this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2025
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[–] [email protected] 154 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

If only bosses actually cared about productivity and free employee satisfaction.

[–] lordnikon 104 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

It has nothing to do with productivity. When you have a lease for 20 years on very expensive downtown property and a whole department that manages that property and sr stakeholders that have investments in the commercial real estate. Then it all makes sense.

[–] [email protected] 50 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Also they tend to be control freaks.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 weeks ago

I know me, I'm a control freak

[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

It’s called going dark. Most businesses don’t own their property. So if they stop operating at a location, even if they still pay rent, there are consequences.

Say you own a strip mall with a grocery store. A selling point to getting restaurants and retail on around it is that the grocery is there. If the grocery store stops doing business there, all the other stores lose business.

I don’t agree with it, but that’s how it is.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

I'm not sure your example tracks as there'd be no reason for a grocery store to pay rent without occupying the space. In this analogy, it would need to be some sort of office which would have some tangential effect on surrounding businesses (like restaurants), but those restaurants could just relocate to where the people are now in their homes.

[–] AtariDump 11 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

The Zombie Pharmacies That Are Holding Back New York City Retail

TL;DR

The most common reason is a concept called “dark rent.”

Pharmacy companies are seeking to cut their losses by shuttering unprofitable stores that have high labor costs, Mr. Hill said, but in most cases they are obligated to continue paying the rent long after the store closes, or goes dark.

Most of the pharmacies that have closed in recent years were signed to 10-, 15- or even 20-year leases, at rents that often exceed today’s rates, brokers said.

In these cases, a landlord has almost no incentive to seek a new tenant, allowing the store to sit empty for months or years, said Aric Trakhtenberg, an associate director at Newmark, a real estate firm.

For the landlord, “it doesn’t make sense to make a deal,” Mr. Trakhtenberg said.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Because of zoning laws in a lot of places that's not possible.

For instance, where I live, restaurants are restricted to commercial zones. Housing is restricted to residential zones.

That also gets into the question of "why" do we have zoning laws, and that gets complicated, because it was most beneficial in separating factories and utilities, and very noisy and polluty things from where people lived.

Unfortunately they also had the idea that any enterprise fell into this idea, and the other businesses didn't want to mix with other polluters and residents and it became a big mess

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 weeks ago

You might also not want a bar opening its doors above your apartment because there's no zoning laws... Or for all arable land to be converted to factories and shopping malls more than they've already been.

The problem, to me, is more that the people managing zoning aren't doing it logically and, in some cases, don't have enough control over what commercial zoning means.

Example from around here: Having two Best Buy a couple hundred meters from one another in a location where there's no groceries makes no sense, but because it's all commercial the city can't prevent it? That's bullshit.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 weeks ago

I work in commercial real estate. That was a real example. They continue to pay rent so they don’t have to pay termination fees.

And yes, personally I agree they should fail or relocate but that’s not what investors in the property think.

[–] homura1650 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

If all you have is a lease, then this is the sunk cost fallacy. Your paying the lease whether you use it or not, so that should not be a factor. Not using it is still cheaper as you do not have the overhead of keeping the space usable (electricity, janitors, etc), and eventually the lease will end. And, you might something else to do with the space that, while not worth the lease, still has non 0 value that you wouldn't get if the space was being used for offices. Besides, at some point the lease would end.

Of course, if your board and executives have investments in commercial real estate, or industries that depend on it (restraunts in commercial areas, supplies of office grade toilet paper, etc), then they have a clear conflict of interest, and may want to sacrifice the interests of the one company to prop up their other investments. In theory, shareholders could sue over this. However, not only would this be very hard to prove, but almost all shareholders have the exact same conflict of interest.

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[–] [email protected] 75 points 4 weeks ago (8 children)

Having a % increase associated with masturbation (vs undefined/infinite) means that there was a non-0 number of office masturbations prior to remote work.

[–] [email protected] 41 points 4 weeks ago

Duh

The interesting part really is that it's RECORDED non-zero amount. Someone's been keeping track

[–] sylver_dragon 29 points 4 weeks ago

I work in cybersecurity. One of our common issues is people getting malware while surfing for porn. I'm willing to bet that it's not all looking and no touching.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 weeks ago

I don't think that's impossible

[–] GreenAppleTree 7 points 4 weeks ago

Going from 1 a month in the office to 120 at home is a 12,000% increase.

Sounds reasonable for a decent sized workforce. Or that one person doing it 5 times a day every day. Which is probably easier for one half of the population than the other half.

[–] synapse1278 6 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Of course there is a non-zero amount of in-office wanking. But how many get measured?

Story time !

I has living in flat share with 2 friends while studying master. We all had a 4 month internship in different companies during the summer break (mandatory). The week back to university after the internships we also also provided temporary shelter to a younger student while she was looking for a new flat. For context, this young lady was raised in a very strict Christian family. As we were all friends in this flat, we use to cook and eat most meals together. One evening the topic came up, about how boring the internships were. One friend confessed he was so bored he went to the toilet to masturbate on the job, using his phone for porn. I was like "no way you did !" and the second friend said, "yeah me too, I also had a wank on the job". Out of 3 guys, 2 had a wank on the job in the course of 4 month. Our lady friend was more like "You guys MASTURBATE!?!".

