A lot of times, when people discuss the phenomenon of employers ending work-from-home and try to make their employees come back to the office, people say that the motivation is to raise real estate prices.

I don’t follow the logic at all. How would doing this benefit an employer in any way?

    • HandwovenConsensus@lemm.eeOP
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      1 year ago

      Buying something to create artificial demand usually isn’t a good investment strategy. A “pump-and-dump” can work if you can set off a buying frenzy and sell before it wears off, but it’s not a long-term strategy.

      Besides, if that was the plan, leaving the buildings vacant would be just as effective as using them.

      • chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 year ago

        isn’t a good investment strategy…

        long-term

        It’s CEOs doing this, they don’t necessarily have to make things work out long-term as long as it doesn’t look like they messed up.

        • Aceticon@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Some years ago the average tenure of a CEO was 18 months and it’s probably not changed that much since, so they really have no reason to worry about what’s going to happen in a 5+ year horizon: they will be long gone, bonus in the pocket and stock options fully vested and cashed.

      • PaupersSerenade@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        I’m speaking from experience in CA;

        Quite a few of these markets were moved on pre pandemic. Now it’s a question of how to offload. My prior company had a very nice multi story building in SoCal before they tried calling back. That was before covid, even then they had trouble securing a purchaser or renter. The market has only gotten worse.

        There’s some sunk-cost fallacy; where you’ve already paid for the space, if you make the whole team drive 1hr+ to meet it’ll have been worth it.

      • RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        What about modern business makes you think they have a long term strategy? All of them have been making only short term gain decisions for a while now.

        Who cares if the company could be more successful in the future if I can make a lot now by sending it into bankruptcy today?