That's it! Everyone back to work! (01-28-2025--Hour3)

[00:00:04] What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalendershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:28] I did get a message regarding the previous topic, well the last two, so first hour we covered TikTok and why you should not have it. And DeepSeek, the new AI, also owned by the ChaiComs, why you should not use it or download their app. But also how, like, we are a very stupid society for not recognizing the threat that is China.

[00:00:54] uh, and we just continue to willingly, voluntarily, uh, give it all of this information knowing that they intend to use it for our demise. But, uh, we are stupid. And I told, I advise people don't be dumbasses, but I know that may be a bit too much to ask. Michael wrote me and said, The American people are dumb as a box of rocks when it comes to these Chinese owned apps.

[00:01:22] They are willing to sacrifice personal and national security in order to be able to watch stupid videos made by stupid people. I agree with your comment. Stop being dumbasses. Well, look, I will say this. Just like every platform, uh, there are good, entertaining, informative, quality content creators on TikTok. No doubt about it. Right? No doubt about it. There are people that are, are producing very good content.

[00:01:52] Stuff that is of value. They could also do that on a different platform. And I would recommend that they do so. But I can't make them. Trump might. But, but I can't. Um, I'm just trying to advise people. Don't use these things. Don't give the communists. Who are interested in our demise.

[00:02:22] Don't give them what they seek. They are not our friends. They are not our friends. Do you understand? Like we may, like, we may see them invade Taiwan soon. What do you think happens when, when they do? North Korea is right now fighting on behalf of the Russians against the Ukrainians. Right?

[00:02:51] You, North Korean forces. North Korea is the knife that China wields. I did not come up with that saying. China has used North Korea to destabilize its region for decades. Okay? They keep North Korea afloat. So, again, like this is, these are the actions.

[00:03:14] And when you start then farming out the AI tech to, um, uh, to other dictators and authoritarians around the globe. What do you think China is doing with all of their, their quote, loans that they give to these, uh, impoverished countries to set up airports and, uh, docks and stuff, ports and all that. And then, oh, they can't, they can't make the payments. And then China seizes it. Panama Canal. What do you think is going on with that?

[00:03:44] Well, like, what do you think China is doing? Hello? So, if you got to see the cat videos, you can see them on other platforms that are not trying to kill the American society. And I would just ask that you, um, that you just, you know, don't. That's all. Um, all right.

[00:04:07] So, Google's former CEO says, I know this is like a tech heavy deal, but, uh, trust me on this one. Okay. Google's former CEO says that the tech giant is losing out to open AI. This was from the summer. Okay. That, that the Google AI product is falling behind. It's losing the race against open AI and Anthropic. These are other AI models.

[00:04:38] Why? Why is Google falling behind? Remote working. This is what, this is what the former CEO and chairman, Eric Schmidt said. He was speaking to students at Stanford University during a lecture in April when he was asked about, uh, the lead that startups like open AI and Anthropic currently have over Google when it comes to AI.

[00:05:04] He said, Google decided that work-life balance and going home early and working from home was more important than winning. And the reason the startups work is because the people in startups work like hell. He says, I'm sorry to be so blunt, but the fact of the matter is if you all leave the university and you go start up a company, you're not going to let people work from home and then only come in one day a week.

[00:05:32] If you want to compete against the other startups, you can't do that. When I started up my company, me personally, when I started the podcast, I was, I was waking up at five in the morning and going to bed at 11 at night and all day long, except for when I, uh, would eat lunch with Christy. She would come home. We were up in Asheville at the time and she would come home. She, her office was fairly close and she would come home and we would eat lunch together.

[00:06:01] And then I was back to work every single thing I did. I worked six days a week, minimum, right? Every single thing I did was for the startup was to make that a successful operation. That's what startups do. And if you, and if, if you're starting up, you're not having people that are only working three or four hours from home every day. I'm sorry, but this guy is correct. He is correct.