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 weeks ago
[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

Metrics are also measured. The statistics referenced have to come from recording activity.

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[–] Kaiyoto 71 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

As long as your are doing your job it shouldn't matter what the fuck you are doing.

[–] FlyingSquid 24 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

Exactly why drug testing (with exception of stuff like people operating heavy machinery) is bullshit.

If you are working an office job and you want to go into the bathroom and shoot up at lunch but you can still do your job, why should anyone give a shit?

The worst part is you can get stinking drunk before you piss in that cup and that wouldn't make a difference.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil 5 points 3 weeks ago

Exactly why drug testing (with exception of stuff like people operating heavy machinery) is bullshit.

Can't find the context, but there's a one-off line about a small company being bought up by a bigger corporate entity. The CEO was asked about his drug testing policy. He responded, "if we tested our staff then we'd lose half our workforce... and it would be our better half".

On the flip side, I think a lot of the drug culture in the tech, law, and finance sectors is legit horrifyingly toxic. The boozing and bumping and microdosing becomes a way of squeezing extra effort out of your workers, while blunting the immediate consequences of accumulated stress and overwork.

A large population of professions that feel compelled to self-medicate on a regular basis is covering up some deeper chronic physical and psychological problems. Same with the huge swaths of gulf coast and industrial midwest that rolled from oxy to heroin to fent over the last twenty years. Heavy drug use often operates as a whipping boy for more pervasive and insidious social problems - lead poisoning, extreme social anxiety, treatment for PTSD.

[–] LovableSidekick 21 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

The theory is that if you have time to jack off and still get your work done they must not be giving you enough work.

[–] Kaiyoto 29 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Doesn't matter. If I'm doing my job and doing it well and making the quotas then management can mind their own damn business.

[–] LovableSidekick 30 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

I hear you, but they take that as proof that their quotas aren't high enough.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 weeks ago

That's not how 'human' works.

[–] ChicoSuave 56 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

Post nut clarity applied to business decisions is like cheating

[–] Tangent5280 15 points 4 weeks ago

Every day I have to make so many decisions that by Lunch I'd be like "The spirit is willing but the flesh is spongy and bruised"

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[–] PunnyName 55 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

Boss makes a dollar, I make a penny, that's why I'm drunk on "Jack" and Henny.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (3 children)

Boss makes a dollar
I make a dime
Sadly, what I do
Doesn't really rhyme

[–] PunnyName 6 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 24 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

In that case, I have another for you:

I drive a Volvo
Boss drives Lamborghini
That's why we need
more people like Luigi

[–] LovableSidekick 3 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Honest lyrics, the best kind.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 weeks ago

I make a dollar, boss makes thousands and banks it, that's why my monkey waits for work until I spank it

[–] FlyingSquid 44 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

The truth underlying that joke is that you are more productive when you are comfortable and people tend to be most comfortable at home.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil 16 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

you are more productive when you are comfortable

I might argue the real productivity gain is coming from the elimination of the commute. Its less strictly comfort of the home office and more the elimination of the need to travel long distances in a car before and after work. You can "show up" early and "stay late" when its a matter of walking in and out of a room in your house, rather than traveling 20 miles on a packed freeway.

[–] Wogi 3 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Most commutes are under half an hour. Comfort over an 8 hour day will have a far greater impact on productivity than not sitting in a car for 25 minutes before you get to work.

[–] WhatYouNeed 8 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Use to commute 2 hours each way. 1/6 of my day travelling to and from a soulless corporate hellhole, just to be a fucken cog.

[–] Wogi 3 points 3 weeks ago

I know a guy that still does that.

The average commute in the US is just under 27 minutes or so. So while those commutes do exist, they aren't typical.

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[–] UnderpantsWeevil 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Most commutes are under half an hour.

Not in Houston.

[–] Wogi 2 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

I know it's hard to believe this but most of the US does exist outside of Texas.

[–] FlyingSquid 6 points 3 weeks ago

No idea what you're talking about.

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[–] [email protected] 37 points 4 weeks ago

Wait, I was supposed to record how often I jerk it when I was in the office? Because I may have underreported. 💁

[–] [email protected] 23 points 4 weeks ago
[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 weeks ago

RTO: Return To Orgasm

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
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[–] BigBenis 9 points 3 weeks ago

No c-suite manager I've ever known would be so easily convinced by cold, hard facts like that. If they have their mind set on RTO, they're going to do it no matter how detrimental it would be to worker morale/productivity.

[–] Sam_Bass 4 points 4 weeks ago

The product increase is not solely a commercially viable one

[–] WoodScientist 3 points 3 weeks ago

Ah yes. At long last, after all these years! It is time for the putting-out system to make a comeback!

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