[TheWatchGuy]

Originally Posted by NYG

I fabricate and erect high-rise structural steel frames in Manhattan/Queens/Bronx for residential and commercial. Yes, prices are insane but none of my projects have stopped since 2019. Never got a single day off during the lockdowns. Some lead times are a bit longer but nothing like what the consumer is experiencing. We did not have the luxury of putting anything on hold. All plank/concrete/masonry/etc showed up per schedule. Owners had to pay out escalation even if contracts had no escalation clauses but everything had to keep moving.

we too worked through the pandemic. we didnt have any of these current issues during that time outside of some factories closing for a week or 2 due to outbreaks which delayed equipment getting on site.

Building materials havent been terrible, outside of concrete now having a shortage, but everything else has been killing us.

[Captain Blood]

I find curious that the most basic building block of the supply chain, fuel, is exorbitantly expensive, but there is no shortage. I remember in 2008, there seem to be actual shortages during the price spike. I have not seen any shortages during this price spike.

[TheWatchGuy]

Originally Posted by Captain Blood

I find curious that the most basic building block of the supply chain, fuel, is exorbitantly expensive, but there is no shortage. I remember in 2008, there seem to be actual shortages during the price spike. I have not seen any shortages during this price spike.

around me i havent seen gas shortages, but i have been seeing diesel shortages. Not enough to affect my suppliers that fill our tanks on site, but enough that gas stations are advertising they are out of diesel. Not sure if its due to supply issues, or that its just so pricey and seems to be going up quicker than gas so some stations arent taking the risk with it.

[zx10guy]

I sell IT products into the Federal government. We've been dealing with shortages since last year. Lead times are at least 6 months for much of the equipment my clients are interested in. I had a client that sat on making a decision on purchasing some wireless equipment. By the time they pulled the trigger, the lead times grew to 90 days. They balked at that lead time and thought they could coble the pieces they needed from other suppliers. Well, they couldn't and came back to me again. The unfortunate thing was because they procrastinated and didn't get in line, the lead times grew to 6 months. They again were floored. Asked for alternatives. Told them my system showed the top of the line access point was showing 90 days lead time. But of course they'll be spending more money than they anticipated. They went away to say they have to think about it. Came back a few days later to put an order in with reduced quantities to absorb the price shock. Well, the lead times for all the wireless equipment from that manufacturer are now 6 months.

We have a large order for one agency that booked last year but still hasn't shipped yet. And we're talking about 7 figures worth of equipment.

[Tommy-G]

wtwo3 have you pretend ordered another plant to see if the time is the same, or maybe your original order is just lost in space?

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by Tommy-G

wtwo3 have you pretend ordered another plant to see if the time is the same, or maybe your original order is just lost in space?

It's literally been on backorder since April of 2021. And the estimated delivery has updated at least 5 times since I ordered it.

[5.M0NSTER]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

You do not represent all WFH people or their particular situations.

Lol, neither do you.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by Captain Blood

I find curious that the most basic building block of the supply chain, fuel, is exorbitantly expensive, but there is no shortage. I remember in 2008, there seem to be actual shortages during the price spike. I have not seen any shortages during this price spike.

I think there are weird dynamics due to Russia, which is still producing and selling at a discount where they can (China and India for example), with the rest of the producers benefitting from higher prices where Russian oil and nat gas are no longer welcome or getting phased out.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by wtwo3

It's literally been on backorder since April of 2021. And the estimated delivery has updated at least 5 times since I ordered it.

With that backorder delay, they should have sent you a flower pot, dirt, and seeds.....

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by 5.M0NSTER

Lol, neither do you.

I'm not going to argue with the wings on this group, they are legendary for their states of denial. But I'll say that in my experience, not my opinion, there are far too many people that are taking advantage of the COVID-induced situation with regards to "working" at home. That's not to say that some of those jobs shouldn't have always been from home, it's just to say that I'm in an industry where I have seen many people taking advantage of it. And no, I won't discuss my industry.

