Tue Mar-19-2024: Remote Work Trends: Layoffs & Promotions, 32 hr Work Weeks, AI Adoption & Copyright

[00:00:00] It's Tuesday, March 19th, 2024 and I'm Dave Solbel, three things to note today.

[00:00:08] Remote employees face a higher layoff level and lower promotion rates exposing firms

[00:00:12] to legal risks.

[00:00:14] Sanders and Fane advocate for a shorter work week, highlighting long hours compared

[00:00:19] to global peers and, generative AI adoption to face slowdown over copyright concerns

[00:00:26] per a gardener.

[00:00:27] Yes, it's the Business of Tech.

[00:00:32] Data migrations are complex in irritating creating days of frustration from setup to cut

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[00:01:20] Yesterday I mentioned that occupancy rates hit 62% of their February 2020 average for office

[00:01:27] space.

[00:01:28] Let's examine that landscape a bit more.

[00:01:31] A study found that returned to office mandates did not improve firm financial metrics,

[00:01:37] but deep-preased employee satisfaction.

[00:01:40] The analysis of S&P 500 companies showed that RTO mandates were linked to firms with male

[00:01:46] CEOs who had greater power in the company.

[00:01:49] The study suggested that RTO mandates may be used to reassert control over employees

[00:01:55] and blame them for poor firm perfumes.

[00:01:58] Unsurprisingly, RTO mandates were associated with declines in overall job satisfaction,

[00:02:03] work-like balance, senior management and corporate culture.

[00:02:08] A survey by FlexJobs found that half of American workers are willing to take a pay cut

[00:02:13] for the opportunity to work remotely.

[00:02:15] The workers are also willing to give up vacation days and increase working hours or row.

[00:02:22] The survey also revealed that workers are willing to forego other benefits, such as professional

[00:02:26] development opportunities and company provided insurance.

[00:02:30] Millennials were most willing to give something up for remote work, followed by Gen X and boomerops.

[00:02:37] Workers are also willing to relocate for remote work with lower living costs, climate

[00:02:41] and culture being motivating factors.

[00:02:44] The share of workers living far from their offices has increased significantly, and

[00:02:49] the desire for remote work has remained strong despite layoffs in industries that offer

[00:02:54] virtual opportunities.

[00:02:57] Remote workers are at a risk of being laid off or missing out on promotion opportunities

[00:03:01] than they're in office counterpart, potentially exposing employers to discrimination suits.

[00:03:07] Studies show that remote, white color workers were 35% more likely to be laid off and 31%

[00:03:13] less likely to be promoted.

[00:03:16] Dell has changed its promotion policy for remote employees, requiring them to work at an

[00:03:21] approved office at least three days a week to be eligible for promotion.

[00:03:26] This shift contradicts the company's previous support for remote work, goes against Michael

[00:03:31] Dell's belief that in office work is unnecessary for a good company culture.

[00:03:37] And in all this change, business insider covers landlords considering alternative uses

[00:03:43] for work office space.

[00:03:45] Explored options include hotels, advanced manufacturing facilities, film studios and

[00:03:49] medical offices.

[00:03:51] While residential conversions are still the most profitable choice, there are financial

[00:03:56] and physical hurdles to repurposing office spaces.

[00:03:59] Warehouses may be a viable option for large office spaces.

[00:04:05] And this might all be political too.

[00:04:07] A survey shows that the subject has become unnecessarily politicized.

[00:04:12] Many believe that companies are out of touch for focusing on back to office protocols.

[00:04:17] The issue is emotionally charged due to its connection to the COVID-19 pandemic and

[00:04:21] questions of fairness and power to arise.

[00:04:25] The debate often cleaves among familiar divides, with remote workers typically being college

[00:04:30] educated urban employees while those unable to work remotely are more likely to be frontline

[00:04:35] workers.

[00:04:36] Work troopers warn that willingness to come into the office has become a factor in hiring

[00:04:42] and length.

[00:04:45] Why do we care?

[00:04:47] Opportunities exist in areas right for disruption.

[00:04:50] In technology services, we're looking for those.

[00:04:53] Additionally, the high value of technology consulting helps customers maximize their

[00:04:58] technology and best.

[00:05:00] That's why work dynamics, remote works, hybrid work, whatever you call it are opportunities.

[00:05:06] Data shows that imposing RTO mandates is detrimental.

[00:05:09] However, flinging staff remotely without policies of support is also detrimental.

[00:05:15] So there's work to guide customers here.

[00:05:19] And note there will be a window to this opportunity.

[00:05:22] Consider this as office leases come up for renewal and potentially don't get renewed

[00:05:27] and as landlords find other use system of commercial real estate too, it's going to

[00:05:31] be a shift.

[00:05:33] What can you do to take advantage of that shift?

[00:05:37] My critical insight is that the issue is politicized.

[00:05:40] To avoid the mess, strive for transparency and inclusivity in your decision processes.

[00:05:48] US Senator Bernie Sanders is introduced a bill to shorten the US work week to 32 hours

[00:05:53] without a deep recent pay.

