The Week in Business: The End of the Office as We Know It

Goodbye, Water Cooler

Even when it may be safe to return to the office, employers have seen the light: Cubicles are overrated, and working from home … well, it works. It also saves companies a lot of money. Many large corporations, including Facebook and Twitter, are allowing employees to work remotely for the foreseeable future and will cut back their real-estate footprints. That has many upsides, but it will also destroy maintenance and administrative jobs, as well as businesses that depend on commuters and office workers, like lunch spots and coffee shops. And what will become of the office buildings themselves? There are already concerns that bacteria is building up in their plumbing systems, which were never designed to be left unused for this long, leading to risks like Legionnaires’ disease. Gross.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/24/business/the-week-in-business-coronavirus-work-office-jobless.html