They are really swinging for fences now.
Fake news. Who gives AF what a German bank has to say about…well…anything?
Not fake news. Trial ballon for the new administration. Looking for new ways to squeeze us.
“What!? What do you mean there are still some people left with more than 1.39% of their income available to ‘do what they want’ with it! Find me a way to get that money!!”
because
Because this, and because banks set TONS of government policy around the world. Oh, not officially, but they do.
You read stories like this and realize that we’re all just serfs to them, and they’re not shy about saying so, in their coded way.
They are all (banks and politicos) heavily invested in urban, commercial real estate. A lot of that revenue is gone forever now that remote work has become the “new normal” (hate that phrase too, don’t throw things). They are going to have to find new streams of income now that they don’t have a captive market in the big cities. They certainly won’t take the hit themselves.
Punish people who aren’t burning fossil fuel commuting to work every day? My my… the lefties will soon be drowning in crosscurrents.
“A big chunk of people have disconnected themselves from the face-to-face world yet are still leading a full economic life. That means remote workers are contributing less to the infrastructure of the economy whilst still receiving its benefits.”
Where do people come up with these fantasies? The only thing people are not paying are gas taxes, road tolls, public transportation, and parking fees. But the requirements to maintain the same are reduced as well.
Andy
Taxation is extortion.
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I beg to differ.
Income tax is modern day slavery.
Think about it back in the day if a slave ran away, armed men with guns would track them down cuff them up and take away their freedom.
Today if you run away from income tax, armed men and women because we have progressed as a society will track you down and take away your freedom.
I hate that you are right about this.
If its a german opinion, its perfect.
They’ll tell you how perfect it is too, if your too simple to understand.
Sounds to me like the Sauerkrauts need a reminder of who usually ends up playing the Designated Bitch in international conflicts involving Germany…
This is essential double taxation. MGMT across all industries are talking about the new work from home economy, and extolling the virtues of allowing people to live the lives they want to live, without relocating. This is essentially double speak for reducing the bottom line in payroll and consequently increasing the bottom line in net profit. In other words, hiring Grade A talent costs Silicon Valley tons of money in relocation benefits, area specific fair compensation (last time I checked, Bay Area poverty level for a family of four is $114k-ish/yr) plus all the costs of on site massage, gym facilities, other enticing benefits, and annoying things like stocking pantries and cafeterias and building maintenance at union wage grades since people need to eat and use the restroom every so often, and people need people to provide these things for them. Not to mention keeping large hordes of HR and mgmt on site for people related issues. Work from home is the panacea for greatly minimizing these costs. So, now, Johnny Rocket software engineer can stay in his locale in low rent Mid West WITHOUT needing the relocation, Bay Area wage, on site cafeteria, stress relieving massage, or place to park/charge his EV. He can do all these things from the comfort of his own home, at an out of pocket expense much, much lower than what it would take in high rent districts. Consequently, the wiz kid no longer can justify demanding the $150k/yr starting salary and the untold tens of thousands in other costs in aforementioned benefits. This is assuming WFH keeps domestic employees on the payroll. I am not even touching the idea of globalizing the work force, ie, WFHing 3rd world talent at slave wages.
All this on top of a snarky article I read last summer justifying “making the great move” to Silicon Valley for the “Big Job”. Ahh, the sweet hubris of the jaded life, pre-COVID NWO tyranny…glad I did not make that move…
Yeah, the companies will save huge amounts on all the cost-center stuff like office rent, maintenance, lights and heat or a/c, janitorial, etc. etc. All the overhead that is unavoidable - or was - but doesn’t make any money.
That’s one side. The other wide is that all the WFH employees now need a decent home office setup, which may mean more square footage in their house or apartment, they need reliable high-speed internet that isn’t metered*, they will be spending more on their own heat and a/c, bathroom supplies, etc. Many companies offer free or dirt cheap coffee and snacks, some have free cafeterias, that’s all gone too and the WFH employee will may to spend more on food than before (although same or less if their company didn’t do those things).
*unmetered high speed is the norm for many people, but 20-30% of the country doesn’t have real access to it, especially in rural areas.
Really, this is potentially a huge transfer of costs away from employers and onto employees. Yay serfdom.
How about this idea…actually reduce spending beyond their means? It’s ok, you can laugh. I did.
My company is completely restructuring all of our real estate worldwide. (Fortune 100 IT)
Fewer sites, completely different layouts, in many places different locations.
And we were already largely flexible office without permanent seat assignments.
Company future plans are 100% virtual workplace capable. No more desktops, and with mobile infrastructure sized to handle the entire company.
My daughter is hanging with us working from home during covid and she’s also totally teleconferencing. Video conferencing all day long.
Luckily I have fast and unmetered internet, but I did upgrade and gave her her own access point.
it does shift costs onto the employees, but there’s a trade-off in commuting, wardrobe, and meal costs.
This video explains it in a simple, fun way that even the kids can understand.
Big cities will probably become downsized in the near future. I am sure those in LA are happy not to have to sit in traffic.
It’s already happening, rents are down significantly in New York, San Francisco, and similar.
I just read an article that over 300,000 left New York City in the last month or two, enough that it’s really got eyebrows up