
Remote Work Is Killing the Hidden Trillion-Dollar Office Economy - vo2maxer
https://marker.medium.com/remote-work-is-killing-the-hidden-trillion-dollar-office-economy-5800af06b007
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fxtentacle
The article surely likes to ask "but at what cost to the rest of the
economy?".

And I was thinking: What a wonderful benefit for our planet :) and for those
people.

Saving millions of people from their morning commute? Yes, please. Improved
air quality due to less traffic? Yes, please. 70% less air travel? Yes,
please. In addition to that, let's scrap a few parking lots and convert them
into parks and then call it a day :)

Maybe I'm the odd one here, but I actually like working from home and playing
with my son during lunch break. And I've always resisted company business
trips as much as I could.

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suduudeueu
Public parks are like public libraries, they're mostly just homeless shelters
and places to deal drugs. As a city dweller I really don't get this rosy
presentation of them that acts like they're somehow gifts to the community.

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grumple
Public libraries are a treasure and the reason that a poor kid like me was
able to learn, become more experienced with computers, and spend my time
safely in a dangerous neighborhood while my mother worked.

Public parks are great. Some are shitty, but we all need space to roam and
play. Most parks are not in shitty, run down neighborhoods and don’t fit your
stereotype.

~~~
uzakov
Do you think your experience as a kid would have been different if you were a
kid not back then but rather in 2020?

If you have access to internet you can learn so much nowadays, obviously its a
matter of having access to the internet, something not everyone has.

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grumple
I was gifted an old laptop (even for back then) and used free dialup for some
of high school at home (the old kind with ads). 15% of the US still has no
internet access, but the situation has definitely improved. But I usually got
to school early to use the computer lab and went to the library after school
to read and use computers there.

Today’s kids have different problems, such as the huge amounts of
disinformation and manipulation in media. The information we find today is
harder to trust; and the conversations we have online are less about discovery
or debate and more about political allegiances or getting attention.

Information I learned from books (with recommendations from my local
librarian) was much more reliable imo, and the nature of books is such that
they encourage more thorough understanding of their subjects. Now I can find
nearly anything I need online, but that’s because I already have a huge amount
of knowledge and know how to determine if a source is trustworthy.

But man, if Khan Academy existed in my childhood...

~~~
uzakov
I did not know 15% of the population in the US still has no internet access, I
assume mainly in rural areas?

In regards to "and the conversations we have online are less about discovery
or debate" I partly agree partly disagree. I am part of various internet
forums and some of them are very Web 1.0 still: good conversations, you get to
know some people well (I even met some IRL). Part of me thinks its about
persons willingness to find information themselves.

>Information I learned from books (with recommendations from my local
librarian) was much more reliable imo, and the nature of books is such that
they encourage more thorough understanding of their subjects. I agree, so many
tech tutorials and articles are plain wrong.

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tuatoru
The article focuses on the small businesses serving office workers downtown,
and on air travel.

Dry-cleaners, cafes, shoe repairers, gyms, beauticians, nail bars, copy
centres, florists, newsagents, office supply stores, etc.

The second order effect on real estate isn't discussed. If a lot of these
businesses disappear, along with a large fraction of office workers, building
owners may not be able to service their costs (finance, insurance,
maintenance, etc.)

I guess Wall Street will get another bail-out at that point.

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siquick
Not sure about anyone else, but I've been enjoying supporting the cafes,
restaurants, bars, and shops near my home and getting to know the people in my
community, rather than spending my money in the CBD.

To me, this doesn't feel like a loss of economy, just a shift away from
spending at big corps to spending in smaller businesses.

~~~
nooyurrsdey
while that's great, the shift isn't equal. on average I'd wager that spending
has gone down overall even if it's shifted elsewhere geographically. And
office real estate has taken a massive blow along with cbd restaurants and
vendors

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PeterStuer
Even in the middle ages there would be a substantial rabble of 'service
sector' entrepreneurs following the troops around to provide repairs, food and
other entertainment services. Peace was the last thing these people wanted as
their whole livelyhood depended on the perpetual war campaigns.

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pankajdoharey
Clearly the so called office Technology company WeWork was not future ready.
Nor are office real estate people.

~~~
EVdotIO
This is quite literally the worst case scenario for them. I've been morbidly
curious what the knock-on effect of a meltdown in CMBS bonds and other
securities would look like.

As an aside, since employees are now responsible for their work environment,
how do we factor that into pay and/or possible tax write-offs?

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vertbhrtn
Remember that scene in "The Accountant" movie where the accountant says "No,
the company's truck" meaning that since the truck is kinda used to carry some
fluff that the family eventually sells, the truck gets a special tax status.
In other words, since you use half of your house as an office, can you deduct
half of your mortgage from taxes?

~~~
triceratops
Not half your mortgage exactly, but this has existed for a while:
[https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-
employe...](https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-
employed/home-office-deduction)

~~~
tonyedgecombe
People in the UK have to be wary of that because it can leave you liable for
capital gains tax.

[https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-
home](https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home)

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JuliusPullo
You make your connections, build your relationships and stumble upon great
ideas during the breaks between the meetings, the coffee breaks, and around
the water cooler. You lose all that when you work from home.

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tomcam
Crazy random thought here. It could be that a tiny tiny percentage of the
people leaving are a little bit influenced by their cities being burned down
by mostly peaceful protesters.

~~~
tdeck
Which cities have been "burned down"?

~~~
tomcam
Portland, Milwaukee, Kenosha, Chicago, New York, and more. I exaggerated for
effect but hundreds of businesses there are permanently destroyed, dozens of
cops have been blinded, and emergency services to the affected areas have been
sharply degraded. Black owned businesses have been disproportionately harmed.
Constitutional protections are nonexistent.

