The Good News Report

[gman430]

Good news? THE G-man is back.  

[rancenc]

Good news for the State of North Carolina's budget....now what to do with the surplus!

https://www.wral.com/officials-expect-4-2b-more-nc-revenue-this-year-2b-next/20273212/

[Blue_Devil]

Another piece of good news. We are likely going to be in a recession (not good), however Charlotte is booming for both commercial and residential, and shows no sign of slowing. If a recession were to prolong, Charlotte is in a great place right now to endure it and come out of it even stronger. Companies who will be cutting costs or looking for a cheaper workforce will look here as well.

[ArchiCLT]

1 hour ago, rancenc said:

Good news for the State of North Carolina's budget....now what to do with the surplus!

https://www.wral.com/officials-expect-4-2b-more-nc-revenue-this-year-2b-next/20273212/

Found it. Perhaps NCDOT could figure out how to change a lightbulb or mow grass more than 5x a year.

https://www.wfae.org/business/2021-11-14/a-huge-funding-shortfall-looms-over-north-carolinas-roads

[KJHburg]

Survey on how employers are getting office workers back to the office (hint very hybrid) 

https://www.workdesign.com/2022/04/envoys-new-at-work-survey-reveals-how-to-get-hybrid-employees-to-choose-the-workplace/

One of my friends in Atlanta who works for a large employer is 100% remote and he does not like it.   Another friend just started with a company in Alpharetta and she is remote.  She does not like that either and does not know when she will go back into their nearby office. 

Cousin who works for a MAJOR bank here in town is 3 days in office one week then 2 the next week. 

The reason this is all important is that future office construction depends on this and how many times employees come into the office. 

it is funny that food and snacks and furniture are touted as ways to get back people to the office.   So what is going on with your local companies? 

[15895]

8 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

Survey on how employers are getting office workers back to the office (hint very hybrid) 

https://www.workdesign.com/2022/04/envoys-new-at-work-survey-reveals-how-to-get-hybrid-employees-to-choose-the-workplace/

One of my friends in Atlanta who works for a large employer is 100% remote and he does not like it.   Another friend just started with a company in Alpharetta and she is remote.  She does not like that either and does not know when she will go back into their nearby office. 

Cousin who works for a MAJOR bank here in town is 3 days in office one week then 2 the next week. 

The reason this is all important is that future office construction depends on this and how many times employees come into the office. 

it is funny that food and snacks and furniture are touted as ways to get back people to the office.   So what is going on with your local companies? 

I work for a Fortune 500 in DC and it is mandatory Tuesday/Wednesday in office for Vaccinated people. Rumor has it they will increase it to 3 days this summer. I know we aren't going full remote.

For the DC area I know of: Citi HQ in DC is 2 days in person. Capital One offices in DC are a couple days a week, Chase is opening a 600-person regional HQ office they expect Hybrid,  Amazon expects Hybrid in HQ2. Fannie Mae is I believe is still remote unless they want to go into the office. Metro ridership is 40% higher than expected with more people returning earlier than expected.

I like 3 days in 2 days remote. I think it'll land on 3/4 days in office throughout most major cities such as Charlotte, San Francisco, etc.

I

[Norm2]

I'm permanently remote and I love it!

[hokiehigh]

We should be in 3 days a week but it isn't enforced (yet).   I rarely see many people on my floor.   I don't mind going in but I also live close to Uptown.   Plus, working Uptown is kind of nice except paying to park!

[atlrvr]

Depending on group, teams are required to be either 2-days per week or 3-days per week in, with employee option to come in more, with those that are 3-days either more external facing, or more collaborative groups.

Managers are expected to enforce this, with some discretion.

[CLTranspo]

We are encouraged to spend 2.5 days in the office a week on average, but most people in the Charlotte office of my firm (including myself) are not going in at all. I think our larger offices such as Denver and Atlanta are seeing people come in more frequently since there are larger teams there, so there is more of a reason to

[DonkeyKong]

We are remote now, but will be moving to a hybrid in June.  2/3 days in the office the rest remote.  We are mostly doing that because we are out of office space.

[DCMetroRaleigh]

1 hour ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

I work for a Fortune 500 in DC and it is mandatory Tuesday/Wednesday in office for Vaccinated people. Rumor has it they will increase it to 3 days this summer. I know we aren't going full remote.

For the DC area I know of: Citi HQ in DC is 2 days in person. Capital One offices in DC are a couple days a week, Chase is opening a 600-person regional HQ office they expect Hybrid,  Amazon expects Hybrid in HQ2. Fannie Mae is I believe is still remote unless they want to go into the office. Metro ridership is 40% higher than expected with more people returning earlier than expected.

