Boeing Out of Seattle?

[MIflyer]

From Avweb.com

Boeing is considering selling its sprawling Commercial Airplanes headquarters near Seattle to trim costs amid the pandemic revelation that most of its office-bound employees can work from home. The company has confirmed that the company is looking at not having a brick and mortar head office at all and embracing the mobility that comes with going to work by flipping up a screen. Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Deal said he wants his people to be "moving around, not planting a flag. Being able to move from site to site freely without being anchored down anywhere," the Seattle Times reported.

But the news is unsettling to local officials in Seattle who are still coming to grips with the fact that Boeing is moving all 787 Dreamliner manufacturing to its plant in South Carolina. The headquarters is located in suburban Renton and covers 30 acres. More than 1,000 people work there. Boeing tried to allay fears that the real estate deal would mean pulling up stakes in Washington and moving to South Carolina. "Commercial Airplanes leadership will remain in the Puget Sound region," the company said in a memo to managers.

 

[vikingBerserker]

I think more and more companies are going to start doing that as it will save money.

 

[MIflyer]

And one big way to save money is to get away from the crazies.

Must have been 30 years ago that I heard Michael Moore describe how proud he was that his uncles had been part of strikes that shut down GM plants in Michigan.

And it was about 20 years ago that I read an article describing how the people on the GA/AL border were so proud to be part of opening up a new Hyndai auto factory there.

What kind of car do you want to buy? One built by people who are proud to be opening a plant or one built by people who are proud to have shut them down?

 

[Dash119]

And one big way to save money is to get away from the crazies.

Must have been 30 years ago that I heard Michael Moore describe how proud he was that his uncles had been part of strikes that shut down GM plants in Michigan.

And it was about 20 years ago that I read an article describing how the people on the GA/AL border were so proud to be part of opening up a new Hyndai auto factory there.

What kind of car do you want to buy? One built by people who are proud to be opening a plant or one built by people who are proud to have shut them down?

Michael Moore builds cars? I thought he was a filmmaker...

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I work for Boeing, and have been working from home since March. I get out of bed, walk over to my home office, turn my computer on and go to work. My productivity has not decreased. In fact it may have improved because there are less office distractions and people coming to my desk every 10 minutes.

So, this does not surprise me at all.

 

[gumbyk]

I work for Boeing, and have been working from home since March. I get out of bed, walk over to my home office, turn my computer on and go to work. My productivity has not decreased. In fact it may have improved because there are less office distractions and people coming to my desk every 10 minutes.

So, this does not surprise me at all.

It's not all roses though. I've been doing it for 10 years now, and it definitely has its downsides - not least the lack of social interaction with work colleagues. I can got for a week without leaving the house...

 

[Dash119]

It's not all roses though. I've been doing it for 10 years now, and it definitely has its downsides - not least the lack of social interaction with work colleagues. I can got for a week without leaving the house...

Other downsides are the impact on the companies providing services to the employees, and support services for the office space.

Where did you eat when you were at work? Now that you are not there to buy lunch, that will have an impact on local restaurants.
Did you have to wear a suit, but no longer have to? That impacts the sales of suits as well as dry cleaning businesses.
If the office building used an outside janitorial service, that company will be negatively affected.
And there are others...

Not that any of this is your responsibility as an employee, but any increased efficiency and profitability reaped by the Employer will come at the expense of these ancillary support businesses. That is the nature of our economic system, but there is a downside to go with the upside, and that effects all of us as consumers.

 

[Greg Boeser]

I keep asking to work from home, but then who would catch the parts falling off the end of the conveyor?

 

[MIflyer]

I keep asking to work from home, but then who would catch the parts falling off the end of the conveyor?

Like that show with Lucy trying to make pies?

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

It's not all roses though. I've been doing it for 10 years now, and it definitely has its downsides - not least the lack of social interaction with work colleagues. I can got for a week without leaving the house...

Well yeah, there are always pros and cons to everything. Fortunately in my position their are certain meetings and things that cannot be done virtually, so we still get together as coworkers.

 

[swampyankee]

Michael Moore builds cars? I thought he was a filmmaker...

He is. His family worked at GM

 

[nuuumannn]

What kind of car do you want to buy? One built by people who are proud to be opening a plant or one built by people who are proud to have shut them down?

This needs to be taken into context. Michael Moore was opposing unfair practices by GM, not the closure of factories.