Ask HN: How to find a job in 2021 if I dislike remote?

If he’ll bent on getting back to work checkout Excelitas I’m your neck of the woods. I am in conference call with them every week and they are in the office and so am I. Or why not come work for our company. Molecular diagnostics is hard, not adtech and we need all the xooglers that we can take. A guy just relocated from st.Louis.

Don't worry, most of the adds that say 100% remote aren't remote at all.

> These days it's hard to find an in office job

I’m not sure that’s true; most companies do plan to re-open their offices if they’re not already open.

It probably is harder to find an in office job that is in-office today. Virtually impossible in some places, depending on government guidelines. But generally the intent is to go back.

I’m in the same boat; can’t stand working from home, and wouldn’t take a remote job. I had eight days back in the office this year, after which the government advised offices to close again… (Ireland has been particularly aggressive about this). During the brief window we were allowed (though not required) to go in, lots of people do.

I do hope and expect to be back in the office properly in 2022, though.

My impression is that the average person would prefer part in office, part WFH. I’m an outlier, strongly preferring all in office. I think full WFH may also be outliers; most polls seem to have flexible as the preferred option.

This depends on broader society accepting that COVID is endemic though, and the cessation of all sorts of regulations. I don't doubt it will happen eventually, but I'm not sure if another year is enough time. There has to be some sort of common knowledge catalyst that changes the general approach; as long as events are still being cancelled due to COVID cases, we're not out of the woods and "living with the disease" quite yet.

Additionally, I think "undoing" the remote workforce transition is going to be nigh impossible for many companies. How do you get your employees back to the office? You probably tell them their employment is contingent on being in the office; that's the only leverage you really have as an employer. Many people have moved since the onset of the pandemic, and with the labor market as tight as it is, few companies are going to be able to stomach laying off employees who moved away and don't want to move somewhere near a physical office location.

So companies have a Hobson's choice: declare an "on-site" culture and axe all the people who no longer wish to be on-site (with no guarantee that you'll be able to hire replacements in a timely manner), or declare a "hybrid" culture and allow people to opt into coming into the office instead of having it mandated (with no guarantee that people will actually show up to the office and make your real estate expenses worthwhile).

I think a lot of companies are going to choose option #2 now, and a lot of those who choose #2 are going to reevaluate that gargantuan office lease expense in a few years' time when comparing the cost with the actual utilization of the space. I think a not-insignificant portion of the option #2 companies will end up being "full remote" companies as a result, it'll just take them a few years to get there. I think the option #1 companies will probably be fine if they're in cities where there's enough talent, but their long-term success is kind of a toss-up in my opinion. It truly depends on whether the social benefits of in-person interaction gives them a competitive advantage versus world-spanning remote companies who can be more selective with their talent.

Schools and learning social interactions for young people def. is taking a significant hit.