As for taking a 25% pay reduction to work from home, I understand and agree even -- if that was the only choice. But why should you pay for the privilege of saving your employer money? And could many companies have the nerve to claim that claim the costs of managing WFH employees is not offset many times over by savings from reduced commercial space rental?
The cost of having a physical location doesn't disappear entirely, of course. Maybe there are new costs for shipping laptops back and forth to WFH employees, for example, but such new costs pale against sustaining a cost of $4000 to $15,000 average per employee in a rented office space (based on a low of $4194 in Atlanta to $14,800 in NYC in 2015, see separate post below.)
[quote]The Cost of Office Space Per Employee: A Conservative Estimate
[quote]To determine the cost of one vacant desk or workstation, you first need to know the annual cost of renting office space. Commercial real estate costs vary widely depending on location—ranging from a high of $83 per square foot in Midtown Manhattan to just $17.93 in Louisville, according to JLL’s Q3 2018 office outlook.In the third quarter of 2018, the average asking lease rates across the United States was $34 per square foot.
[quote]Of course, you also need to factor in the cost of utilities. The 3-30-300 rule illustrates the relationship between utilities, rent and payroll, which adds another $3.40 per square foot. Now you need to consider the size of the average workstation. According to JLL, the average workstation is between 40-50 square feet—about half the size it was a decade ago. Let’s assume yours is somewhere in between—45 square feet.
[quote]Now we’ll do the math: ($34 + $3.40 = $37.40) x 45 = $1,683.
[quote]That may not seem like a lot. But that’s not accounting for furniture, technology or other amenities that are part of the space. It also doesn’t factor in the cost of maintaining that space and related spaces, like the restrooms, employee break room and equipment such as printers and copiers.
[quote]The estimated the average annualized workstation cost to a business is much higher, approximately $18,000.