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Our Self-Isolating Future: How working from home could reshape society

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11–20 of 159 posts

Re: Our Self-Isolating Future: How working from home could reshape society

#11
I'm not sure that viewing this as some kind of dry run for a future in which we all work from home is particularly fair, on multiple fronts. Firstly, this isn't a choice anyone has made, it's something which has been forced upon them. Working from home is (for some) great, but in its present state, many are restricted from leaving the house unless absolutely necessary, and so we're not so much "working from home" as "living from home". I think is a crucial difference, because people are currently denied any physical form of socializing, not merely during working hours. The speed at which this situation was forced upon us, also means that few of us have the separate room with perfect working conditions which a typical full-remote worker might.

From the perspectives of the companies it's also unfair to look at their hiring habits and speculate on their attitudes to working from home. Many companies are struggling to meet payroll, fighting with uncertainty, and desperately trying to form new communication structures in order to support the business. During such time, of course hiring is not going to be a priority.

Speculating on the outcome of this nightmare seems somewhat foolhardy, and extolling the virtues of working from home myopic given the many people who now find themselves struggling or out of work, ill, or forced to work in what are increasingly dangerous environments.

Re: Our Self-Isolating Future: How working from home could reshape society

#12

Outside of young, childless tech workers, this sudden remote work experiment is not going well for most people I know. This isn’t the controlled trial of remote work that these think pieces suggest. Instead, everyone is forcefully stuck at home without time to prepare. Parents are juggling childcare with getting work done, while fighting an uphill battle against IT systems that weren’t prepared for everyone going WFH…

I've been loving the comfort of working from home (childless), but I suspect you're right that it's not going well for most people. Most of my zoom meetings are disrupted by shrieks of needy children and a shocking number of cellphone ringing/notifications.

Re: Our Self-Isolating Future: How working from home could reshape society

#13

Outside of young, childless tech workers, this sudden remote work experiment is not going well for most people I know. This isn’t the controlled trial of remote work that these think pieces suggest. Instead, everyone is forcefully stuck at home without time to prepare. Parents are juggling childcare with getting work done, while fighting an uphill battle against IT systems that weren’t prepared for everyone going WFH…

Idk - the company I work for was totally prepared for this and the IT systems are absolutely OK.

Exceptions: weekly full-house meeting of 400 employees isn’t supported by hangouts so you can only participate in read-only mode

The only issue I personally have is my WFH broadband is horrible.

Basically what you’re saying is that “the company I work for does a horrible job of having it’s systems available for remote work”. But then it would also be true of other things

Re: Our Self-Isolating Future: How working from home could reshape society

#14

Outside of young, childless tech workers, this sudden remote work experiment is not going well for most people I know. This isn’t the controlled trial of remote work that these think pieces suggest. Instead, everyone is forcefully stuck at home without time to prepare. Parents are juggling childcare with getting work done, while fighting an uphill battle against IT systems that weren’t prepared for everyone going WFH…

Obviously regardless of all the above, there will be permanent changes because of this, even if it wasn’t all voluntary and we can return to normal. I think we can be certain some things will change with respect to how people work as well as other behavior. For example, do we need all those extraneous stimuluses. Surely some people will overdo it in both directions. It all remains to be seen.

Re: Our Self-Isolating Future: How working from home could reshape society

#15

Outside of young, childless tech workers, this sudden remote work experiment is not going well for most people I know. This isn’t the controlled trial of remote work that these think pieces suggest. Instead, everyone is forcefully stuck at home without time to prepare. Parents are juggling childcare with getting work done, while fighting an uphill battle against IT systems that weren’t prepared for everyone going WFH…

I agree. If anything business travel and in office time will increase - we’re gonna realize how great it is to be in the same room.

Re: Our Self-Isolating Future: How working from home could reshape society

#16
post #4

I'm lucky enough to be able to work from home, and I'm having mixed feelings about it. As usual, there are pros and cons to everything. Pros: - Able to be at home all day, feel I have more flexibility. Cons: - I miss cycling to work. - I miss getting out the house - I miss chatting to colleagues - I miss lots of indirect help from other developers. I might feel differently if I had to drive to work, as I hated that.…

What's stopping you from getting out of the house? Cycle before work, and after work.

Re: Our Self-Isolating Future: How working from home could reshape society

#17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I think this experiment is going to backfire. People are going to hate WFH/Remote work coming out of this it seems.

> People are going to hate WFH/Remote work coming out of this it seems. The question is, what are they going to do? There are two options... demand better tooling (I'm actually surprised about Microsoft Teams!) or go back to office and put up with everything related to a multi-hour commute - infection risk in public transport, gas/insurance costs, endless traffic jams, hours lost each day that can be spent with partn…

> or go back to office and put up with everything related to a multi-hour commute - infection risk in public transport, gas/insurance costs, endless traffic jams, hours lost each day that can be spent with partner/s and children instead, or simply with sleep

This one unfortunately (because, choice inertia)

Re: Our Self-Isolating Future: How working from home could reshape society

#18
What self-isolating future? In the USA, as soon as coronavirus blows over the boss will say: "Okay, back to work. I need you in the office during core business hours." And hour+ long commutes will come back with a vengeance.

It's part of American work culture. It's a form of virtue signalling. By showing up at the office every workday, early in the morning, you are indicating your commitment to the company and to delivering value for their investment in you. Executives and managers won't give that important signal up.

Re: Our Self-Isolating Future: How working from home could reshape society

#19

Outside of young, childless tech workers, this sudden remote work experiment is not going well for most people I know. This isn’t the controlled trial of remote work that these think pieces suggest. Instead, everyone is forcefully stuck at home without time to prepare. Parents are juggling childcare with getting work done, while fighting an uphill battle against IT systems that weren’t prepared for everyone going WFH…

Idk - the company I work for was totally prepared for this and the IT systems are absolutely OK. Exceptions: weekly full-house meeting of 400 employees isn’t supported by hangouts so you can only participate in read-only mode The only issue I personally have is my WFH broadband is horrible. Basically what you’re saying is that “the company I work for does a horrible job of having it’s systems available for remote wor…

>Exceptions: weekly full-house meeting of 400 employees isn’t supported by hangouts so you can only participate in read-only mode

Those have almost always been 'meetings that should have been an email' in my experience. I think some leaders are just used to having an audience to be effective.

Re: Our Self-Isolating Future: How working from home could reshape society

#20
post #14

Outside of young, childless tech workers, this sudden remote work experiment is not going well for most people I know. This isn’t the controlled trial of remote work that these think pieces suggest. Instead, everyone is forcefully stuck at home without time to prepare. Parents are juggling childcare with getting work done, while fighting an uphill battle against IT systems that weren’t prepared for everyone going WFH…

Obviously regardless of all the above, there will be permanent changes because of this, even if it wasn’t all voluntary and we can return to normal. I think we can be certain some things will change with respect to how people work as well as other behavior. For example, do we need all those extraneous stimuluses. Surely some people will overdo it in both directions. It all remains to be seen.

The changes during extraordinary times aren’t always permanent. Apparently female workforce participation during WWII was a record high but not in the decades that followed.
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