For years, we watched Silicon Valley executives perform elaborate corporate theater about “values” and “belonging” and “bringing your whole self to work.” If you were skeptical that any of that was real, well, congrats.
Aaron Zamost, a longtime tech communications exec, has a piece in the NY Times that should be required reading for anyone trying to understand the tech industry’s sudden, conspicuous rightward lurch. His argument is refreshingly blunt: this isn’t about ideology. It never was. It’s about leverage.
There are many theories about Silicon Valley’s swift, and very conspicuous, rightward turn. Tech leaders course-corrected from an overly permissive era. The Trump administration demands fealty in exchange for critical regulatory favors. Mr. Trump’s re-election reshaped the national climate and reoriented the values of tech leadership.
Each of these explanations is convenient, but none are correct. I’ve worked in tech for 20 years, across both Big Tech and venture-backed start-ups, and I can tell you the truth is much more mundane. Silicon Valley’s chief executives have always been driven by economics, not ideology. As Michael Corleone put it: It’s not personal — it’s strictly business.
This is bullshit. They’ve always been greedy, taking as . much as they can for themselves while seeing labor as disposable lives.
I had an old boss that said RTO was because the service business’ were loosing money. Thing is, only upper management could afford to live near work. I lived 4 cities away and had an hour commute each way. Who was taking care of my community?
…all while I watched every service business price themselves out of existence while still taking advantage of their staff’s wages.
I mean, most services have decided to price themselves out of the business. A great example is fast food. I remember the 99-cent Whopper and $1 McDoubles. At that price, it was acceptable food. It got the job done.
That any chain claims to still have a “value menu” befuddles me. And don’t get me started on $3.79 fountain drinks.
The problem isn’t RTO, it’s that there’s simply no value anymore. Time was, grabbing a burger on the way home was cheaper than making dinner. Those times have passed, and if you have to drive for an hour, why pay $7 for something you can make at home for $2?
But I won’t go to those service businesses if I am in the office either. I brought my own lunch from home. So I may as well keep working from home as I outright refuse to pay £3+ for a fucking sandwich.
Exactly! And the city my office is in, is bougie as fuck. There are no sandwiches under $12. These dudes were going out for executive lunches @$50+ per person. They would invite me and I’d say the same thing, “what? No. You know how much you pay me”… and they would laugh every time, walk across the parking lot, and drink themselves silly.
And yet they act surprised when we resist coming in.
Fully remote my job is ok, shit pay but alright conditions. Now they move the office 10x further away and want me in twice a month saying “we feel this is reasonable”. I am yet to see any benefit from us having this new office, I have got less work done in the office in the past 12 months combined than I have done in the past 24 hours at home.
Yeah, I remember the dotcom bubble. There was absolutely a change once people realized the information superhighway could make them money.
