Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll • Hacker News Board

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#261

Post by hestipod » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 3:52 PM UTC

mark_l_watson wrote: post #132

I think that I have relevant experience to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of working from home. In 1998 my wife and I moved from California to the mountains in Central Arizona. Until 2016, I almost exclusively worked remotely and sometimes I took long periods off work to write books and enjoy nature hikes. For about a decade I only accepted about 20% of offers to provide service. Working remotely got old…

This can be heavy and I need to talk about it but feel it runs people off, but I had a recent suicide attempt resulting from years of chronic pain and increasing isolation. I am not getting enough help or support. The relevance is how you mentioned you miss face to face and as I sit here alone trying to recover I see how terrible an effect the increasing isolation has had on me. But I live rural with no support network and no options. Looking back it's why I was far better mentally in a city. People need people...even the introverts. I don't fit in politically locally, cannot find support online. Even healthy and wealthy people get down when all alone.

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#262

Post by stjohnswarts » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 4:02 PM UTC

chapium wrote: post #131

flatline wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My work is all meetings all the time, now. I’m on the phone most of the day. Little things that used to take 20 minutes now take an hour. I used to enjoy working from home a couple days a week because I got some peace and quiet and knew I could catch back up with people when I returned to the office. I went from loving to hating my job in the last three weeks. I am also constantly distracted by having the kids around…

Work from home does work better when you have daycare. The isolation of wfh gave me a lot of anxiety (other life problems factored in as well). I think a good balance is 1-2 days/wfh. Wfh degrades into work from coffeeshop. If your meetings aren't productive there's definitely a problem in your org. I suspect meetings are being driven by those without a clear goal and intend to fill a whole hour talking. Just a hunch…

It's impossible to extrapolate what is best for everyone. Working from home is a great thing for me especially if they set core hours where everyone should be available for 4 to 5 hours a day. Trying to track down Morning Bob and Nighttime Nancy is a drag for us people who like 10am-6pm days :)

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#263

Post by stjohnswarts » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 4:03 PM UTC

karmelapple wrote: post #168

gspr wrote: post #29

I wonder if this is related to the long commutes Americans have gotten used to. I'm not in the US, and while I would say I definitely appreciate the flexibility of being able to work from home (or from "not the office") every now and then, and I do like the present drop in meetings, I cannot fathom how people stay sane without a variety of other people around. My productivity has definitely dropped, and it feels like…

Just note that you’re not just working from home; you’re at home in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, attempting to get some work done. (That idea came from a tweet I read that I can’t find right now) Everyone’s productivity is down when we’re preoccupied with if loved ones or ourselves might get into a dangerous health situation. I’ve worked from home for nearly a decade, and I also feel my productivity is down. I…

My productivity is up by at least 50% because I have less meetings and less people dropping by my desk unexpectedly

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#264

Post by danaris » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 4:09 PM UTC

dbingham wrote: post #191

gspr wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Extrovert / introvert. You're clearly more towards the extrovert part of the spectrum. That's the thing: I don't consider myself very extroverted! Probably on the extrovert side of the scale, but very moderately so! > Please try to have empathy for people on the introverted part of the spectrum who cannot fathom being forced into an office with tons of people distracting them all day every day. Heretofore they (sav…

Well, here are two things to think about that may salve your fears: 1) There are just as many extroverts as introverts. You are very much not alone in your desires. 2) Management is overwhelmingly extroverts, because of the people managing required in the management profession. The C-Suite is almost entirely extroverts.

> because of the people managing required in the management profession

While I agree with the rest of your statements, I disagree with this.

Management is overwhelmingly extraverts because extraversion lends itself very strongly to the kind of elbow-rubbing that our culture sees as more important than performance for determining suitability for raises, promotions, and such.

I know some introverted people who are absolutely brilliant people managers. They understand leadership and what people need so much better than any extraverted manager I've ever personally met.

For all too many people, management isn't even about "people managing". It's about being on a power trip. And this applies triple to the C suite.

