As federal workers slam office mandate, study finds remote work cuts emissions

[CdnFox]

As federal workers slam office mandate, study finds remote work cuts emissions | CBC News

Federal employees in Ottawa produced 25 per cent fewer emissions when they worked remotely compared to those who were working in the office full time, a new study suggests, in research that comes as a major public sector union continues to push back on the government mandating more in-office work. 

 

That's a lot of emissions. So every recent study is showing that at homework is as productive or more productive than requiring people to come into the office, and now it also turns out that it's environmentally friendly. Which makes sense.

So instead of investing in the necessary infrastructure to guarantee that working at home is even more productive and effective and to prevent against employees excessively goofing off, they're going to throw all of that away and try and get people into the office as much as possible without benefit.

[ironstone]

And when the size of the Canadian Public Service is factored in (massive and growing bigger every day), the emissions reduction is even more significant.

[paradox34]

38 minutes ago, CdnFox said:

As federal workers slam office mandate, study finds remote work cuts emissions | CBC News

Federal employees in Ottawa produced 25 per cent fewer emissions when they worked remotely compared to those who were working in the office full time, a new study suggests, in research that comes as a major public sector union continues to push back on the government mandating more in-office work. 

 

That's a lot of emissions. So every recent study is showing that at homework is as productive or more productive than requiring people to come into the office, and now it also turns out that it's environmentally friendly. Which makes sense.

So instead of investing in the necessary infrastructure to guarantee that working at home is even more productive and effective and to prevent against employees excessively goofing off, they're going to throw all of that away and try and get people into the office as much as possible without benefit.

Not interested. Considering the outrageous labour demands of public service unions I, the person forced to pay their outrageous salaries, benefits and pensions demand they actually show up for work!!!

[CdnFox]

1 hour ago, ironstone said:

And when the size of the Canadian Public Service is factored in (massive and growing bigger every day), the emissions reduction is even more significant.

You're talking about a hell of a lot of pollution and we did see that kind of drop thanks to covid. But now the gov't wants to increase emissions at the same time. 

Massive tarrifs on ev's, making workers pollute more....  tell me again about this climate change crisis the gov't is so worried about?

[CdnFox]

46 minutes ago, paradox34 said:

Not interested. Considering the outrageous labour demands of public service unions I, the person forced to pay their outrageous salaries, benefits and pensions demand they actually show up for work!!!

They show up for work either way.  It's just in one case you don't also have to be the person spending massive tax dollars to provide for their offices and the like 

And as i'd previously mentioned in other threads i'd love to see it as a deduction option  as in "ok, you can work from home but we value that as being worth xxxxx dollars in savings for you to do that and we want to take half of that savings off your pay, otherwise it's basically like you getting a raise"/ 

I still think most would go for it. 

[ExFlyer]

30 minutes ago, CdnFox said:

You're talking about a hell of a lot of pollution and we did see that kind of drop thanks to covid. But now the gov't wants to increase emissions at the same time. 

Massive tarrifs on ev's, making workers pollute more....  tell me again about this climate change crisis the gov't is so worried about?

Lots of public transport available.

Before COVID, the busses and trains were full. (I took it 20+ years)

Now the PS workers take their vehicles for 2 days a week and complain abut the cost of parking.

As an ex PS that had to work 5 days a week and travel and sometimes work weekend , I have very little sympathy for the work 2 or 3 day a week folks.

As for pollution increasing... this is primarily and Ottawa issue it may be up but, it was higher prior to COVID and when everyone went to work 5 days a week.

[herbie]

We just finished a 3 year experiment that proved most office situations aren't necessary. You can work from a cabin in the Yukon and be as productive as in a hamster cage downtown.
Without commuting in cars or transit.

