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Post by easye on May 3, 2023 18:24:02 GMT -5
It's a shame that no amount of studies or precedent for flexible working will ever convince some companies to engage with it. Though "Live and Work Anywhere" is going to cause chaos for pricing and competition. Would you hire someone who lives in NYC for $100k when you can get someone similar who lives in NC who'll do the job for $70k because their living costs are $30k lower? Why not stop there and hire someone in India for $20k to do the same job? This is already happening and has been for some time in the IT sector. If you get a software system 3rd-line support, you can get some really well trained/fully certified staff working on those systems. I've read that if in India their pay is probably in the region of £3000 a year - with, by European standards, appalling contracts that see them work all hours of the day. The same resource bought from a developed or Western country would probably see that resource earn in the £50-60k+ bracket, which is why almost work of this sort has been off-shored for many years, and the only non-Indians you tend to get working in those areas are the really high-end consultancy basis, or in industries where there is a regulatory requirement to have on-shore resources. AI may make this worse, as AI tools will allow even less skilled people to ramp-up or even do the jobs faster. Therefore, de-valuing experience and expertise..... maybe. An interesting article on the topic here: www.npr.org/sections/money/2023/05/02/1172791281/this-company-adopted-ai-heres-what-happened-to-its-human-workers
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Post by pacific on May 4, 2023 3:40:10 GMT -5
This is already happening and has been for some time in the IT sector. If you get a software system 3rd-line support, you can get some really well trained/fully certified staff working on those systems. I've read that if in India their pay is probably in the region of £3000 a year - with, by European standards, appalling contracts that see them work all hours of the day. The same resource bought from a developed or Western country would probably see that resource earn in the £50-60k+ bracket, which is why almost work of this sort has been off-shored for many years, and the only non-Indians you tend to get working in those areas are the really high-end consultancy basis, or in industries where there is a regulatory requirement to have on-shore resources. AI may make this worse, as AI tools will allow even less skilled people to ramp-up or even do the jobs faster. Therefore, de-valuing experience and expertise..... maybe. An interesting article on the topic here: www.npr.org/sections/money/2023/05/02/1172791281/this-company-adopted-ai-heres-what-happened-to-its-human-workersWe actually had a situation where a robot system and licesne (which is pre-AI, and effectively just an advanced macro that can do transactional duties) was more expensive (about £10k per year) than hiring a human being as an offshore resource.. which has meant it has switched back the other way. It will definitely be interesting if AI changes things. Funnily enough, I read an article about how AI is more likely to replace exec and board-member level, as their decisions are based more on analysis and algorithms. There was one company that is already using an AI as a board member - but of course those are the people that hold the power, so in reality they will be the last to go.
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herzlos
Ye Olde King of OT
Posts: 700
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Post by herzlos on May 4, 2023 6:34:02 GMT -5
The problem with AI is that outside of a few spaces, you need a lot of knowledge to use it properly. Like, art is fairly easy to do "Hey AI, make me a picture of a man smiling" but producing a complex software system doesn't work quite so well.
The 2 big problems with AI is that (1) it's largely just regurgitating what it already has; the art is a mashup of other artworks, so it runs the risk of going stale (2) whilst it sounds correct and can explain it's conclusions, it's answers are often still wrong, and it's hard for a non-expert to identify when it's wrong because it sounds so confident about it.
AI isn't some magic device with actual intelligence, it's just a giant "if... then... otherwise.." engine that can store it's answers and refer back to them.
But as you said, that's largely what a lot of board level staff do already.
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Post by easye on May 4, 2023 8:33:22 GMT -5
Yes, but it will revolutionize a few industries like the Service industry, one of the biggest sectors of the economy.
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Post by easye on May 16, 2023 9:04:31 GMT -5
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Post by Disciple of Fate on May 16, 2023 11:39:36 GMT -5
You would think with both the available office space and the affordable housing shortage, it would be a small step (and investment) to get to a useful conclusion.
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Post by easye on May 16, 2023 13:01:00 GMT -5
I have read a lot of reasons why such a transition is not that easy to pull off, but ultimately it probably comes down to having to spend money to make the conversion and affordable housing does not make enough money back to justify the investment.
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Post by Disciple of Fate on May 16, 2023 13:24:56 GMT -5
It doesn't make sense for the private market, but if you're going to bail out these companies in the first place, then it should become a social housing market.
You can buy it relatively cheap to make the necessary investments. What are the private companies going to do? Complain that their actively sucking money black hole won't sell for enough?
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Post by easye on May 16, 2023 14:31:23 GMT -5
No disagreement. However, bail-outs in the US traditionally do not work that way.
Even empty real estate is not always a money sucking blackhole. Sometimes, a portfolio needs a % of money sucking blackholes for tax reasons to off-set the profit from other properties. This happens a lot in rural downtowns where property owners just sit on a property and just let it slowly fade.
As an added wrinkle, it is often cheaper and easier to build new than rehab in the US.
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Post by Disciple of Fate on May 16, 2023 14:50:09 GMT -5
If you need a bail out to save the company, you probably reached black hole status.
As for it being the US, sadly this is unlikely to happen in a country that is three companies in a trenchcoat.
I understand building new for smaller buildings, but very large office buildings can't be that cheap to replace right? The effort alone to demolish a large inner city office building must carry a lot of zeroes.
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Post by easye on May 16, 2023 16:21:56 GMT -5
As for it being the US, sadly this is unlikely to happen in a country that is three companies in a trenchcoat.
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Post by pacific on May 18, 2023 9:43:49 GMT -5
Lord Alan Sugar said that he disagreed with the work at home culture, following on from Elon Musk saying the same. Best reply I saw, "See, it's not just commercial property owners who want you to commute, it's also car manufacturers."
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Haighus
Ye Olde King of OT
Posts: 902
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Post by Haighus on May 18, 2023 14:43:54 GMT -5
If you need a bail out to save the company, you probably reached black hole status. As for it being the US, sadly this is unlikely to happen in a country that is three companies in a trenchcoat. I understand building new for smaller buildings, but very large office buildings can't be that cheap to replace right? The effort alone to demolish a large inner city office building must carry a lot of zeroes. There are issues which changing building use based on design load, but I think most domestic use should require lower load requirements than office use.
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Post by easye on Jun 7, 2023 8:27:34 GMT -5
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Post by crispy78 on Jun 7, 2023 9:41:15 GMT -5
My first thought was what investments of hers are suffering - does she own an office block somewhere... Then I also thought isn't she pretty old? I'm sure my dad doesn't realise just how much can be done remotely nowadays either...
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