Let's note that distributed companies almost always clearly make the distinction between "remote work" and "work from home".
Some of them are openly "against" work from home.
Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll
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Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll
#62I worked at home for 9 years and then I had kids. (They are great kids but they make working at home hard.) That was enough for me to not want to work at home anymore. I then got a new job, and then covid-19 hit and I am working at home again. Argh!
We can structure our choice of house around kids, e.g. an attached office with separate entrance. An office complex with facilities and maintenance costs on the order of $600/mo per desk, which is about what a city commute costs.
Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll
#63I absolutely won't be going back to the office, even if it costs me my job.
I decided to look for a new job after our management only very reluctantly let us all work from home (it was very obvious they just don‘t trust their employees to still do their job when not on site). My productivity has gone up due to no more walk-ups distracting me with questions whenever they like and I don‘t have to waste an hour in the subway every day. My next job will for sure be remote, or at least for a company with strong remote support.
Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll
#64Don’t people miss social interaction? I don’t understand how these articles are written. As a single man living on my own, this lockdown has made it pretty lonely.
The social interaction from working in an office? Not in the least. My work could mostly be categorized as SW development, and I've been doing it 100% remote for ~5 years. My wife has worked freelance editing from home ~15 years.
We don't see much of each other during the day, as we're busy with our jobs. Not commuting frees up time for social stuff like meeting up with neighbors, going for walks or cycling, meetups, practical pistol practice/competition, etc. The stuff involving larger groups is on temporary hiatus, but stuff with another pal or two are still happening.
Several of my friends live in different states and we don't see each other IRL that often. I have a couple one-on-one and group Telegram chats going with them where we discuss a variety of topics, which is a surprisingly good social outlet.
Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll
#65I heard on WFH opinions there are two groups of people, one that think this will usher in a new age of productive freedom working from home never having to commute again, and the group with kids.
I should add our juniors are getting screwed. Usually we spend a lot of time training and coaching, now at home they're mostly ignored. I think our intern class is going to get cancelled too.
FWIW, this is going do depend highly upon the individual companies. Our own is continuing to bring in and work with interns, even though it does cost a bit more in terms of a FT individual’s time.
Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll
#66I heard on WFH opinions there are two groups of people, one that think this will usher in a new age of productive freedom working from home never having to commute again, and the group with kids.
I should add our juniors are getting screwed. Usually we spend a lot of time training and coaching, now at home they're mostly ignored. I think our intern class is going to get cancelled too.
We currently hire our babysitter for 3 days a week to do stuff with the kids while we work and make money. It works out very well for everybody.
Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll
#67Personally, I can definitely do away with my commute (while it's short, it's still a twice a day anxiety event)
I think there is something to be said about the autonomy we're given while at home. No pretend needed when your interactions with coworkers are purely work-event driven and not social for the sake of "team building" or "Culture".
Give me a paycheck to do work, beyond that transaction I shouldn't owe any more of my mind and body to a job.
Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll
#68No wonder given that the daily commute is both mentally and physically taxing for most. I've been working remotely since 2015 and have already decided to settle in a perhaps less attractive, but definitely cheaper neighbourhood so that I could have some office space in the house. In the long run it's probably going to cost as much as the sum total of fuel and vehicles used over the years, but the main benefit is not…
Make sure you account for the value of time saved. Time is precious and there's never enough, if I can find a way to add 40 more minutes to my day I'm going to value that immensely.
Don't use it for additional time spent working uncompensated! Your commute wasn't paid for (typically), so don't give that time away to someone else for free now that you're saving it.
Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
The big problem I've run into being remote is that while I can live anywhere and would totally fine living farther away from the bigish city I live near, my partner works in a field that determines that we live close to a major university and I'd feel like an ass for having 0 commute while she has to drive 45 minutes just because we could get more house/land/whatever farther away from the city.
Wouldn’t this problem be even harder to deal with if you didn’t work remotely? You only need to plan for the radius of one person’s commute rather than limiting your housing options to a balance of two locations.
Totally, not saying it isn't a problem in that case either, but rather that remote is hailed as this "you can live anywhere, move to the cheapest city you can!" solution when it's not (for most people).
Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll
#70I've been joking with my coworkers that I'm never coming back to the office when this is over...
I'm sorta serious but not sure I'd be allowed to. We were already allowed 2 days per week of remote working but 5 seems like a stretch.
FWIW I have a dedicated office at home and no kids. Commute is not a factor - I live ~7 miles from the office, it takes 10-15 minutes to get there or get home. There's also an alternative ~7 mile route that is almost entirely bike path I can ride to work on.