Michael Bloomberg may be a lot of things but he’s not a visionary leader for New York City in 2023. In an op-ed for the Washington Post, recently, he wrote, “The pandemic is over. Excuses for allowing offices to sit empty should end, too.” Thank goodness, I thought. Finally, we have a former mayor willing to cut through red tape. Someone willing to stand up to commercial real estate interests. Someone prepared to convert all New York City’s vacant offices into homes.
No. The octogenarian billionaire wanted to cherry pick research and sound like a curmudgeon. Surprise. It turns out he thinks staff work better in an office. And he found a few studies amongst a host out there to back him up. I could write the opposite opinion piece with opposite research if I wanted to. But I’m not a billionaire. And I doubt that it would change too many hearts and minds. People seem to have their minds made up on these issues. Their positions reflect their politics all too often.
But we can do better. I know it. All of us. Together. Let’s be more ambitious about the future we want to create.
Amongst media trends over recent months, “back to the office” has seen an uptick. Even Zoom has told its staff who live within 50 miles of an office that they should come in, two days a week. Somebody in HR should have conferred with someone in PR before they did that. The CEO should have kibosh’d it, too. Your product literally makes remote work a joy. Own it.
Still, they say the personal is political. So, I’ll start there. As a working father I enjoy being all remote. It means I can pitch in more on childcare. I can see more of my son. I can support my wife as she also works. I’ve found my health and fitness have improved since leaving office life. My outlook on life, generally, is a lot more positive. There have been no downsides. I’ve taken on new clients all over the world. I’ve worked with colleagues in different settings. There has been a democratizing effect to meeting remote. I find social connection in other ways. I have a deeper sense of belonging in New York City now I don’t have to schlep to midtown five days a week. No joke: Working remote has made me a better person. I can volunteer at my local church and help run my son’s playgroup. I can care for relatives with health issues in England without losing my job. I burn a lot less carbon getting around. I’ve built a successful small business serving purpose-driven organizations and leaders with editorial thought leadership services. I love my clients and for the most part they love me, too.
Yes, remote work requires a little compartmentalization. I’ve spoken with important people wearing a suit jacket and Bermuda shorts while balancing my laptop on a Pampers box in a timeshare bedroom on a working vacation. But working life is all about compartments. And the ability to manage multiple priorities was always key for success.
My experience working with all-remote organizations as clients has also been positive. Hiring for talent, not zip code, means companies with such policies get the best people. Remote work also helps a lot with inclusion. People living with disabilities find the playing field is more equal. In general, I’d say the more open a company is about where its people work, the more productive the culture. Yes, you can find studies to back you in either direction on any number of these issues. Public relations people are being paid to place talking points representing corporate interests. But there need to be more advocates speaking up on the value of remote work.
Living in New York, one reflects often on the big leaps forward in the city’s evolution. First, there was the colonization of the island of Manhatta, where the Lenape people used to live. Rich with fruits, nuts, birds, and animals, it sounds like the kind of idyll we could really use around here. But then there’s the grid system. The subway. Big shifts took big thinking. Of course, not all of it was positive. I realize that. And notions of what constitutes “progress” are often misguided.
Often, mayors of the city come to power with the belief that they can do great things. Then they realize they’re beholden to the same special interests that have shaped the evolution of Manhattan over the years. They must reckon with their opposition. But I would love it if Michael Bloomberg had closed the prison on Riker’s Island, for example. Imagine if he’d brought the same zeal to that as he brought to updating the stock ticker. Too often the big things that happen here have been anti-democratic. Robert Moses, the subject of Robert Caro’s book, The Power Broker, could get things done. He was famous for it. But he did so by monopolizing power across bureaucracies. In the process that power corrupted him. I don’t see him as a hero, but I do like that he filled the West Village’s sidewalks with lovely trees. Like life, this city is complicated.
Wouldn’t it be great if New York’s mayor thought bigger about changing the way people live and work here? Instead of refusing to house migrants in shelters or publicly considering warehousing them in Central Park, wouldn’t it be great if he said, “We’re converting the office blocks. I’m the mayor, for crying out loud. This is my priority.”
I would love that.
Meanwhile, as we contemplate the future of remote work, I’d like more of us who are advocates to speak out more often. Otherwise, people with an interest in making commuters miserable will come to dominate. And that would be bad for New York, and for America, and for the world. So. If you think remote work is awesome, please be more outspoken about it. Raise your voice more. Get it out there in the media. We need to hear from people like you. Because remote work is awesome. Those who would see less of it should have their motives more thoroughly probed. New York can also be truly a world leader on converting vacant office space. We just need to look forward with the same boldness we’ve famously used to do the big things in the past. If you think it’s impossible, this city built the Empire State Building in less than a year during the Great Depression. So, shall we do this? I say, let’s.