I like 3 days in 2 days remote. I think it'll land on 3/4 days in office throughout most major cities such as Charlotte, San Francisco, etc.

I

Federal offices are accelerating return to offices in the DMV, with many now requiring employees to be in office at least two days per week 

[joenc]

I walk around the city most mornings. The people going into the office don't look too happy!

Hopefully they quit these email jobs! For the good of their souls.

[Blue_Devil]

1 hour ago, joenc said:

I walk around the city most mornings. The people going into the office don't look too happy!

Hopefully they quit these email jobs! For the good of their souls.

Everyone who is saying quite… tell me another bank in the Charlotte metro that isn’t having their employees come back… I’ll wait. Now, align their salaries with the main banks, BOA, Wells, Citi, Ally… 

[kermit]

Good news for us (but certainly not them), the Texas power grid continues to struggle meeting current demands.  ….In mid May….

its gonna be a long summer down in the Lone Star state. (and you can't be a good place for business if you tell everyone in the state to put their thermostats on 78)

https://www.ercot.com/news/release?id=8b772e9e-51d0-4c3c-e653-1e5079f28e89

Edited May 15, 2022 by kermit

[videtur quam contuor]

I learned this week that power systems require flywheels, similar to your thermal auto engine*, in order to maintain "grid inertia" to keep voltage and frequency (60 Hertz [Hz] here in N America). These flywheels can weigh 200 tons or more. Magnificent beasts. 

Based on my near-to-nothing knowledge this is where I started:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318858939_Benefits_of_Flywheels_for_Short_Term_Grid_Stabilisation

* In high school I had a part time job at a big Ford dealer parts department and occasionally there was a call for a flywheel replacement. Other than the cast block of the engine and perhaps the crankshaft, depending on engine size, the flywheel was the heaviest single piece of metal in the car at that time. Likely still true though advances with metallurgy may have shrunk the weight.

[KJHburg]

1 hour ago, kermit said:

Good news for us (but certainly not them), the Texas power grid continues to struggle meeting current demands.  ….In mid May….

its gonna be a long summer down in the Lone Star state. (and you can't be a good place for business if you are unable to provide basic utilities)

https://www.ercot.com/news/release?id=8b772e9e-51d0-4c3c-e653-1e5079f28e89

Just curious do you celebrate when this happens in California as well?  Because it has multiple times.  Did you know that there are 5 power plants off line for various reasons?  

[kermit]

On 5/14/2022 at 2:29 PM, KJHburg said:

Just curious do you celebrate when this happens in California as well?  Because it has multiple times.  Did you know that there are 5 power plants off line for various reasons?  

The California issues did not hit my radar because, unlike Texas, they are not a direct competitor to NC for economic development opportunities and labor.

I do acknowledge that my schadenfreude towards Texas is not a good look. However I am all about getting NC positioned for strong and sustainable economic growth. From that perspective it feels important that we call out Texas whenever they are fibbing about the opportunities and low costs they offer —  Abbott said “the grid is fixed” a year ago, apparently he was lying. Nobody in California pretends they have their crap together, so there is nothing to call out.

This is also worth discussing (IMO) because it is a particularly interesting time for Texas to be be dealing with this. Texas was successful in attracting a large number of WFH folks, but no one really knows how they will react to frequent requests to turn off their AC and/or having power drop out completely in the middle of a zoom meeting from their home office. These grid issues have been known for more than a decade and they have been causing widespread intermittent problems for business and residents for at least three years. At some point folks are going to question the ability of the state and the grid operator to fix the problem.  On the other hand, Duke has built a well deserved reputation for grid reliability and capacity (ice storms and hurricanes aside), I would bet this will become an increasingly important selling point for the North Carolina's future growth and it was the thing that got us all those server farms.

Whats to be gained from pretending everything in Texas is great? Economic development is a zero sum game.

Edited May 16, 2022 by kermit

[nicholas]

2 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

I learned this week that power systems require flywheels, similar to your thermal auto engine*, in order to maintain "grid inertia" to keep voltage and frequency (60 Hertz [Hz] here in N America). These flywheels can weigh 200 tons or more. Magnificent beasts. 

Based on my near-to-nothing knowledge this is where I started:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318858939_Benefits_of_Flywheels_for_Short_Term_Grid_Stabilisation

* In high school I had a part time job at a big Ford dealer parts department and occasionally there was a call for a flywheel replacement. Other than the cast block of the engine and perhaps the crankshaft, depending on engine size, the flywheel was the heaviest single piece of metal in the car at that time. Likely still true though advances with metallurgy may have shrunk the weight.

