WSJ: Why Employees Hate Hot-Desking

Hot-desking has some issues to work out.

With nearly half of the prepandemic office population in some major U.S. cities working remotely on any given day, hot-desking—where employees don’t have assigned desks but grab an empty one on days they come into the office—seems like a cost-saving no-brainer. The Gensler Research Institute’s 2022 U.S. Workplace Survey found that 19% of the office workers who responded had unassigned workspaces, compared with 10% in 2020.

There’s just one problem: Many employees hate it. They complain about the nuisance of having to hunt for a workspace every day they’re in the office, not being able to find a station that suits their needs, and no longer having a permanent space that they can personalize. Collaboration is harder, they say, and they feel less connected to their colleagues.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/hot-desking-pros-cons-8ee52377

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Hotdesking was created to incentive us to arrive early to get our preferred cubicle. If you arrive late, you will be in the worst cubicle on the floor.

Once you arrive early, your manager will expect you to stay late.

A better title for this PoS article would be “The real reason your boss wants you back in the office”.

The answer is simple: the executive class has lot of money tied up in commercial real estate, and large companies are rolling out AI-driven monitoring tools for use in their offices. Google “ WADU JP Morgan employee surveillance” to see just how far some companies are taking this. Coming soon to a multinational near you.

Can’t wait for H5N1 to hit. We won’t need bogus performance assessment to shed employees!
Spring = Hot Zone

Should you be concerned when you learn that the former occupants of your chosen hot-desk are sick at home with a contagious virus? Share a hot-desk, share a hot-virus. That's teamwork.

I wonder if the policy would change if all the top execs were required to hot-desk for a few months as an immersive experience.

https://www.axios.com/local/houston/2023/04/12/houston-top-office-spaces-open-for-rent

Of course, EM doesn't really care about employee happiness...so....

@1vca+1mB1rPeJ WSJ is nothing but a mouthpiece for corporate America, so of course they’re going to shed positive light.

not like the company t produces anything noteworthy, anyway. May as well play musical chairs and break laws

Problem is the expectation for a lot of teams at EM appears to be more or less 100% at the office. Also on the Houston campus they could probably densify, mothball some buildings for cost savings, and still have enough desks to give everyone an assigned seat with ease. Dropping to 80% capacity there just drives home how little the org cares about employees below VP level. That said, we knew that already.

At least I'll have less stuff to pack when I GTFO.

Hot desking creates unnecessary anxiety. If your group actually has more than 80% desk space it may be OK but many don't. It really overall sucks and is ridiculous

Interestingly, if you read the entire article, it does say if done right, hotdesking can have some positive effects for the employees. It specifically says one of the ways to improve hotdesking is to use “neighborhoods”. I’m definitely not saying the main driver wasn’t cost savings but at least it appears there was some thought to try and make it less terrible. (But it is still terrible.)

Xom is a cluster… right now

Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

WSJ: Why Employees Hate Hot-Desking

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