[00:06:29] Schmidt was Google CEO and chairman for 10 years from 2001 through 2011 before handing the reins back to the search giants, co-founder Larry Page. He went on then to serve as Google's executive chairman and technical advisor before finally departing the company in early 2020. To be sure, according to business insider, Google has been easing away from a 100% remote work arrangement for employees since 2022.

[00:06:59] A hundred percent remote work. A hundred percent. Nobody. Nobody has it. Like that's nuts. Have you seen that movie with, uh, what's his name? One of the Owen brothers and, uh, not, not Luke Owen. No Wilson. Yeah. Owen Wilson. Yeah. Yeah. Not the Owen brothers. Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, where they go to work for Google.

[00:07:29] Right. Have you seen what Google does for their employees at their, they've got like little cry closets and stuff. They've got ping pong tables, arcades, cafeteria. They have all this stuff. And then they send everybody home. And you've been like that for two years. Google employees are currently working on a hybrid model where they spend approximately now three days in the office, two days, wherever they work best.

[00:07:56] Whether that's at the office or at home per the company's 2022 diversity annual report. Google also began tracking office badge attendance and using it as a metric in performance reviews. This is according to internal memos that CNBC got a hold of. So they were a hundred percent remote and then they started going back to a hybrid model three days.

[00:08:21] Um, yeah, three days in the office and two days wherever you work best. So home. Oh, I got a coffee shop. Uh huh. Of course, not everybody believes in magical hallway conversations as these things are dubbed by critics of, uh, this, uh, return to the office movement. Among CEOs.

[00:08:46] But there's no question that working together in the same room makes a positive difference, said Google's chief people office. That's the. They have an office. That's a chief people office. It's like HR, I guess. Yeah. Um, but this, uh, this was in an email by the, uh, uh, chief people officer, Fiona.

[00:09:12] But Chichione or Chichione wrote in an employee email obtained by CNBC. Not everybody believes in magical hallway conversation. Okay. So here's the thing. I don't have to pick sides in this. Okay. I don't have to like, just because like the managers are saying everybody has to be back. I don't automatically defer to them. Because they're managers. Right.

[00:09:40] Just because they're managers doesn't mean that they actually know what works best in this scenario. They have ideas or maybe they've got orders. They have theories and such. Right. Right. But I think it really depends on the office culture. If you work in a crapulent office, like you're probably going to be more productive if you don't have to be in said crapulence. Right.

[00:10:09] If people don't want to come back to the office to work, like you might have an office culture problem. And that is a lot of times personnel related. Have you ever seen that TV show, The Office? Yes. Here's a great idea. How about making an escape to a really special and secluded getaway in western North Carolina, just a quick drive up the mountain. And Cabins of Asheville is your connection.

[00:10:36] Whether you're celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon, maybe you want to plan a memorable proposal, or get family and friends together for a big old reunion. Cabins of Asheville has the ideal spot for you where you can reconnect with your loved ones and the things that truly matter. Nestled within the breathtaking 14,000 acres of the Pisgah National Forest, their cabins offer a serene escape in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

[00:10:59] Centrally located between Asheville and the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, it's the perfect balance of seclusion and proximity to all the local attractions. With hot tubs, fireplaces, air conditioning, smart TVs, Wi-Fi, grills, outdoor tables, and your own private covered porch, choose from 13 cabins, 6 cottages, 2 villas, and a great lodge with 11 king-sized bedrooms, Cabins of Asheville has the ideal spot for you for any occasion.

[00:11:27] And they have pet-friendly accommodations. Call or text 828-367-7068. Or check out all there is to offer at cabinsofashville.com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. RTO, people. R-T-O. Return to office. Return to office is making yet another return to the headlines.

[00:11:50] As the new year starts, more firms have announced that they are trimming back on even the three-day-a-week plans that many had settled into when employees balked at RTO after COVID. Do you know that there are people who have entered the job market today that have never had to go into work? Isn't that nuts? I mean, I'm not saying there's a lot of them. But it's a not small amount.

