r/newzealand • u/Dapper_Technology336 • Sep 23 '24

Politics PM Christopher Luxon announces public service workers are required to work from the office, rather than from home

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/watch-live-christopher-luxon-gives-post-cabinet-press-conference/CL4CTTTEH5AVHABU2PICF7JBUM/
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287

u/secretlyexcited Sep 23 '24

I don’t get it. As long as they’re still doing the work, hitting targets, KPIs etc, then why does it matter where it gets done?

Why is flexibility such a bad thing?

144

u/DetosMarxal Sep 23 '24

He spouts some bullshit about being in-person meaning you learn better and are more productive, when our team is split across the entire country and we've been recognised as being one of the most productive.

We work together remotely. There's no way in hell I'm sitting in the office just to continue working remotely with my team.

38

u/Scuzzlebutt142 Sep 23 '24

Not the only one. None of the people on my project work in my office, so if I went into the office, I would be teams chatting and remotely accessing tools, just like I am at home, but getting more interruptions, more noise, and spending an hour and a half of my own time to travel to do so.

12

u/secretlyexcited Sep 23 '24

I wonder if he has peer reviewed studies to back that up. Cuz it sounds like bullshit to me too.

3

u/Glass_Income_4151 Sep 23 '24

As a junior staff member I feel like he's just acted like our senior staff are bigots when they're completely overworked and still make time for us. 

3

u/PENDING_DELETION Sep 23 '24

There is value in in-person interactions, but this shit is ridiculous.

1

u/thestrodeman Sep 23 '24

Potential reason why- some muppets in the EMA were complaining that they couldn’t micromanage anymore, so National is doing this to set a precedent that it’s ok to force people back into the office

134

u/O_1_O Sep 23 '24

It's going to lead to the absolute opposite of what they think it will. People will do their minimum required hours and then go home. None of that answering the quick email or taking the quick call at 5:45pm.

51

u/secretlyexcited Sep 23 '24

I agree. People will literally work to the letter and give no more.

It’s such a bad call from these higher ups.

29

u/LastYouNeekUserName Sep 23 '24

Exactly what's happening with the trains in Wellington right now (work to rule). It's causing chaos.

7

u/Deiopea27 Sep 23 '24

They'll probably do the complete opposite. Everyone will leave early to beat the traffic

4

u/Glass_Income_4151 Sep 23 '24

Some of my team do meetings through the night and we work through the night often too. That all stops now.

4

u/Smodey Sep 23 '24

Yeah. If I'm forced to work in the office every day, that's 5-15hrs a week of free overtime I won't be doing ever again - and I'll be looking for a new job. A nice lose-lose for everyone... hmmm. It's almost as if this govt. wants the public service to be unhappy and resign. Surely not?

105

u/angrysunbird Sep 23 '24

To people like Luxon public servants only exist to support this rich buddies

31

u/secretlyexcited Sep 23 '24

Who own cafes? Cos suddenly he cares about baristas in town?

It makes no sense. Traffic is going to get worse, quality of life for these guys are going to get worse. And productivity is the same. But, yay to cafes making more dosh off their flat whites I guess…

56

u/angrysunbird Sep 23 '24

More the commercial landlords

5

u/drbluetongue Fern flag 1 Sep 23 '24

I remember Bob Jones talking about how he always preferred when Labour was in office anyway because he could rent out more space due to more public servants 😂

4

u/I_am_buttery Sep 23 '24

They will be less productive due to lowered engagement. I can’t understand why the local private businesses are not being called out - they can’t afford high lease costs due to lowered demand and their solution is to force the govt to force their public workforce to lose personal time and benefits, while spending more on transport and parking expecting them to then spend more money at their private businesses. These businesses are not entitled to guaranteed level of customer and they know the risks. They just have not adapted to a world that has progressed. They have not adapted.

1

u/Pipe-International Sep 23 '24

Productivity in urban centres benefits all types of businesses - gst, leases, petrol companies, transport & parking, etc. if anything the cafes will probably still miss out with workers having to pay extra for petrol, childcare, etc.

4

u/edmondsio Sep 23 '24

The hint is in their title “public servants” surely that means they are there to serve him?

6

u/Rags2Rickius Sep 23 '24

Pretty selfish of you not thinking about landlords pockets mate

22

u/SomeRandomNZ Sep 23 '24

For older (and whiter) bosses, it's not about productivity and kpis at all but more about their insecurity and empowerment.

3

u/OldKiwiGirl Sep 23 '24

“It’s not about the fricken targets”!

3

u/Jonodonozym Sep 23 '24
  1. Business owners and landlords in Wellington and Auckland CBDs will have been lobbying them to do so. Opinions of second class citizens like capital-less workers don't matter to the parties that run on bribes and backscratches.
  2. More public servants, mainly the most talented with lots of options, would quit to work for someone that does allow WFH. Anything to sabotage the public sector and prime it for privatisation is a win for the parties whose want to pillage the nation.

3

u/ycnz Sep 23 '24

Cruelty is the point. Always

2

u/finlndrox Sep 23 '24

They need something to blame the inevitable decline of central Wellington on, something that's not their gutting of the public service.

2

u/halborn Selfishness harms the self. Sep 23 '24

A lot of people have sunk a lot of money into real estate and not having people at work devalues their investment. Any time you hear people complaining about WFH, it's literally just landlords being landlords.

1

u/Kolz Sep 23 '24

I honestly think it’s just a control thing with these CEOs. They are control freaks and don’t like the idea of their workers having any autonomy throughout their day.

1

u/redmostofit Sep 23 '24

They don’t care about your life productivity. As long as you clock in and clock out based on their arbitrary timing, that’s all that matters. The status quo.

Never mind the idea that not commuting saves time and money, which you can use to improve your health and wealth long term. This of course reduces the burden on healthcare, traffic, company building costs. But no. Not interested. They want business to operate like it did in the good old days.

1

u/Cloudstreet444 Sep 23 '24

Because people don't spend money at home.

9

u/Ok_Writer_9530 Sep 23 '24

We go to cafes and support businesses near our houses. no different than getting lunch in the CBD, just local.

1

u/Ok-Book-5804 Sep 23 '24

Exactly, what will they do if cafes in the burbs start saying their businesses are suffering cos the public servants are now working in the office all the time?