Cheers.

[M-technik-3]

Read an article in Bloomberg yesterday and it's not ending anytime soon so this is our normal. Look Shanghai just got out of lock down and have they gone back into it?

[EricVR4]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

I'm not going to argue with the wings on this group, they are legendary for their states of denial. But I'll say that in my experience, not my opinion, there are far too many people that are taking advantage of the COVID-induced situation with regards to "working" at home. That's not to say that some of those jobs shouldn't have always been from home, it's just to say that I'm in an industry where I have seen many people taking advantage of it. And no, I won't discuss my industry.

Cheers.

There's always going to be "bad eggs" but you can't lump everyone all together and say WFH is useless or a bad thing.

I was WFH for 2 years and my corporate office decided to not listen to anyone and mandated us back in the office 3 days a week starting this past April. I'm 100% billable to a client and they couldn't care less where we work (we used to share offices with them pre-COVID, now we don't). But corporate wanted it, so we're back 3 days a week.

I'm middle management and spend 25-30 hours a week "managing" my people and 25-30 hours a week working on project-related things. I can unequivocally say that I'm nearly twice as efficient working from home, as are my employees. It's a very noticeable difference in the 3 days we're in the office compared to the 2 at home. The better mental health side of WFH cannot be understated either. It creates happier employees which in turn creates better work (and vastly less employee turnover, something which is a rampant problem at my company now).

Around 90% of my program agrees too (~300 employees). Are there some that used the WFH as an advantage to do as little work as possible? Definitely. But those are also the same people who waste hours every day in the office with "water cooler talk", long lunches, and just finding anything they can do except work.

Work location doesn't dictate someone's work ethic. That's down to the person.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by EricVR4

There's always going to be "bad eggs" but you can't lump everyone all together and say WFH is useless or a bad thing.

Just like you can't say it's always a good thing.

Originally Posted by EricVR4

I was WFH for 2 years and my corporate office decided to not listen to anyone and mandated us back in the office 3 days a week starting this past April. I'm 100% billable to a client and they couldn't care less where we work (we used to share offices with them pre-COVID, now we don't). But corporate wanted it, so we're back 3 days a week.

Listen to yourself talk on a BMW board on a Thursday at 8:30 am. You're not the average person, and don't represent who I'm talking about.

[5.M0NSTER]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

But I'll say that in my experience, not my opinion, there are far too many people that are taking advantage of the COVID-induced situation with regards to "working" at home. That's not to say that some of those jobs shouldn't have always been from home, it's just to say that I'm in an industry where I have seen many people taking advantage of it. And no, I won't discuss my industry.

Cheers.

This sounds like an employee quality problem, not where are they working from problem.

Most of my employees hold MS degrees. I get better productivity out of them with work from home. 6am meetings with Japan, and 11pm meetings with Australia. No one is doing that from the office.

[ASAP]

My man... if you have employees or people that can't do their job from home that are typically office based... that sounds like those people shouldn't be in those positions in the first place. In my case... if I don't do my job from home or slack, it becomes obviously apparent... if that's not the case for your specific job... u may need to find new employees.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by 5.M0NSTER

This sounds like an employee quality problem, not where are they working from problem.

Most of my employees hold MS degrees. I get better productivity out of them with work from home. 6am meetings with Japan, and 11pm meetings with Australia. No one is doing that from the office.

Originally Posted by ASAP

My man... if you have employees or people that can't do their job from home that are typically office based... that sounds like those people shouldn't be in those positions in the first place. In my case... if I don't do my job from home or slack, it becomes obviously apparent... if that's not the case for your specific job... u may need to find new employees.

Winner winner chicken dinner.

But I don't concern myself with what others are doing (our teams are too large for that), unless it directly impacts what I'm trying to do. That's for the managers to handle. If the managers aren't handling it, again, that's an employer problem.

