Why do so many people want us back in the office? • Hacker News Board

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

#241

Post by DenisM » Sat, Sep 12, 2020, 9:40 PM UTC

SergeAx wrote: post #221

1. WFH is not for everyone. There are people with kids and no dedicated workplace at home. There are people with low motivation and self-control, and office routine just helps them to keep up. 2. You can't mix WFH with work in office. It's either one or the other. If you have a single employee working remotely - you should transform all the processes to WFH-style. 3. WFH shifts most of the burden onto management. Man…

> I never saw a single manager who likes WFH

I do. But you've never seen me, so there is truth to your words.

The employees are quite productive, I hate commuting, and Zoom works remarkably well to stay connected. Not as well as it could be, but it's finally "over the hill".

Two things worry me:

- The long-term isolation is detrimental to mental health, so we might be on borrowed time right now.

- Onboarding new employees might become more difficult absent ongoing visual contact.

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

#242

Post by sktguha » Sat, Sep 12, 2020, 9:40 PM UTC

agrippanux wrote: post #67

mikece wrote: post #3

Who is demanding this? My company is openly talking about “office optional” when normalcy returns with “office days” being the exception rather than the norm.

My company was a few months away from an office move when Covid hit. Most leadership was fiercely anti-wfh. Fast forward to today, and the new office buildout has been converted into a “hotel” model with no permanent desks and the expectation is when it’s safe, you will have option to do come in a few days a week.

Mind sharing your company name ? , just curious

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

#243

Post by maigret » Sat, Sep 12, 2020, 9:43 PM UTC

s0rce wrote: post #203

tima11234 wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People need to adapt. Just because you can't seem to figure out how to read a book now or listen to pod casts because you only did those things when forced to commute, isn't a good argument against WFH.

I didn't read their post as an argument against WFH, just that they happened to like their routine. I happened to bike to work, about 10mi per day. I rarely get on my bike now, sure I could, but I liked the routine and it really helped me get exercise. Like the OP I'm not saying everyone should do that, just that it worked for me. If I had to commute 2hr in traffic by car I would absolutely prefer WFH.

Sometimes I do a “fake commute” by foot, walking around 15 min outside from my kitchen to my home office. The days I don’t want, I just walk into the home office. Sometimes I take this walk at the lunch break, or after work. I can accomplish errands sometimes.

So it is all about habits and freedom. Turns out freedom is not that easy to manage. Artists and self employed people have to be able to manage such things themselves (think writing an album at home), and it’s interesting to see that many people are struggling with that.

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

#244

Post by Spooky23 » Sat, Sep 12, 2020, 9:44 PM UTC

Easy. Lots of people are skating, doing little.

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

#245

Post by grogenaut » Sat, Sep 12, 2020, 9:46 PM UTC

sunshinekitty wrote: post #187

aspaceman wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can’t even with this comment. Not everyone has the resources to make a working place anywhere viable. You seem to have the resources to make a hotel in Budapest or whatever work. Talking so causally about international travel already puts you beyond most Americans’ income. So yeah it is very, very easy for folks with a job like yours, and with the resources you’re afforded, to work anywhere. The issue isn’t proximi…

It seems to be implied with the closing of their Boston office that the whole staff is remote, not just this person.

also that they had already built a strong team

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

#246

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Sep 12, 2020, 9:46 PM UTC

01100011 wrote: post #140

I would be in favor of a number of working arrangements, ranging from working in a Bay Area office full-time(least favorite) to working from home most-time in an area that provides me with the chance to buy a home and have a reasonable commute to a satellite office. I am absolutely, 100% against full-time WFH in an expensive, low-quality(no sound/thermal insulation) Bay Area apartment without a dedicated workspace. >…

[deleted]

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

#247

Post by maigret » Sat, Sep 12, 2020, 9:46 PM UTC

jdavis703 wrote: post #222

tima11234 wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People need to adapt. Just because you can't seem to figure out how to read a book now or listen to pod casts because you only did those things when forced to commute, isn't a good argument against WFH.

When I’m home my family wants to talk, watch TV or do so many other things not conducive to deep focus. On the train I can put on some music, and generally only be interrupted about once per hour. And it’s not like there’s really any places to get deep focus anymore. The parks and plazas are filled with air pollution, cafes are takeout only and libraries are closed.

I wouldn’t think the commuting air is much better than in a park. Outside beats inside in most scenarios, doesn’t it?

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

#248

Post by mytailorisrich » Sat, Sep 12, 2020, 9:47 PM UTC

Looking at it from South East England, this shows what a huge business commuting is. Probably millions of people commute into London every day. Train fares (which are expensive), taxi fares, coffee shops, takeaway food, pubs, restaurants. Since lockdown people who have been working from home have found that they suddenly have plenty of cash on hand for a reason. Commuting is big business and that's why some are lobbying for commuting to resume ASAP.

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

#249

Post by mmcnl » Sat, Sep 12, 2020, 9:47 PM UTC

egsmi wrote: post #178

goatinaboat wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

This whole thing is so multifaceted I think it’s hard to draw any conclusions from it. In CA, we have COVID and fires so I’m essentially a prisoner in my house. If you locked me in my office, my productivity might go up too. But now that’s school is on and my kids are locked in here too. Productivity goes down. All in all, it’s a bumpy ride.

Is this a problem though? Is business suffering? Are there metrics on that?

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

#250

Post by m0zg » Sat, Sep 12, 2020, 9:48 PM UTC

faster wrote: post #223

When I was building back end software, I could and did work from anywhere. I enjoyed working in the same space with my team, but not all day and not every day. And it wasn't necessary except maybe once or twice per quarter. Now I work on firmware, and I have about $6000 of test equipment that is required to do my job, as well as multiple fragile circuit boards, some that I'm afraid to touch because some of the rework…

You could do what we did in some distributed teams at Google: just have a permanent "call" going with everyone normally muted. When someone would like to receive attention, they unmute and speak. It's not as good as walking up to someone's desk, but it's not as bad as having to schedule a call in advance.