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#265

Post by Ygg2 » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 4:18 PM UTC

jcims wrote: post #80

Ygg2 wrote: post #6

Who are these people? I've been working from home and I've noticed a steep dip in my productivity.

How long have you been working from home? It takes a while to adjust and you can definitely develop bad habits if you're not careful.

About four or more weeks. The problem is that my space is relatively cramped, so hard to isolate. But even if this was a larger space, I've realized I miss my colleagues and just the ability to query them face-to-face.

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#266

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 4:21 PM UTC

BigJono wrote: post #201

flatline wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My work is all meetings all the time, now. I’m on the phone most of the day. Little things that used to take 20 minutes now take an hour. I used to enjoy working from home a couple days a week because I got some peace and quiet and knew I could catch back up with people when I returned to the office. I went from loving to hating my job in the last three weeks. I am also constantly distracted by having the kids around…

The problem is 100% with the way software is developed these days. Every company trains their staff to be as unproductive as possible with open plan offices, all the productivity is coming from quantity over quality, with every hire and every hour of training reflecting that. Working from home is great if you have autonomy and can build a chunk of software with minimal oversight. But if your dev process revolves sole…

[deleted]

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#267

Post by kevstev » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 4:24 PM UTC

mark_l_watson wrote: post #149

drewg123 wrote: post #54

I've worked from home since 2001, except for a brief 2 year stint at Google. I think I'm far more productive at home because I have: - An office, with a door I can close This was going to be a big list, but I actually think that just about sums it up. The cube environment at Google was utterly intolerable, and made it hard to concentrate. It didn't help that the guys in another group next to us had a game where they…

I also worked at Google after almost 20 years of working at home. I didn’t mind the cube environment because I worked from about 6am to 3pm, giving me a few hours of quiet heads down time every day. My last job before retiring at Capital One was the same, I started work early in the morning for heads down work time, was available for brainstorming, etc., then knocked off work mid afternoon. I really recommend time sh…

You didn't find that there was pressure to work later? I tend to prefer to come in late because you can control your bound on that, but leaving early makes you look bad (despite the irrationality of that), and its just easy to fall into the habit of "oh just another hour, I will still be home for dinner..."

Then there are meetings scheduled for 3-6pm....

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#268

Post by agumonkey » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 4:25 PM UTC

mikestew wrote: post #246

agumonkey wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not from that generation but I wonder if people in the 50s or 60s saw long commute as a proof of progress and something to look for. Meaning better and cheaper cars, more "opportunities", bigger companies and centralized hubs far away, etc etc

I'm in my 50s, and I have struggled to keep commute times to a minimal my entire life. I currently am working for less than I am accustomed to simply because I have a private office and a 20 minute commute (or a reasonable 30 min. bike/scooter ride). A little less money won't kill me, but one more rush-hour commute across that WA-520 bridge just might. I can't say that my parents differ on this topic. I'll note that…

Sorry, let me simplify (or try to):

Was driving a lot seen as a positive thing in the 50s ? and if so, did it led to a distorted urban organization where job hubs were always way too far and now we're seeing the negative side of this, because driving is linked to pollution, and wasted time rather than progress/future/freedom.

I hope it was clearer :D

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#269

Post by shadowpawn » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 4:56 PM UTC

My last two roles had management expect you to be in the office because they had spent a lot of money on the rent/furnishing even though 50% of the companies roles could be done remote. Now Ill admit it is easier to walk over to someone's desk to ask a question then the endless are you free email/phone call tags before all this COVID-19

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#270

Post by mslack616 » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 4:59 PM UTC

Not sure if generalizing something like this based on a survey from "over 500 Americans" is correct, but anyway. I believe that most millennials will definitely feel more comfortable working from home permanently (I'm one of those) however there are a lot of other factors to take into account, as mentioned in other comments it can depend if you're more introvert rather than extrovert, do you have the appropriate workspace, tools?, commute time. It can be incredibly tough if not stressing to be working on a rather small place without a desk, a proper computer/laptop, kids/toddlers hanging around you, random noise coming from outside, etc. I think the point is clear. IMHO it really depends on the resources and environment that each individual is able to have.