[CarsAndGuitars]

Originally Posted by 5.M0NSTER

This sounds like an employee quality problem, not where are they working from problem.

Most of my employees hold MS degrees. I get better productivity out of them with work from home. 6am meetings with Japan, and 11pm meetings with Australia. No one is doing that from the office.

I've been working from home as a F/T employee since ~2008 in IT since graduating in the mid 80s. Other than some occasional production issues, or support I have a fairly traditional workday.

Just thinking out loud, but did those people with advanced degrees expect to be working at home at 6am or 11pm?

Work used to be a means to an end, but many employers now expect people to center their lives around their jobs instead of their families.

No one laid on their death bed ever telling their family they wish they worked more hours or spent more time at work.

[EricVR4]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

Just like you can't say it's always a good thing.

Also true, and my sample size is a small one compared to the global economy so it's a bit anecdotal but there does seem to be more and more evidence at a global level that WFH has more benefits than drawbacks. I understand not every industry is able to WFH but for those who are able to, the benefits are substantial for many different reasons.

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

Listen to yourself talk on a BMW board on a Thursday at 8:30 am. You're not the average person, and don't represent who I'm talking about.

I'm not sure I fully understand the correlation?

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by CarsAndGuitars

I've been working from home as a F/T employee since ~2008 in IT since graduating in the mid 80s. Other than some occasional production issues, or support I have a fairly traditional workday.

Just thinking out loud, but did those people with advanced degrees expect to be working at home at 6am or 11pm?

Work used to be a means to an end, but many employers now expect people to center their lives around their jobs instead of their families.

No one laid on their death bed ever telling their family they wish they worked more hours or spent more time at work.

We sometimes used to have two meetings a month at 9pm CST to accommodate other locations in the world. Not anymore, not they are early and the work around the US/Canada schedules.

Most tech companies, except maybe if you work for Elon, are very good about work/life balance. WFH, flexible schedules, etc.

Originally Posted by EricVR4

Also true, and my sample size is a small one compared to the global economy so it's a bit anecdotal but there does seem to be more and more evidence at a global level that WFH has more benefits than drawbacks. I understand not every industry is able to WFH but for those who are able to, the benefits are substantial for many different reasons.

My sample size is myself and the vast majority of my immediate team, and many on the larger teams. Not only in the US and Canada. But also Uruguay, Barcelona, London, Brno, and Manilla.

[5.M0NSTER]

Originally Posted by CarsAndGuitars

I've been working from home as a F/T employee since ~2008 in IT since graduating in the mid 80s. Other than some occasional production issues, or support I have a fairly traditional workday.

Just thinking out loud, but did those people with advanced degrees expect to be working at home at 6am or 11pm?

Work used to be a means to an end, but many employers now expect people to center their lives around their jobs instead of their families.

No one laid on their death bed ever telling their family they wish they worked more hours or spent more time at work.

In my industry (automotive engineering) this is kind of par for the course. Very global decentralized teams. We all have to adjust schedules to make it work, but like others have mentioned, work life balance is important. We have people work early, or late, or over the weekend sometimes. But then I ask them to keep track, and give them comp time to make up for it.

Most of my team is motivated and wants to do a good job. They make the decisions about limits and work life balance themselves. I’m here to support, help get obstacles out of their way, and set priorities. They are adults, and I treat them as such. We are all salaried, so there is no extra reward for working more hours. A lot do it anyway, because that’s what it takes. Most everyone is ok with a couple extra hours per week. My job is to make sure OT is the exception, not the norm.

[BMWGUYinCO]

My story/contribution to this thread....

I've mentioned before I work* for the nations largest non-profit healthcare system as a V.P. of Infrastructure.

The senior IT level leadership above me is terrible, in fact we outright fired the CIO 2 months ago after a disastrous tenure (Fun fact: she's now been fired at her last 5 jobs!).

