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Why do so many people want us back in the office?

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Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?

#141

Post by gordaco »

x87678r wrote: post #124

My commute is 20 minutes on an uncrowded ferry, and my home office is a tiny desk in my daughter's bedroom while she works on the other side on school stuff. My colleague has a massive house with a pool tennis court and so much space he has literally 3 never-used bedrooms. His wife looks after kids who are at school most of the day again. His commute is 2 hours each way. People are talking home vs office people are c…

Yeah, I agree. I miss my old routine too. I even have a dedicated office of sorts, and working from home is comfortable and convenient to me. But... I miss the commute. The bus I used to take wasn't particularly uncrowded, but I always managed to get a seat (thanks to having a particularly early schedule) and I used to take the opportunity to read (since each trip took about 40-45 minutes, that's about 1h30m of reading a day), and from time to time I would just put my book down and look at the window, which I always found relaxing even if it's the very same trip everyday. These trips, especially the one in the morning, were about the most quiet moments of my day (although headphones are a necessity, for sure). Reading at home is just not the same, after so many years of having that schedule.

On the other hand, I don't particularly miss the office. Sure, it's nice to have breakfast with my workmates from time to time, but I can live without it.

Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?

#142

Post by saiya-jin »

tomp wrote: post #131
x87678r wrote: post #124

My commute is 20 minutes on an uncrowded ferry, and my home office is a tiny desk in my daughter's bedroom while she works on the other side on school stuff. My colleague has a massive house with a pool tennis court and so much space he has literally 3 never-used bedrooms. His wife looks after kids who are at school most of the day again. His commute is 2 hours each way. People are talking home vs office people are c…

So? Ideally nobody would force you to stay at home, just like nobody would force your colleague to go to the office. Different people have different preferences, why not (try to) satisfy them all?

I was forced to WFH, same as most of my colleagues. Most who keep going to work don't really have much choice (apart from resigning for which ain't the best time now). What are you talking about?

Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?

#143

Post by renewiltord »

alexbanks wrote: post #126
weeksie wrote: post #28

The long term shakeout of this will be that everybody realizes that yes, we need offices. They are spaces literally built for working. The required footprint will be smaller, people won't need to be in the office for absolutely everything, the demand for square footage of commercial real estate will decrease a bit—good news for cities who don't build b/c they can convert excess commercial inventory to residential. Bu…

> The long term shakeout of this will be that everybody realizes that yes, we need offices. You said this, and then wrote the rest of your post about the opposite? Why do you think we'll need offices?

Because I know we're not going to get SnackNation forever.

Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?

#144

Post by 7ewis »

I usually have to commute for 3 hours a day. I have to be up early and get home late, stuck on a crowded train normally standing up for most of the journey.

I was never previously a big fan of working from home, I enjoy the social interaction at the office. Having coffee breaks with people, going out for lunch etc. But now I'm used to WFH I love the fact that I can wake up at 9AM and I'm 'at work'. I finish at 5:30PM and I'm already home. Yes I do miss the interaction with people, but I have met some people outside work, and regularly have Slack convos (or social ones while gaming for example) with those people.

I feel lucky that I've been at my company for a relatively long time, so have 'work friends' who I continue talking to. I now don't talk to the 'acquaintances' or new starters for example, which I guess is sad - but being selfish, makes it feel like I have even more time to do my own things. But on the other hand, probably isn't so good for the newer members of staff and doesn't help company morale.

I am still fairly young and have seen some people mention work/life balance. That doesn't bother me too much either as my company is flexible and I know if I do a few extra hours one evening I can do a few less hours another day etc. and wouldn't have to tell or ask anyone to do that.

Until reading this post I hadn't really thought about it too much, but guess I am just lucky that it works for me. If I was older and had kids/family, or didn't have an office to work from at home I can see how it would be more of a struggle. I do want to go back to work at some point, but I don't know how often I'd want to be there. I don't know if I can handle the long commutes week in week out now.

Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?

#145

Post by saiya-jin »

maxerickson wrote: post #52
derwiki wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. For whatever reason my team keeps video on for all meeting unless there are bandwidth issues. But I agree now that it would be far worse if folks didn’t show their face regularly.

I don't have a webcam on my work setup, no one uses video, it hasn't bothered me at all.

Same here, I have my own desktop, camera is unplugged and I put it on only for skype with parents. Company didn't give us laptops, so has 0 lever to ask for anything. Most folks on our conf call system (webex) use audio only.

I made tons of other, more useful things (meals, real work, babysitting etc.) during those dull calls that are not really about me (or they cover me for 1 minute in 30-60 minutes). It would be really tiring to keep looking engaged while I couldn't care less about the topic (self pressure is a bitch), 3-6x per day.

Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?

#146

Post by [deleted] »

dang wrote: post #133
ecf wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems lately that most accounts arguing in favor of going back into office immediately are throwaways. I wonder why that is 🧐

The site guidelines ask you not to post insinuations like this. Would you mind reviewing them? https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html (Please stick to text here too.)

[deleted]

Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?

#147

Post by goatinaboat »

mattlondon wrote: post #76
weeksie wrote: post #28

The long term shakeout of this will be that everybody realizes that yes, we need offices. They are spaces literally built for working. The required footprint will be smaller, people won't need to be in the office for absolutely everything, the demand for square footage of commercial real estate will decrease a bit—good news for cities who don't build b/c they can convert excess commercial inventory to residential. Bu…

I am not so sure productivity has definitely improved. I agree there was a good head of steam where people were able to quietly and independently work through their "list" of stuff they wanted to do for ages but never had the chance to etc, or whatever had previously been planned out. Now months later I feel like things are starting to grind a bit and productivity is starting to wane because the "pipe" is starting to…

Now months later I feel like things are starting to grind a bit and productivity is starting to wane because the "pipe" is starting to dry up.

My employer mandated a return to the office about 2 weeks ago. Productivity has declined compared to when we were all WFH for 6 months and I have the stats - pull requests, builds pushed to prod, tickets opened, all are down.

Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?

#148

Post by kbenson »

gordaco wrote: post #141
x87678r wrote: post #124

My commute is 20 minutes on an uncrowded ferry, and my home office is a tiny desk in my daughter's bedroom while she works on the other side on school stuff. My colleague has a massive house with a pool tennis court and so much space he has literally 3 never-used bedrooms. His wife looks after kids who are at school most of the day again. His commute is 2 hours each way. People are talking home vs office people are c…

Yeah, I agree. I miss my old routine too. I even have a dedicated office of sorts, and working from home is comfortable and convenient to me. But... I miss the commute. The bus I used to take wasn't particularly uncrowded, but I always managed to get a seat (thanks to having a particularly early schedule) and I used to take the opportunity to read (since each trip took about 40-45 minutes, that's about 1h30m of readi…

I think that's why people go to cafe to read. There's a certain ambiance they've come to expect and appreciate. Maybe what you really need (when it's feasible) is a cafe, or even just a bus with an hourly route you can sit in for a while to get out and appreciate that feeling?

Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?

#149

Post by porker »

rwmj wrote: post #80
ketzu wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Number one reason for me is the separation of work and private life. It's so much easier to keep work from creeping into my private life when it happens in a totally different place. I also miss the social interactions, discussion with colleagues is much easier in person. Lastly, I hope it will reduce the amount of video conferences that crept up considerably. edit: Not OP obviously. edit2: Note: Just to make sure, I…

I've worked at home for 20 years, more or less, and I have a separate space (garden office), $300 conference camera and mic, huge screen, and the best internet connection possible. When this is your life you arrange things differently, and I've no doubt that others who make the change to working from home will make similar adjustments over time.

Which camera and mic are you using?
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