[00:12:19] J.P. Morgan made their announcement. Being at the office will now apply to all their employees. Which is in keeping with what CEO Jamie Dimond has as a philosophy, which is be at the office. And this has got people upset. Once again, people don't like to be at offices when the office culture is not great.

[00:12:46] But part of the other reason people don't enjoy being at the office is not really being at the office. It is driving to the office. Yeah. That's part of the problem. See, because when you say you got to come back to the office, it's not just for that eight, eight and a half, nine, or in my case, you know, 12 hours a day. That I'm at the office. It's the commute. Right?

[00:13:13] So now I am required, rather than a commute of, you know, 20 feet down my hall into my office, my home office, now I have to shower. I mean, because I care about what my coworkers think of me. I do take showers.

[00:13:30] And so now I have to, like, walk down the hall, go past my office, get into my car, pay for the gas, drive on the streets with a whole bunch of people that don't know how to drive and do not realize that we're not in some sort of a simulation where they're the main character. And then, you know, park, get to the office, maybe have to fight off a couple of muggers on my way into the uptown office. And then start the clock, right? And then after that, do the whole thing in reverse.

[00:14:00] And, look, I leave the office here. I leave the studio at, like, 3, 305. And sometimes it'll take me almost 45 minutes to drive, like, eight miles. It's nuts. So if you, you know, you're chained to the desk or the microphone, as it were. And that's another reason why people don't enjoy the into the office, the RTO experience.

[00:14:28] And there is another thought here. Maybe this will let companies fire a bunch of people. Or they'll just quit on their own.

[00:15:07] All right. Create a video has been helping families in the Charlotte area preserve their history since 1997. Simply bring in your old camcorder tapes and create a video. We'll transfer them to a USB flash drive for just $14.95 per tape. You have a big collection? They've got a discount for you. And next year, instead of talking about those memories, imagine gathering the family to watch them together. Talk about a memorable gift. So do what I did.

[00:15:37] Trust the experts at Create A Video. Yeah.

[00:16:09] This was from a couple weeks ago. It was the beginning of the year. They put this notice out. That replaces the three-day mandate for many of its workers. The CEO has previously criticized the federal government for not requiring workers to be at their offices more regularly. Okay. Okay. So funny that the CEO should mention that. Donald Trump has now told all of the Fed workers to go back to work. Go back to the office.

[00:16:38] Everybody back in the pool. Okay. Back to work, everybody. Except for the ones that have been put on paid leave. The DEI people. So here is a former federal employee going on to the Tricom app TikTok to tell the secrets about the incompetence and waste in the federal government.

[00:17:07] I used to be a federal employee, and I'm going to tell you why I don't feel bad for federal employees being forced to come back into the workplace. I worked for the Army Corps of Engineers for almost a year, and the abuses that I saw by government employees was astounding and shocking. I worked as a realty specialist, and that is someone who manages government-owned lands.

[00:17:36] So when farmers and ranchers lease land to graze cattle, we would manage that. When I was hired, my boss bragged that it was basically impossible to get fired from the federal government, and that in her entire time working for the government, she'd only seen one person fired. And that person assaulted a fellow employee. What? She wasn't even fired for assaulting the employee at work. She was fired for lying about it because they caught it on camera.

[00:18:08] So I can't assault? When I worked for the government, we were allowed to work 50% in the office and 50% from home for the most part. In some cases, if you'd work there, like I think over 10 years or something, you could actually work from home three days a week and work from the office two days a week. I use the word work very loosely. Uh-oh. One employee spent his time remote working running his own farm.

[00:18:40] Another employee bragged about drunk driving and going out to lunch with her friends for margaritas when she was supposed to be remote working. No one would log into their computers, and you can see it because they're not on Teams, and no one ever checked. Ever. There's something called the 80-20 rule where 80% of the work in government is done by 20% of the people, and this is very, very true.

