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More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs

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Re: More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs

#81

Post by ArtDev »

avenoir wrote: post #13
Androider wrote: post #6

"Nearly 8% of programmers now work from home, following a staggering increase of nearly 400% since 2000." Could working remotely reach a tipping point where it becomes the default? I could see it happening in the next 20 years, the advantages are too numerous. Most of the downsides are typically related to the inherent friction between onsite and the offsite workers, meaning companies that start out as remote-first w…

I've been a remote employee for 2 years now. I strongly believe that the majority of people will not be able to mentally adjust to working out of their home. It's only human nature. There are days I feel like I will go insane if i spend another 10 minutes in my apartment. Then I'd go to a coffee shop and just relax mentally while feeling like part of society. And i'm an introvert.

I have a wife and kids, so its nice to visit with them on my breaks if they are around.

This is a key difference if you don't have kids yet. I am rarely lonely, even if I never leave my house.

Re: More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs

#82

Post by wdbbdw »

matt_wulfeck wrote: post #34

I biked to work in the Bay Area for awhile. The mediterranean climate here is perfect for it. Except people here drive like maniacs. I was tired of feeling like I was taking my life into my own hands from people regularly going 20 or 30 over the limit and treating me like a road obstacle. Off-lane bike paths are important. Sane driving practices are also important.

Absolutely! I'm in Chicago, where the weather is decidedly not mediterranean, but the biggest challenge for me is finding a safe enough route to ride on. The most direct route for me puts me on some pretty busy streets with a "shared lane" (i.e. an image of a bike painted on the road), but by adding about 5 minutes each way to my ride I'm able to spend 2/3s of it completely off of the streets thanks to our elevated 606 path and the lakefront trail. I often fantasize about some dystopian scenario that renders all motorized vehicles inoperable, leading to a utopian world where streets are safe to use for cyclists. Chicago gets a glimpse of such a world once a year on the "bike the drive" event where lake shore drive is closed to car traffic for a few hours and is filled with cyclists.

Re: More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs

#83

Post by shanemhansen »

CydeWeys wrote: post #26
jonheller wrote: post #17

I consider myself, without doubt, to be an introvert. I hate parties with a passion, and am perfectly happy in my own head compared to even hanging out with a good friend. But I hated working at home. The isolation was terrible, not to mention the challenges of working on project teams (even with Slack etc). I felt lonely and less motivated. It is funny though, because my wife is the opposite of me on the social scal…

I'm with you in regards to how my mind responds to working from home (not well). Humans evolved as social animals. Everything we've always done has been in groups. When you are growing up, you spend most of your waking time in the company of other people (school). The ones who don't, who are homeschooled alone, turn out "weird". Until the modern advent of telecommunications, working has meant being physically colloca…

Upvoted because I agree with your overall point:

> 100% telecommuting doesn't work for a lot of people, maybe even the majority of people.

You're probably getting downvoted (I had the urge myself) by the minority of people who find it to be an excellent fit. Maybe in previous generations we would have been sheepherders, cowboys, or explorers. Or maybe monks. I work remotely and I like social interaction, just much less than most people. If working in an office gives you 10/10 in social interaction, my preferred number is probably a 2. I'd be unhappy with a 1 but much more unhappy with a 10.

Maybe others feel like me. Or maybe given the presence of always on google hangouts and facebook messenger and slack and irc, they feel plenty social.

I consider lack of being face-to-face to be a legitimate drawback of my job, but it's waaay less of a drawback than being forced to live in a "tech hub" or have a commute. The power of being able to hire people who live more than 30 minutes away from your office is incredible.

Re: More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs

#84

Post by Nimitz14 »

dkarl wrote: post #53

It's interesting to see that the average earnings of people who bike to work are increasing so much faster than the other groups. There's a stereotype that people who bike for transportation are just rich spoiled white liberals. I have no idea where it came from, and I'm pretty sure that historically it has been the opposite of the truth, but it's used as a political weapon by people on both ends of the political spe…

It's true. Go to Europe, poor people ride the bus the better-off use a bike.