[00:05:56] The bill called the 32-hour work week act was introduced in the Senate and companion

[00:06:01] legislation was introduced in the House.

[00:06:04] The proposed legislation would gradually shorten working hours over three years.

[00:06:08] Bernie Sanders and Sean Fein penned an Washington Post opinion article offering this data to support

[00:06:15] the bill.

[00:06:16] American workers are more than 400% more productive than they were in the 1940s.

[00:06:21] In 2022, US workers logged 204 more hours a year than employees in Japan, 279 more hours

[00:06:28] than those in the United Kingdom and 470 more hours than those in germ.

[00:06:34] 71% of workers in companies that have moved to a four-day work week report feeling less

[00:06:39] burn out, 39% feeling less stress, and 46% reported feeling less fatigued.

[00:06:47] Courage or recent report, 31% of US tech workers work less than 40 hours per week with younger

[00:06:52] generation staining advantage of workplace flexibility.

[00:06:56] The report also highlights that tech companies are iring and looking to attract top talent

[00:07:00] by offering work-life balance and better benefits.

[00:07:04] Job seekers prioritize work-life balance, less stress, and improve benefits when considering

[00:07:09] new roles.

[00:07:11] Why do we care?

[00:07:12] I'm going to quote the opinion piece.

[00:07:15] Quok, although it is rarely discussed in the media, the Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation

[00:07:21] to establish a 30-hour work week in 1933.

[00:07:25] While that legislation ultimately failed because of intense opposition from corporate

[00:07:29] America, a few years later President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards

[00:07:34] Act into law and a 40-hour work week was established in 1940.

[00:07:40] End quote.

[00:07:41] I bring this up because 40 hours is arbitrary.

[00:07:44] There's no magic to 40 hours.

[00:07:46] I'm skeptical that this bill has legs for many reasons.

[00:07:51] That's not the focus.

[00:07:52] The insight is that there's room to be competitively different in adjusting your work culture and

[00:07:58] helping customers do that too.

[00:08:00] Arbitrary limits are the perfect place to be disruptive.

[00:08:08] According to Gardner, the adoption of Generative AI will slow down due to concerns about copyright

[00:08:13] infringement.

[00:08:14] This Generative AI models are trained on large amounts of data, including content from

[00:08:18] the Internet.

[00:08:19] There's a risk of using other people's work without explicit permission.

[00:08:24] This has led to legal action and defensive spending by organizations to protect intellectual

[00:08:28] property.

[00:08:29] Gardner also predicts that building large language models from scratch will be costly and complex,

[00:08:35] with any enterprises to forego their efforts.

[00:08:39] To maximize results, chief data and analytics officers should balance AI ambition with

[00:08:44] risk tolerance and design open systems to switch models as needed.

[00:08:50] By 2028, Gardner predicts that one-third of interactions with Generative AI services will

[00:08:55] utilize action models and autonomous agents for task completion.

[00:09:00] Autonomous agents have the potential to handle complex tasks, learn from their environment

[00:09:04] and improve over time.

[00:09:05] They can reduce the need for human intervention and impact sectors such as healthcare, education,

[00:09:11] gaming, and insurance.

[00:09:13] Here, objective functions are crucial for controlling the behaviors of autonomous agents

[00:09:18] and delivering value.

[00:09:21] According to EY, Generative Artificial Intelligence integration is the top opportunity for

[00:09:26] tech businesses in 2024.

[00:09:29] Most companies are still in the early stages of AI maturity.

[00:09:33] Strategies based on Generative AI have the potential to fuel the industry's resurgence.

[00:09:37] The care also highlights the utilization of Generative AI in front office and back office

[00:09:42] trials and the importance of careful solution design and additional controls.

[00:09:48] According to Gardner Research, more than half of enterprises that build custom large language

[00:09:52] models will abandon initiatives due to costs, complexity, and technical debt by 2028.

[00:10:00] Fasted Generative AI can lead to high technical debt, early movers have the advantage of upskilling

[00:10:06] and acquiring talent.

[00:10:08] However, Generative AI efforts may help in reducing tech debt in the future.

[00:10:13] Enterprises can use Generative AI tools to replace legacy apps, shrinking modernization costs.

[00:10:19] Balancing AI goals with risk tolerance is crucial as the competitive advantage of AI solutions

[00:10:25] is short lid.

[00:10:28] Why do we care?

[00:10:29] I'm shocked to learn that reality will slap right back.

[00:10:33] Who knew?

[00:10:35] But it all serious.

[00:10:36] This data is both obvious and insightful.

[00:10:40] Customers need help finding the right use for this new technology within legal bounds.

[00:10:44] It has significant potential, and the trick is to make smart first moves and not drag

[00:10:50] technical debt so I love it all.

[00:10:54] There are lots of ways to solve this problem and move as fast as possible is not the best

[00:10:59] one.

[00:11:00] I'll also offer that not move is a pretty poor one too.

[00:11:07] Thanks for listening, it's National Automatic Door Day.

[00:11:11] Seriously, National Automatic Door Day.

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