Microsoft tries to dump S.F. office space amid tech industry cost-cutting
(www.sfchronicle.com)
from L4s@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world on 24 Oct 2023 12:00
https://lemmy.world/post/7262108
from L4s@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world on 24 Oct 2023 12:00
https://lemmy.world/post/7262108
Microsoft tries to dump S.F. office space amid tech industry cost-cutting::px-captcha
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Now all companies should cut their office costs because I sure as shit ain’t going back to office. It’ll also help bankrupt some landlords (I hope)
A collapse of commercial real estate will do far more than bankrupt some landlords.
Yeah, it will also lead to more vacant space in highly desired downtown cores that can be turned into residential units.
Inb4 “BuT tHaT’s ToO eXpEnSiVe”.
It’s not a valid excuse, to be sure, it’s just the most common one I see.
It is a non-trivial process. Commercial offices and residential apartments have very different code requirements.
I’m all for doing it. I work from home myself and don’t know that I’ll ever take a job that requires a commute if I can help it.
We should be realistic about it, however, and acknowledge that it’s not as simple as throwing up a few walls and doors and calling it a day.
You’re right, there’s more to it than hanging extra doors. It’s going to cost money, which was my original statement, owners won’t do the renovations because it’s “too expensive” and keeping the status quo is cheaper.
Love your username
-bim/CAD manager
My condolences.
The good news is I manage Department of one, me. Currently
That’s sort of where I’m at. Only drafter in my department.
What kinda work? I moved from electrical to RF systems, mainly CAD plan views of wireless reprating equipment, and equipment wall elevations for installation details. Sometimes I’m in revit coordination big jobs , currently doing MSG Sphere in Vegas. It fucking sucks.
I got started with Autocad drawings of precast concrete buildings. Now I work for a machine shop that refurbishes big valves, and it’s equal parts boring and amazing. Some days I don’t do anything at all. And some days someone will drop some broken and bent part of something on my desk, and say “Can you figure out what this used to look like, and make a cad model of it, so we can get this fixed?”
oh crazy! i got into this cad work because i used to work in a machine shop haha. I went to school for manufacturing engineering but moved into CNC machinist. used to be pretty good with Mach3 and RhinoCAM haha. Even built a few machines myself. It led me to 3d Printing, naturally, since both share Gcode base language, which i learned in college. I still absolutely LOVE 3d printing. Its the only thing I’m confident saying I’m an expert in, except, i haven’t been paying attention to new machines for a while now.
My CAD journey started in a fabrication shop. I ran a CNC laser, and sometimes parts had a feature in the wrong place, or a hole that was the wrong size. I learned how to make adjustments in Sigmanest, and then learned to make my own 2D cad files. I took a couple of classes in manual drafting (paper and pencils) and another couple of classes in Solidworks. I taught myself autocad after being hired to detail reinforcement in precast concrete parts.
manual drafting was so much fun. i miss the graphite marks on the outside of my palms haha. Its still the basis of how i operate in CAD. its so frustating trying to show people how tyo draft in CAD, who dont have hand drafting education. So much shit that i take for granted, came from those 2 courses.
Drafting I,II and Material Processes I, II were so incredibly formative for me. I have no idea who I would be today without the basis of knowledge that gave me, and for showing me “learning can be fun” as cliche as that sounds. I didn’t even finish my degree, but it made me 100x more curious about the world around me.
My job mostly consists of “Here’s 40 pounds of bent and broken stuff. Figure out what it used to look like, and make us models and drawings of the parts.”
Oh, I know there can be some good from it, I doubt it but it’s possible (the NIMBY is strong), but a collapsed commercial real estate market will have knock on economic effects elsewhere. Think housing bubble bad but maybe worse. Remember, before COVID, commercial real estate was essentially a “sure thing” investment wise. Everyone needed a job and every job needed a place for said job to be done. Now…now we all know for sure what we all suspected for years previously: we didn’t need to go to an office to do our jobs.
I am in no way supporting landlords or anything. In fact I’m firmly in the “no one gets two until everyone has one” camp for housing along with removing the ability for companies to own single family housing. Just being a realist is all. And a pessimist.
Honestly that’s always been a core problem of American cities vs other countries and part of what increases our car dependency. Other countries have mixed use urban areas that are resilient if one type is doing bad, whereas American cities have large divisions (housing, business, commercial) all separate, when there is a seismic change it leaves large sections of the city hurting.
Which will collapse the residential market with a supply glut. Which in SF might be a good thing.
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Things I couldn’t give a fuck about
I know! Can’t wait.
Such a weird interplay of land vs human capital. Like a company can afford either to fuck around with one cost, say expenses aligned toward real estate and all the trappings of a fancy office, or people…
Both together just seems too much…
Finally dumping something worth dumping.
More companies should do this. The whole trend of companies building big campuses is so stupid and a waste of money and real estate.
These places are beautiful. They should be opened to the public. Or maybe we should fund the parks system to create something similar.
I think there are upsides and downsides to them, and I’d much rather work at and have to look at those, rather than miles and miles of soulless business parks or high rises, especially in areas where real estate isn’t at a premium.
Good luck dumping any commercial real estate right now. The new Google building in Austin is completely empty. You can see right through it.
Dump it and build public housing to accommodate their labor demand instead of useless and wasteful structures, the office needs to die.