I think it'd have to do because of things like getting a bike requiring a larger initial capital investment, plus there's the danger of it being stolen (which is smaller if you live in a nicer neighborhood).

Re: More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs

#85

Post by Natsu »

dhimes wrote: post #74
Natsu wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find the exact opposite. My WFH days are far more productive. I feel no need to go to the office at all, most of the people I work with are remote, anyhow. And for technical communication, I'd MUCH rather have everything in writing via email. No, I don't want to call someone on the phone and have them read logs at me. I want a copy of the damned log file so I can look up what's happening with each message and figur…

Yeah. IM, email occasional phone works really well. What do you think of the web cam thing where people can see if you're at your desk? I've never tried it but the idea is a bit...uncomfortable... for me for some reason.

I think I can answer that by pointing out that my camera has electrical tape over it. I've never seen any reason whatsoever to have video on my calls. I only care about what's on their computer screen.

Re: More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs

#87

Post by dao- »

rz2k wrote: post #23
Confiks wrote: post #3

In less click-bait-y headlines: "A record 2.6% of American employees now go to their jobs without ever leaving their houses". In more absurd headlines: "A record 2.6% of American employees now transfer to their jobs INSTANTANEOUSLY."

Did the title change? "More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs" sounds like context, rather than click-bait.

I found the headline a bit ridiculous to say the least. It seems to suggest that working from home is particularly popular, until you realize that the US probably has an exceptionally low rate of people walking or biking to office jobs. So this really just says that working from home is gaining some popularity.

Re: More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs

#88

Post by faet »

matt_wulfeck wrote: post #34

I biked to work in the Bay Area for awhile. The mediterranean climate here is perfect for it. Except people here drive like maniacs. I was tired of feeling like I was taking my life into my own hands from people regularly going 20 or 30 over the limit and treating me like a road obstacle. Off-lane bike paths are important. Sane driving practices are also important.

I'm in SoCal and even with our own bike lanes I refuse to bike to work. I'm 2 miles from work and will walk every now and then but never bike. 3 months after starting my job I was coming home from work one night I saw a guy with a mangled bike laying on the side of the road. Later I read that he died shortly after being hit. The driver of the minivan that hit him wasn't paying attention.

Maybe if they were protected. But, even then I'd still be hesitant. Drivers just don't care.

Re: More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs

#89

Post by mikro2nd »

buckbova wrote: post #42
bryanlarsen wrote: post #5

Meanwhile 56% of people who work or study in Copenhagen commute by bicycle.

I doubt they have the hills I have to contend with. I don't want to show up to work drenched in sweat.

Hmmm... I get that, but... A place I worked at provided showers, mainly at the instigation of people who biked to work. Thirty years ago.

Re: More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs

#90

Post by galdosdi »

dkarl wrote: post #53

It's interesting to see that the average earnings of people who bike to work are increasing so much faster than the other groups. There's a stereotype that people who bike for transportation are just rich spoiled white liberals. I have no idea where it came from, and I'm pretty sure that historically it has been the opposite of the truth, but it's used as a political weapon by people on both ends of the political spe…

Motorists (and many pedestrians) just hate cyclists and look for any excuse to marginalize them.

If they go too slow, they're slowing down traffic, if they go too fast they're a menace. If they're spandex clad, they're hated for their wealth, and if they're toting delivery food they're hated for their poverty. There's no winning.

Despite cycling being the obvious fastest and cheapest way to get around in a dense urban area...

Despite the fact that so-called cycling "infrastructure" (painting lines on streets that have to be repainted periodically anyway) costs basically nothing...

Despite the fact that every person on a bike is a person not using up space in a crowded train, bus, or car lane, despite the fact that adding bike lanes makes the streets safer motorists and pedestrians more than it does for cyclists...

Cyclists are literally risking their lives to make your journey better, and yet you hate them for it, because they confuse you.

I don't really understand it, but I wish I could.

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