[00:19:10] People who get a job in the government a lot of times find out that it's very difficult to fire them, and they take advantage of this. One employee would come into the office. His start time would be 6.30, and he knew nobody would be there. And when I came in at 7.30 and I was the next person to come in, he was snoring at his desk every single morning.

[00:19:33] Another employee would take the government truck on an almost daily basis so that he could go out to lunch and then go and take a nap in his favorite park under a shady tree in the government truck. Well, I mean, that's mental health. One of the very first things I did when I started working for the Corps, I spent three months cleaning up their real estate files room, which was a disaster.

[00:19:58] The government is using an antiquated system that was developed sometime in the 90s and using regulations that haven't been updated since the 90s to manage our dams and our government lands. That sounds about right. Our government is filled with the most incompetent and most lazy people and an occasional hard worker.

[00:20:23] And those hard workers are severely punished every time they outwork their colleagues, because then the colleagues realize people will see that they're lazy and they don't want to have to work more. They're just buying time until they retire. Same. In almost every case. My point is some of our government organizations. Haven't been maintained or updated in so long that you basically need to create a new organization and start from scratch.

[00:20:53] Because there's almost no way to transfer it over. And there's so much red tape in between. It'll never get done. Hmm. Now, that's an interesting idea. How about like we have the Department of Education. So we set up another agency called Department of Schools or something. And then you build that one better, theoretically.

[00:21:22] And then you get rid of the Department of Education. Then it's like, well, we cut the whole department. Sorry. So it's not like we're firing you. We're eliminating the whole department. And then when the Department of Ed is gone and the only one that remains is the Department of Schools. Well, then I would shut that one down, too, actually. But no, if you were trying to replace it, this is just an example, people. Like you replace it. And then after you shut down the DOE, now you have the DOS.

[00:21:49] And then you just rename the Department of Schools back to the Department of Education. Education. I'm just spitballing here. I haven't really thought this through. But I know that our government is inefficient because the people working for it are not doing what they need to do to take care of the rest of us. So, no, I don't think government employees should get the benefit of working from home.

[00:22:13] If our government is not working for us, we shouldn't have to take years to do anything in a technological age. That's true. They choose to take that long. That's a choice. So they can choose to do things faster and more efficiently. And then they can choose to get remote work back. I don't feel bad for them at all. All right. So she goes by Sasha the Great on TikTok.

[00:22:41] But don't go watch it because it's TikTok, people. You learn nothing from the first hour of the program. Okay. I do have an email here. A couple emails. This is from Jeff. It's simple chemistry, the two most common elements in the universe, hydrogen and dumbassery. That tracks too.

[00:23:10] Jan says, okay. So regarding the commute. Going into the office takes me 15 minutes each way, which lets me switch my focus from the house to the office. Or walk the 30 feet to the home office. Dealing with a pair of incredibly stupid cats. Never getting away from the house and various issues associated with it, including what needs to be fixed. The 8 to 10 daily Amazon deliveries for crap my wife orders.

[00:23:39] Screaming neighbors, etc, etc, etc. Oh, and the walk to and from the home office goes right by the incredibly well-stocked liquor cabinet. I wish I could go into the office. Unfortunately, they do not have a dedicated space I can use. Yeah, so look. Everybody is different here. I want to acknowledge that. Everybody is different. Some people can actually work remotely and be more productive. Or as productive.

[00:24:07] Or almost as productive as they are in the office. No doubt about it. I am one of those people. I am self-directed. You do not need to tell me to work. I will work. I wake up. I walk in. I start working. I eat my breakfast while working. I take a shower. I get in my car. I come to the office. I work. I leave the office. I go home. And I keep working. That's my I work all the time. You don't have to tell me to work. Now, that being said, there are benefits of being in the office.

[00:24:37] Like just a couple months ago, before the Christmas break, I was in the hallway and I ran into a sales guy. And we started talking and we started coming up with some ideas and like some opportunities. He can go make a sales call, talk about a potential client and all of this. And so like that's one of the benefits that you get. I mean, he did like he did leave the company shortly thereafter. So it never worked out. But like, you know, that it could have turned into something fruitful. That's a true story.