But in any case, my charter was to modernize their Infrastructure within 5 years. I was promised a budget of over $155M each year (total 5 year budget of $775M). I got less than $65M this year, of which 60% is spent on contracted labor...and was told to expect the same next fiscal year. I also ran into particularly long lead times for HW delivery, especially for network gear.

I documented the risk to project success and brought it to the attention of senior leadership, saying there is no way we can be successful. I had mitigation strategies, such as ordering 2 years of HW in advance, sourcing through 3rd party independent resellers, etc. I was told I couldn't do any of those things, but that I HAD to keep the modernization effort on track and schedule. One SVP said to me "Get creative". To that, I responded: "You want me to find a factory full of elves and see if they can build this HW faster than the OEM manufacturer? Otherwise, I don't have a magic wand. You cut my budget by nearly a third and because of that we're falling further behind on eliminating our technical debt, and now I can't get hardware for almost a year in some scenarios. Telling me to get creative demonstrates a profound lack of understanding of current challenges."

As you can imagine, my response wasn't well received.

*End of this story - I resigned. I've never been a quitter due to challenges, but the leadership is so poor I realized that I stood no chance of success. Another fun (but sad) fact: since I left 3 weeks ago, 3 of the SVPs were laid off with their entire organizations being eliminated, with more wider RIFs coming. And its sad because this RIF will now involve staff - good, hard working people who are paying for the mistakes of their leaders.

Many of these failures are due to the supply chain issues, and the ripple effect is: people will be losing their jobs. But the majority is because of idiot leaders. Boils my blood...

/endofrant

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by BMWGUYinCO

My story/contribution to this thread....

I've mentioned before I work* for the nations largest non-profit healthcare system as a V.P. of Infrastructure.

The senior IT level leadership above me is terrible, in fact we outright fired the CIO 2 months ago after a disastrous tenure (Fun fact: she's now been fired at her last 5 jobs!).

But in any case, my charter was to modernize their Infrastructure within 5 years. I was promised a budget of over $155M each year (total 5 year budget of $775M). I got less than $65M this year, of which 60% is spent on contracted labor. I also ran into particularly long lead times for HW delivery, especially for network gear.

I documented the risk to project success and brought it to the attention of senior leadership, saying there is no way we can be successful. I had mitigation strategies, such as ordering 2 years of HW in advance, sourcing through 3rd party independent resellers, etc. I was told I couldn't do any of those things, but that I HAD to keep the modernization effort on track and schedule. One SVP said to me "Get creative". To that, I responded: "You want me to find a factory full of elves and see if they can build this HW faster than the OEM manufacturer? Otherwise, I don't have a magic wand. You cut my budget by nearly a third and because of that we're falling further behind on eliminating our technical debt, and now I can't get hardware for almost a year in some scenarios. Telling me to get creative demonstrates a profound lack of understanding of current challenges."

As you can imagine, my response wasn't well received.

*End of this story - I resigned. I've never been a quitter due to challenges, but the leadership is so poor I realized that I stood no chance of success. Another fun (but sad) fact: since I left 3 weeks ago, 3 of the SVPs were laid off with their entire organizations being eliminated, with more wider RIFs coming. And its sad because this RIF will now involve staff - good, hard working people who are paying for the mistakes of their leaders. Many of these failures are due to the supply chain issues, but the majority is because of idiot leaders. Boils my blood...

/endofrant

Management at your former company seems to have gone to the same school of management "leadership" at a former employer of mine went. I sell into the Federal government and during the Federal sequestration a few years ago, spending dropped through the floor. Agencies were not spending on any new projects and were only spending enough to keep the lights on. I also think this was when we had the Federal shut downs too. Management was beating all of us up for not meeting our sales targets. When we told them no one was spending, the answer we got was that isn't an excuse and to be more creative. I was thinking how the hell do you want us to pull money out of these agencies? It's as if these idiots lived under a rock and didn't see the news stories.