Passenger Trains > FL: BrightLine suspended "for the next several months"

But they say they have $466 million in cash reserves, and they intend to continue construction on the Orlando extension. 

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article242876996.html

Even after the virus is passed, it will change transportation habits. People will find that they can easily work from home avoiding expensive commutes. And companies will find it works well  saving millions in  office space rent.That will impact future building/real estate etc. While I never really enjoyed my commute to work, the socialization and friends I met at work will last a lifetime. I can't imagine having done all that at home. 

May I use your crystal ball?

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Even after the virus is passed, it will change
> transportation habits. People will find that they
> can easily work from home avoiding expensive

Or so they think.

> commutes. And companies will find it works well 
> saving millions in  office space rent.That will

Companies will find they can replace everyone working from home with someone from Bangalore at 1/10th the cost.  People excited about working from home haven't thought this through yet.

> impact future building/real estate etc. While I
> never really enjoyed my commute to work, the
> socialization and friends I met at work will last
> a lifetime. I can't imagine having done all that
> at home. 

Because you wouldn't have, and the ability to actually work together instead of virtually is critical at work, but it seems like some want to ignore that and try the nonsense all remote stuff.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> But they say they have $466 million in cash
> reserves, and they intend to continue construction
> on the Orlando extension. 
>
> https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article2
> 42876996.html

They will continue work at some level till they think no one is watching or until the contractors start complaining because they aren't getting paid. Then pay out whatever cash remains to themselves and declare bankruptcy. The only surprising thing is it took this long. 

abyler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> andersonb109 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Even after the virus is passed, it will change
> > transportation habits. People will find that
> they
> > can easily work from home avoiding expensive
>
> Or so they think.
>
> > commutes. And companies will find it works
> well 
> > saving millions in  office space rent.That
> will
>
> Companies will find they can replace everyone
> working from home with someone from Bangalore at
> 1/10th the cost.  People excited about working
> from home haven't thought this through yet.
>
> > impact future building/real estate etc. While I
> > never really enjoyed my commute to work, the
> > socialization and friends I met at work will
> last
> > a lifetime. I can't imagine having done all
> that
> > at home. 
>
> Because you wouldn't have, and the ability to
> actually work together instead of virtually is
> critical at work, but it seems like some want to
> ignore that and try the nonsense all remote stuff.

Doesn't always work.. I have been working with those offshore nuckleheads in IT for the past 20 years...They may save money but they lose more in productivity...They just don't get it....

bluesboyst Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> abyler Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > andersonb109 Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Even after the virus is passed, it will
> change
> > > transportation habits. People will find that
> > they
> > > can easily work from home avoiding expensive
> >
> > Or so they think.
> >
> > > commutes. And companies will find it works
> > well 
> > > saving millions in  office space rent.That
> > will
> >
> > Companies will find they can replace everyone
> > working from home with someone from Bangalore
> at
> > 1/10th the cost.  People excited about working
> > from home haven't thought this through yet.
> >
> > > impact future building/real estate etc. While
> I
> > > never really enjoyed my commute to work, the
> > > socialization and friends I met at work will
> > last
> > > a lifetime. I can't imagine having done all
> > that
> > > at home. 
> >
> > Because you wouldn't have, and the ability to
> > actually work together instead of virtually is
> > critical at work, but it seems like some want
> to
> > ignore that and try the nonsense all remote
> stuff.
>
> Doesn't always work.. I have been working with
> those offshore nuckleheads in IT for the past 20
> years...They may save money but they lose more in
> productivity...They just don't get it....

Yep, there are 2 big name vendors I deal with who pulled enterprise support back into the US, but others continue to use offshore support call centers that I have to spend 1/2 my time on the call just getting them to understand I am an IT Administrator and have already done steps 1-30 before I even opened the ticket.

jst3751 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Yep, there are 2 big name vendors I deal with who
> pulled enterprise support back into the US, but
> others continue to use offshore support call
> centers that I have to spend 1/2 my time on the
> call just getting them to understand I am an IT
> Administrator and have already done steps 1-30
> before I even opened the ticket.

...and if you manage to get them off script at that point, they are instantly lost and need to transfer to a (supervisor, senior representative, technician, etc.), after some time arguing the point, because they actually don't have a clue in the first place.

TAW

TAW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> jst3751 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > Yep, there are 2 big name vendors I deal with
> who
> > pulled enterprise support back into the US, but
> > others continue to use offshore support call
> > centers that I have to spend 1/2 my time on the
> > call just getting them to understand I am an IT
> > Administrator and have already done steps 1-30
> > before I even opened the ticket.
>
> ...and if you manage to get them off script at
> that point, they are instantly lost and need to
> transfer to a (supervisor, senior representative,
> technician, etc.), after some time arguing the
> point, because they actually don't have a clue in
> the first place.
>
> TAW

How true how true.

Don't worry, it will never happen in the public sector. Government agencies would never trust their employees to work at home even if it saved taxpayers. It's "do as I say" all the way !

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Even after the virus is passed, it will change
> transportation habits. People will find that they
> can easily work from home avoiding expensive
> commutes. And companies will find it works well 
> saving millions in  office space rent.That will
> impact future building/real estate etc. While I
> never really enjoyed my commute to work, the
> socialization and friends I met at work will last
> a lifetime. I can't imagine having done all that
> at home. 