[00:25:07] All right. If you're listening to this show, you know, I try to keep up with all sorts of current events. And I know you do, too. And you probably heard me say, get your news from multiple sources. Why? Well, because it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed with Ground News. It's an app and it's a website. And it combines news from around the world in one place. So you can compare coverage and verify information. You can check it out at check.ground.news slash Pete.

[00:25:36] I put the link in the podcast description, too. I started using Ground News a few months ago and more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right. See for yourself. Check.ground.news slash Pete. Subscribe through that link and you'll get 15% off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature.

[00:26:05] Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports Ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. So I do have the ability to do the show remote. OK, I can do this show remote. But I do come into the office every day because I believe in office culture. Sorry, I just I think the boss is listening, so I want to make sure I get that on the record ahead of the performance review.

[00:26:31] In September, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy sent employees a letter warning them to prepare as the company was going back to being in the office the way we were before COVID. Naturally, Amazon employees blew a gasket demanding data driven rationales for the scheduled January to change in work policy. Unsurprisingly, they haven't received the demanded justification from their employer, according to Beej Wellborn writing at hotair.com. So they try. So, yeah.

[00:26:59] So Amazon is like, we're going to go back to the office. It's more effective and efficient. And so then the employees, knowing that they work for a logistics company, they're like, really, what's the data to support that? Shut up and get back to work. But Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said that what we have been told is that it leads to increased collaboration between teams and innovation.

[00:27:25] But whenever the union apparently asked for data, which is famously Amazon's bread and butter, they never are willing to provide it. Cannot provide the data to support it. So, and this is one of the other things in this debate is that a lot of times it's just the feels. It's there are managers and upper management or whatever that they just want everybody back in the office. Now, there are actual economic side effects here.

[00:27:54] You know, if you're paying employees, that's one cost. But then you also have the cost of the building and the HVAC and the maintenance and, you know, janitorial services and lighting and all of it. And if you've got people that are in the office three days a week, but it kind of rotates all around, you can't ever shrink your footprint. Right? Because it's not like you can go dark for two of the days.

[00:28:20] So you have to keep all that stuff running every single day, even though the employees are not there every single day. The businesses and vendors who surround the Amazon headquarters in Seattle are delighted by this news, by the way. They are so happy. And this is another part of this conversation, which is the areas around the businesses that will now, you know, be returning to work.

[00:28:49] They are going to benefit the restaurants, hot dog vendors, right? The guy selling the fake Rolexes, all of it. Like they're all going to now enjoy the economic activity, right? There's a larger problem going on across America where the downtown districts emptied out. It was happening before COVID, no doubt about it. But COVID made it way worse.

[00:29:14] I remember we did this last year, we got like some report on the occupancy levels in Uptown. And it's something like, I mean, it was a really high number. I mean, I want to say a third, like one out of every three offices are vacant in Uptown, something like that. And that's not unusual. There are some markets where it's worse.

[00:29:37] In fact, like I think in San Francisco, I think they're into like single digit percentages of people who actually are in the downtown. I mean, besides all of the vagrants and stuff. I don't know that. Actually, I just made that stat up. I don't know. But it seems true. It could be. It seems like it could very well be true, right?

[00:29:55] And that's one of the other problems here is that people don't want to go back to work in a downtown district that's been overrun thanks to terrible policies by state and local leaders. A lot of moving parts here. A lot of moving parts. Oh, one of the other ones was the, I saw the, what, Charlotte Area Transit. Is it? They're now going to start basically running Uber, which why not just give vouchers for Uber? Like, wouldn't that make more sense?

[00:30:24] Just give people vouchers for Uber and let them make their own calls and stuff. Why do you have to create a whole freaking fleet of vehicles and do it yourself? Like, whatever. But I think it's better than a lot of the bus routes. All right. That'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast. So if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepcalendershow.com.

[00:30:53] Again, thank you so much for listening and don't break anything while I'm gone.