#65 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Monday June 21)
Good morning!
RETURNING TO WORK (IN PERSON)
As we open up, businesses are beginning to establish rules of engagement for their employees. Many are targeting Labor Day as the “back to work.”
Returning to work is being met by some with trepidation. What does it mean to “go back”? It seems most employers have come to the realization that employees’ mental health, productivity and happiness are all enhanced by some flexibility to the traditional five-day work week.
It will be interesting to see how different businesses react to the “new normal.” The chief beneficiaries of returning to work will be younger professionals, who will have greater access to training, the ability to ask questions of those more senior, integrate into the professional environment, and benefit from the social interactions that come with a “regular” work environment.
There is a curious phenomenon that is taking hold, namely, that some people are opting not to return. The decision not to return is happening with greater frequency among administrative staff that are required to be at the office most days and who generally must commute greater distances to work. Those businesses that allow for more work-at-home days are seeing less attrition.
Bloomberg published a survey by FlexJobs that sets out the reasons why people want remote work. Top of the list is “no commute,” cited by 84% of respondents. Cost savings was cited by 75%. Covid exposure is a factor for 32%. Being away from family or pets was named as a reason by 26% of those asked and child responsibilities was cited by 15%. The average amount saved per year by working remotely averaged $5,000 per respondent.
Contrary to the commonly held pre-pandemic view, productivity actually increases from remote work. The survey predicted a 4.6% productivity jump because workers will spend about 435 million fewer hours commuting each month. The surveyors estimated a third of the time saved will result in work. Other surveys cite flexibility as important to increasing productivity per employee, even in those instances when a single hour may be less productive at home (which is offset by the more hours working).
I think the hybrid model is here to stay.
CHASING THE EARNED RUN RECORD—AND THE MVP
Who isn’t impressed with the incredible run thus far this season by Jacob deGrom? The ace of the New York Mets currently sports a 0.54 earned run average (“ERA”), after an impressive start last Thursday, when he also contributed with his bat. The For the uninitiated, in simple terms ERA is the number of runs allowed by a pitcher not attributed to errors. The season is better than 1/3 over. For a comparison of to the lowest ERAs in history, Doc Gooden posted a 1.53 ERA for the 1985 Mets and Bob Gibson posted a 1.12 ERA for the 1968 Cardinals. Not since Dutch Leonard, of the 1914 Red Sox (during the “dead ball” era that benefitted pitchers), has a pitcher come close to deGrom, posting a 0.96 ERA.
Will deGrom win both the MVP and the Cy Young (given to the best pitcher)? If the vote were held today, it’s tough to imagine that not happening. The greatest was, in my opinion, Sandy Koufax’s 1963 fourth no-hitter season. And thought that statistic, along with lowest ERA is impressive, recall that he pitched 11 shutouts and then led his team to a World Series trouncing victory over the Yankees! Then there’s Bob Gibson’s 1968 season, with the aforementioned 1.12 ERA. And while Verlander and Kershaw, also in this rarefied air, can lay claim to extraordinary seasons, deGrom eclipses them both.
This will be fun to watch.
DAYS OF THE WEEK SONGS
There are songs that reference the days of the week. There are several that are the most common, at least one of which is surprising. Which days have the most songs written about them? Which have the fewest? Why?
What are your favorite “day of the week” songs? I’ll start: “Another Saturday Night,” by Sam Cooke (also recorded by Cat Stevens).
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Some people have asked for compilations from the Musings. Here are the first of these. The website is self-explanatory. It has a number of compilations and will have more. The reading lists are up-to-date now.
Best wishes,
Glenn