So when we're in the midst of a housing crisis and carbon reductions, what is the korporate solution?
Bring 'em back to the hamster cages so legions of mid level managers can peer over their shoulders, micromanage and feel relevant once more. To assuage the bean counters that hte office space must be filled to be of any value and it's less profitable to sell them off or convert them into apartments and condos.
Even to pretend transit isn't filled to capacity and jamming more commuters in will fix that.

And of course govt leads the charge. When every single service is now online, pretend those offices must exist so people can come line up in them.

Now there's where public spending could be reduces. On buildings that aren't needed and mid-level staff that seem only there to enforce "policy" and make life difficult for both customers and employees.

[ExFlyer]

1 minute ago, herbie said:

We just finished a 3 year experiment that proved most office situations aren't necessary. You can work from a cabin in the Yukon and be as productive as in a hamster cage downtown.
Without commuting in cars or transit.

So when we're in the midst of a housing crisis and carbon reductions, what is the korporate solution?
Bring 'em back to the hamster cages so legions of mid level managers can peer over their shoulders, micromanage and feel relevant once more. To assuage the bean counters that hte office space must be filled to be of any value and it's less profitable to sell them off or convert them into apartments and condos.
Even to pretend transit isn't filled to capacity and jamming more commuters in will fix that.

And of course govt leads the charge. When every single service is now online, pretend those offices must exist so people can come line up in them.

Now there's where public spending could be reduces. On buildings that aren't needed and mid-level staff that seem only there to enforce "policy" and make life difficult for both customers and employees.

Nothing has been proven at all

As a matter for fact most companies are making their workers go back into the office.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/11/90percent-of-companies-say-theyll-return-to-the-office-by-the-end-of-2024.html

https://hubblehq.com/blog/famous-companies-workplace-strategies

Fact is public transit is available, just like before covid.

I suggest to you that if the PS keeps up it's campaign to not go into the office, when PP get is, he will cut the PS, as conservatives do, and those people will get to save mine on transit and gas and parking because they will get to stay home all the time LOL

 

 

[CdnFox]

1 hour ago, ExFlyer said:

Lots of public transport available.

That was taken into account as part of the study. Whether it's personal transportation or public transportation, no transportation is always going to produce less pollution

Quote

Before COVID, the busses and trains were full. (I took it 20+ years)

Now the PS workers take their vehicles for 2 days a week and complain abut the cost of parking.

Transportation was taken into account as part of this study so either you're wrong or it's having less of an impact than you think

Quote

As an ex PS that had to work 5 days a week and travel and sometimes work weekend , I have very little sympathy for the work 2 or 3 day a week folks.

This isn't a sympathy thing. Would you feel better if they were allowed to stay home but we got to beat them with a big stick or something? This is about efficiency, cost, pollution, an infrastructure use such as how many people are in our transit systems or on our roads.

Quote

As for pollution increasing... this is primarily and Ottawa issue it may be up but, it was higher prior to COVID and when everyone went to work 5 days a week.

Again, The study says otherwise.

You can't just blow this kind of thing off because you don't like the idea the government workers might be getting something that you weren't able to get when you allegedly worked for the government. Like I said I'm even fine with the idea of making them take a pay cut because they're deriving a benefit. But it means less cars on the road, less buses necessary, not only less pollution but less congestion and a much larger labor pool.

14 minutes ago, herbie said:

 

So when we're in the midst of a housing crisis and carbon reductions, what is the korporate solution?
Bring 'em back to the hamster cages so legions of mid level managers can peer over their shoulders, micromanage and feel relevant once more. 

That's not the corporate solution  that's the gov't solution.  These are govt workers.  A lot of the corporate world still lets their people work from home 

[herbie]

Lets just look at a company that used it's offices to great advantage, then encouraged work from hone since before Covid needs that advantage back, so it's insisting everyone return to the office.

When you want to shed workers you simply 'relocate' or 'centralize' departments to offices in another town. Then for a lot of employees it'[s too far away, too expensive to move to, too disrupting to move. The employees are shed without 'layoffs' or firings....