Jamie Dimon’s War on Remote Work Likely to End Badly

So Your Boss Wants to Stuff You into a Dilbert Cubicle Now?

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Folks: This is a nice little piece that you or anyone you know is struggling with a boss trying to force them back into the office. Share as you like.

Last month, Wall Street’s Pied Piper Jamie Dimon decreed from his Manhattan perch – or perhaps from a remote location in Palm Beach -- that his white-collar minions must once again chain themselves to their office desks at JP Morgan.  While many across the corporate diaspora are following Dimon’s example – think Disney, Goldman Sachs, Twitter -- it is an open question whether Dimon, a man with no difficult commute, kids at day care, or cubicle to be stuffed into – is right about the primacy of in-office work.

To be clear, there is no hard data or real consensus on which workplace model works the best – in-office, remote, or a hybrid of the two.  Each organizational culture arguably has its own benefits and costs.

Yet here’s the bigger story: The escalating corporate employer war over the best office model threatens to bifurcate an already tight labor market in ways that will have far-ranging impacts on the growth and productivity of the American economy. 

Of perhaps most consequence from a corporate strategy perspective, those companies that take the hardest line on in-office attendance face a very real risk of losing their best, brightest, and most entrepreneurial minions to their remote model competitors.

Devotees of the traditional, chain them to a desk model will spin that face-to-face interactions offer a more robust set of networking, team-building, and mentoring opportunities, which are particularly important to younger workers.  Perhaps. 

And certainly, quiet quitter slackers will be easier to monitor and weed out.  That, too, has a grain of truth.

Yet, in today’s tight labor market, workers are now shopping not only on wages and benefits but also on workplace location.   Those who have been unchained by the pandemic have learned that with appropriate discipline, they can be as or more productive – and far more happy -- without having to endure the hassle and costs of a commute. 

For many parents, the biggest remote worker payoff is spending more time raising their families while often saving large sums on daycare.  There are equally big savings and lifestyle benefits for those who moved away from crime-wracked cities and exurbs during the pandemic to more pastoral rural, oceanfront, or lower density settings – and are loath to come back.

Some companies – think Apple, Google, Salesforce, Starbucks -- are trying for a King Solomon compromise by embracing a hybrid model which mandates office attendance a few days a week.  Yet this loses one of the great advantages of remote work – an expanded talent pool that comes with the ability to recruit from San Diego to Des Moines and Bangor. 

This hybrid model is also contributing to a practice known as “hoteling.”  Instead of going back to their old personal offices, many employees are being herded into Dilbert-style cubicles by the very same corporate executives cutting back on office space.  Yes, you may have noticed writ large the depressed commercial office market in virtually all major American cities being triggered by the remote and hybrid waves.

For hybrid employees forced into this hoteling, there is likely to be both resentment and lower productivity as the quiet comfort of an office is traded in for the chaos of a shared workspace.  Hoteling is a headhunter’s delight as many of these folks are now dusting off their resumes – or, for older workers, pondering an earlier retirement. 

From a macroeconomic point of view, we are unquestionably in the midst of a profound structural adjustment in our economy with as yet unforeseen consequences on growth and productivity.  Yet at least one clear benefit in these inflationary times is the moderating effect remote work can have on wage inflation.

Surveys suggest here that in exchange for working remote, many workers are willing to work for less. This only makes sense as it is significantly cheaper – and more enjoyable -- for most workers to work from home. 

At the end of the working day, perhaps the key strategic takeaway may be this:  “Do as I say, not as I do” corporate executives like Jamie Dimon, Tim Cook at Apple, and Bob Eger at Disney who often work in remote luxurious Palm Beach-style locations (and earn extravagant sums) need to be more aware of the seething resentment that their line employees are experiencing at being forced back to work after a relative freedom that few would have imagined in pre-pandemic days. 

These back-to-the-office hardliners need to tread lightly here and consider this: A workplace that is flexible and tailored to individual needs may ultimately rule the day and labor market.

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