My old VW GTI had a dual-mass flywheel (basically, two flywheels connected with springs and gears to help dampen vibrations between the engine and transmission).  It seized out of balance, so there ended up being a ton of vibration when the engine was running.  When the clutch finally started to fail, I replaced the dual mass flywheel with a single-mass one while I had the transmission out, and even the single mass flywheel was still pretty heavy at nearly 20 lbs.  A 200 ton flywheel is hard to fathom, lol.

[JRNYP2C]

On 5/13/2022 at 2:41 PM, KJHburg said:

Survey on how employers are getting office workers back to the office (hint very hybrid) 

https://www.workdesign.com/2022/04/envoys-new-at-work-survey-reveals-how-to-get-hybrid-employees-to-choose-the-workplace/

One of my friends in Atlanta who works for a large employer is 100% remote and he does not like it.   Another friend just started with a company in Alpharetta and she is remote.  She does not like that either and does not know when she will go back into their nearby office. 

Cousin who works for a MAJOR bank here in town is 3 days in office one week then 2 the next week. 

The reason this is all important is that future office construction depends on this and how many times employees come into the office. 

it is funny that food and snacks and furniture are touted as ways to get back people to the office.   So what is going on with your local companies? 

Three days a week - supposedly no excuses or exceptions for anything less than that.  HOWEVER, I guarantee that people are thumbing their noses at that and getting away with it.  Not sure how much longer they will be able to do that before the higher ups start to draw the ultimate line in the sand.  I will say that everyone that I talk to within the bank is stretched beyond capacity and it is showing internally.  Too many hours worked and not enough people to get the work done - back office functions - not sales or customer facing.

Over the past three months, I have heard so many different scenarios playing out.  There is a discrepancy between what we are told to do and what is actually happening.  I'd say it is unfair.  But I will quote one of my managers from 20 years ago who said "Fairs are where pigs win blue ribbons."  I'll just leave it at that.

[DonkeyKong]

1 hour ago, JRNYP2C said:

Three days a week - supposedly no excuses or exceptions for anything less than that.  HOWEVER, I guarantee that people are thumbing their noses at that and getting away with it.  Not sure how much longer they will be able to do that before the higher ups start to draw the ultimate line in the sand.  I will say that everyone that I talk to within the bank is stretched beyond capacity and it is showing internally.  Too many hours worked and not enough people to get the work done - back office functions - not sales or customer facing.

Over the past three months, I have heard so many different scenarios playing out.  There is a discrepancy between what we are told to do and what is actually happening.  I'd say it is unfair.  But I will quote one of my managers from 20 years ago who said "Fairs are where pigs win blue ribbons."  I'll just leave it at that.

My teams want to be back. We have done several surveys and they all want to be back full or at least 3 days a wk.  many people have said they work more at home but are more efficient in the office.   Elevator, coffee,  gym conversations make a difference.

[CLT Development]

On 5/13/2022 at 5:42 PM, joenc said:

I walk around the city most mornings. The people going into the office don't look too happy!

Hopefully they quit these email jobs! For the good of their souls.

Look plenty happy to me. Maybe both of us are projecting our differing opinions on going into the office on strangers?

Edited May 16, 2022 by CLT Development

[DH17]

On 5/13/2022 at 2:41 PM, KJHburg said:

   So what is going on with your local companies? 

Non-bank financial services here.

Two days per week in-office is our new requirement. In reality uptake has been....low, but sounds like management will start turning the screws over the next month or two.

I'm personally fine with hybrid and do feel a positive impact from being co-located with people I am working with. However, my NY/NJ colleagues are irate. There will be a lot of pressure on our company as folks leave for remote opportunities and we remain painfully understaffed in key areas.

[TGIBridays]

On 5/13/2022 at 2:41 PM, KJHburg said:

 So what is going on with your local companies? 

I work at an MEP firm (we're a mid sized engineering firm) .  We went "full" remote for less than a year.  Then they started requesting people come back 2 days a week.  For a little less than a year the policy has been that WFH is allowed if you need to or really want to, but it's encouraged to be in the office full time.

A lot of my coworkers still came in even when we were "fully" remote because they didn't like working from home or just didn't have the best setup (it's a smaller company so they didn't runout and buy everyone a whole new setup). Personally, I liked some parts about WFH, but not others.  I have two toddlers and my home office situation was easily accessible for them which lead to a lot of distractions. It is also easier to collaborate and  work with other engineers in the office (teams meetings aren't quite the same). Overall, I think I prefer most things about going into the office except for the endless commute. 

10 hours ago, CLT Development said:

Maybe both of us are projecting our differing opinions on going into the office on strangers?

I think a lot of people do this. For some people WFH is a great fit, but not for everyone or for every type of job. 

[Matthew.Brendan]

To each their own…

the day they tell me I need to come back to the office is the day I give my notice. 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