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Twitter Will Allow Employees to Work at Home Forever

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Re: Twitter Will Allow Employees to Work at Home Forever

#51

Post by mgkimsal »

BryantD wrote: post #28
poulsbohemian wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The interesting question is, why now? I mean on the surface sure - because we have a pandemic and state ordered quarantine. But the more interesting question is - why is this finally provoking companies and why do we think they will continue the trend in the future post-quarantine? I've been a remote worker since 2006. It's been obvious to me for a long time that companies could go all remote or some version of remot…

I don't think all of them will -- it's probably significant that Twitter was already thinking about this. However, I know my CEO never would have run this experiment without the pandemic. Now, he has data he didn't have before, and he's publicly said that this changed his mind. The trigger event was the forced experiment. Studies convinced me, but I don't have to take responsibility for the health of a whole company…

counterpoint - everyone's company is competing against every other competitor who is also doing WFH. they're all on the same playing field. if folks think F2F helps productivity, they'll force that, especially if they know that some competition will stay with WFH.

Re: Twitter Will Allow Employees to Work at Home Forever

#53

Post by misterS »

caseyw wrote: post #26

I’ve worked from home for a number of years. It’s all about having a normal schedule. My family knows when I’m in the office, I am at work. There isn’t anyone popping over my shoulder, and general interruptions are almost nil in my case. I think a lot of people are going to be super surprised what a quiet room and your playlist of choice can do to increase productivity. Just my 2 cents.

> There isn’t anyone popping over my shoulder, and general interruptions are almost nil in my case. I think a lot of people are going to be super surprised what a quiet room and your playlist of choice can do to increase productivity. Just my 2 cents.

It's the same for me – at home, and the opposite at the office. I live alone.

Re: Twitter Will Allow Employees to Work at Home Forever

#54

Post by Tiktaalik »

chrisseaton wrote: post #29
bfrog wrote: post #4

And so begins the bay area salary bubble pop

I don't understand why? Salaries are high because you're competing for the same small group of talented people. They aren't high due to the location.

I'm pretty sure the salaries are heavily dependent on location related cost of living requirements.

Aren't salaries different in different locations? (ie. same company with offices in Vancouver Canada vs Seattle vs SF?) I've heard they are...

If pay was purely about talent, everyone would be paid the same.

Re: Twitter Will Allow Employees to Work at Home Forever

#55

Post by Cthulhu_ »

Ididntdothis wrote: post #9

It would be good if more tech companies embraced this. I bet if they need tools for themselves we’ll see a lot of progress in remote collaboration tools. To make this work I wonder how executives will adapt. In my company the higher you go up the chain, the more they want face to face communication. I guess most top executives are people persons so not seeing things like body language or using body language takes awa…

Maybe, but it would also be good if more (tech) companies offered a decent working environment.

That's coming from personal experience btw, where most jobs / assignments I've had, it was usually open plan, flexible seat arrangements.

I have a new job now where I have a fixed desk with a set of drawers. It's a breath of fresh air and honestly it sounds so stupid and trivial. But employers don't have their employees' best interest in mind.

My cynical take on this move is that the company doesn't have to pay as much for office space + worker transport anymore.

Re: Twitter Will Allow Employees to Work at Home Forever

#56

Post by whatok »

poulsbohemian wrote: post #12
amateurdev wrote: post #2

I have a feeling a lot of companies will follow suit. It saves up huge costs in real-estate by not having to provide seats to people. It also might just open up more companies to hire from any time zone.

The interesting question is, why now? I mean on the surface sure - because we have a pandemic and state ordered quarantine. But the more interesting question is - why is this finally provoking companies and why do we think they will continue the trend in the future post-quarantine? I've been a remote worker since 2006. It's been obvious to me for a long time that companies could go all remote or some version of remot…

Under normal circumstances, no one wants to be the first mover on something major like this because it's extremely disruptive to the way most people work without a clear example of the benefits. You're mentioning all of the upsides but there's a lot of execution risk in shifting a large organization to a remote setup. There's also a lot of management layers that are largely redundant with remote working and they've likely fought tooth and nail to prevent it.

Companies have touted open desk workspaces as some grand collaborative masterpiece for years now. It's a very big difference to advocate working from home because you also have to acknowledge that was a total farce.

Re: Twitter Will Allow Employees to Work at Home Forever

#57

Post by tinyhouse »

amateurdev wrote: post #2

I have a feeling a lot of companies will follow suit. It saves up huge costs in real-estate by not having to provide seats to people. It also might just open up more companies to hire from any time zone.

Real-estate cost is not an issue for most companies. Also, all fully remote companies that I know have company "retreats" twice a year for all employees, which is expensive. It's not mandatory of course but very important.

The bigger issue for me is what will happen to the US tech market. Why would Twitter hire people in the US if they can hire much cheaper people from Europa and other locations. The US government restricts immigration for the same reasons. They might need to intervene with remote work as well.

Re: Twitter Will Allow Employees to Work at Home Forever

#58

Post by beefalo »

GaryNumanVevo wrote: post #25
bfrog wrote: post #4

And so begins the bay area salary bubble pop

If I could work remotely, I would gladly take a 30% cut to go live somewhere like the Netherlands. 50% cost of living cut from SF. I could actually have a woodworking shop too!

If I was asked to work remotely I would ask for a 15% salary increase

Re: Twitter Will Allow Employees to Work at Home Forever

#59

Post by mjayhn »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #55
Ididntdothis wrote: post #9

It would be good if more tech companies embraced this. I bet if they need tools for themselves we’ll see a lot of progress in remote collaboration tools. To make this work I wonder how executives will adapt. In my company the higher you go up the chain, the more they want face to face communication. I guess most top executives are people persons so not seeing things like body language or using body language takes awa…

Maybe, but it would also be good if more (tech) companies offered a decent working environment. That's coming from personal experience btw, where most jobs / assignments I've had, it was usually open plan, flexible seat arrangements. I have a new job now where I have a fixed desk with a set of drawers. It's a breath of fresh air and honestly it sounds so stupid and trivial. But employers don't have their employees' b…

I won't go near an open office after COVID19 and I doubt I'm alone, I think things will change greatly.
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