North Ormesby). If you click on the map, the name of the care provider is shown.
private involvement in health-care service delivery.
https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/2022/08/18/doug-ford-tories-unveil-health-care-changes-to-free-up-hospital-capacity-but-stress-ontarians-will-always-access-health-care-with-their-ohip-card.html
We still don’t know the long-term effects of getting infected with COVID repeatedly, even if you’re vaccinated. I’m in no rush to go back to the office, and if my company tries to force me then I’ll look for a remote position.
hi Mr Garth. Saw your message on Facebook and I’ve sent an email. Dirty swines. Keep up the good fight. No question the site is a national treasure. Chip off the old block. Bless you and many thanks for the terrific blog.
And the vast, opulent foyers of the bank towers are again echoing with the click of high heels upon marble and slate.
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Did you pass by Harry Styles?
#121 Prince Polo on 08.18.22 at 5:17 am
Plz don’t mix baseball and bowling metaphors. Thx.
Haha!
Now these Hoomers want the Canadian taxpayer to subsidize for their expenses lol
Haha~
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/unreserved-auction-home-inspection-damage-1.6552791
@#154 Nelson from the Simpsons on 08.18.22 at 3:08 pm
Haha!
Now these Hoomers want the Canadian taxpayer to subsidize for their expenses lol
Haha~
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/unreserved-auction-home-inspection-damage-1.6552791
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some clear negligence from the vendor here but geez folks, have you ever heard of ‘due diligence’?
when did home buyers get so lazy? its only the biggest purchase of most people lives.
WFH, it was a phase that is leaving us as fast as it came.
From all the traffic on the 401, QEW, 400 etc, there can’t be many WFH’s crowd left to go.
The Real Estate buzz was Shortage of homes, shortage of homes and more shortages of homes, keep your eyes on the real estate, it’s starting to become a glut of homes available, discount and more discounted.
The subterranean PATH is coming back to life. And the vast, opulent foyers of the bank towers are again echoing with the click of high heels upon marble and slate.
^^^ that was a great line, Garth. I always enjoy your writing.
I work for a big bank (the blue one) and there is no employer-matched RRSP contributions.