Many federal agencies have implemented work from home protocols.

Here is the IRS


https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/new-work-at-home-directive-begins-march-30-only-employees-directed-by-their-supervisor-to-perform-mission-essential-work-may-work-from-an-irs-pod

Posted from Android

Pass a law saying a business can't get sued if someone claims to get Covid-19 at work and companies will re-open their offices the next day.  If you're scared, you can stay at home for another month but I don't think most workers who actually produce value really are scared.

My HOA has fully opened the tennis courts with a "we can't clean everything so we're not responsible" caveat.  I'm good with that. Let's move on.

Leader McConnell has proposed a very broad waiver of employer health and safety rules as part of the reopen America plan.

Posted from Android

For what it's worth, my wife has worked for a globally distributed medical consulting firm for 5 years now, an outfit with maybe  20% of overall staff in HQ or regional offices, the rest working from home. These are MS and MD and PhD level people, not just grunt work. IT support is in Bulgaria. The statisticians are all over the place. A large fraction of their medical consultants are in India. Only the administration staff is effectively all in Headquarters offices. 

Important documents get prepared in a global wave. People hand off reports at the end of their shift in Mumbai, they get picked up in Düsseldorf or New Jersey, finalized somewhere else and finally approved in the US or Europe days sooner than they would otherwise be. 

This business model does indeed work. But it absolutely does put everybody in salary competition with overseas employees. In her case, it  has not become a race to the bottom. 

Not yet anyway. Not for senior staff. 

abyler has a point: be careful what you wish for. 

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Many federal agencies have implemented work from
> home protocols.
>
> Here is the IRS
>
>
> https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/new-work-at-home-dire
> ctive-begins-march-30-only-employees-directed-by-t
> heir-supervisor-to-perform-mission-essential-work-
> may-work-from-an-irs-pod
>
> Posted from Android

I've known HUD employees who were only visiting their offices one day per week.....before any of this Covid19 stuff.

TJY

The Federal Government has pushed telecommuting for years. It works better for some agencies then it does for others.

abyler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Companies will find they can replace everyone
> working from home with someone from Bangalore at
> 1/10th the cost.  People excited about working
> from home haven't thought this through yet.

Been there, done that, in the late 1990s when Silicon Valley was already outsourcing software development to India. Teleconferencing with the Research Triangle (North Carolina) was already been done with ISDN connections, remember those? Broadband infrastructure was still in its infancy back then, but it's much better now, where it can be done globally with relative ease.

It all depends on how "working remotely" is managed. My former employer gave H-1B visas to technical lead engineers from Bangalore and Hyderabad firms, and they came onsite to work with our engineers to complete projects. Yup, we still had to work as a team in the office, while the "code monkeys" would get instructions from the technical leads both here and in India, and worked "remotely."

Annual 5% attrition based on performance "reviews" is a good "legitimate" way to shift the workforce overseas to reduce costs. Anyway, I already posted warnings weeks ago, and told IT workers to update their resumes. I'll repeat: been there, done that. 

cchan006 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> abyler Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Companies will find they can replace everyone
> > working from home with someone from Bangalore
> at
> > 1/10th the cost. 
~~
~~
> Broadband infrastructure was still in its infancy
> back then, but it's much better now, where it can
> be done globally with relative ease.
>

Fortunately, FRA figured that out 18 years ago:49 CFR Part 241 - UNITED STATES LOCATIONAL REQUIREMENT FOR DISPATCHING OF UNITED STATES RAIL OPERATIONS

TAW



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/23/20 09:49 by TAW.

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> People will find that they can easily work from
> home avoiding expensive commutes. And companies
> will find it works well saving millions in  office space rent.
> That will impact future building/real estate etc.

It sure will, and I hope suckers fall for the euphoria of "working from home."

It's funny how the Silicon Valley talks the virtues of working "remotely" but the talk doesn't jive with expensive office buildings being built. More vacant buildings!

In addition to abyler's comments, this might spell the end of the classic employee, and all the benefits that go along with it. Everyone will become contractors, where they'll have to negotiate their right to get paid periodically, maybe every quarter and every project. I hope ya'll enjoy THAT. Goodbye long term thinking, as everyone will have to worry about short term, just like Wall St.

Maybe a new industry will emerge, employee agents, a Jerry Maguire for the masses? :-)

cchan006 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> In addition to abyler's comments, this might spell
> the end of the classic employee, and all the
> benefits that go along with it. Everyone will
> become contractors, where they'll have to
> negotiate their right to get paid periodically,
> maybe every quarter and every project.

...increasing the number of wage slaves who wind up working for less than minimum wage, deluded into thinking that they are "entrepreneurs" who are on the road to riches.

I recently saw a video discussing trucker lease-purchase agreements and the language buried in them that ensures failure. They can "sell" the same truck over and over as suckers go bankrupt. Rent to own contracts for houses work that way too. I once listened out of curiosity to a real estate "entrepreneur" seminar in which he talked about the way to make big money was to sell the same house over and over as a rent to own.

The "gig economy" is a deceptive ploy.

Will we see owner operator locomotive engineers?


TAW