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Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

businessinsider.com

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Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#81

Post by jedberg »

jeffbee wrote: post #29
FlyingSnake wrote: post #3

Companies who go permanent WFH must be saving a fortune on leasing space costs. If these savings don’t make it to the employees who’re using their private space for office work for free, then it’s really bad.

In the steady state your point is right, but transiently a lot of companies are holding the bag right now. Dropbox specifically just built a 770000-square-foot headquarters in San Francisco which, let's face it, they didn't need in the first place (they were already trying to sublease 100k sq ft before COVID). Now they're marketing 1/3rd of that space into a massive glut of unwanted SF office space. Graph of SF offic…

What I find more interesting in that graph is the steady state of about 4M sq ft of vacant space at all times.

Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#82

Post by dubcanada »

jlos wrote: post #44
dubcanada wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My company did internet reimbursement. But most people don't know that there are massive tax benefits to working from home (at least in Canada) you can write off the percentage of your house you work in of your rent and stuff like that. That alone can equal a $1000 a year or so. But from a company point of view, getting rid of the office is a massive save in money, so I suspect some will increase salaries or offer ot…

There are trade offs with that too. If you use a home office for a write off, you have to pay tax when you sell the home

I assume that's in the US?

You don't have to do that in Canada.

Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#83

Post by johnward »

dhouston wrote: post #33

To be clear (if you only read the headline :)), not entirely remote. Solo work at home, collaborative work in "studios", basically reimagining the offices into collaborative/convening spaces that you go into from ~once/week to once a quarter depending on team/role. Remote-only cuts out the in-person experience entirely, which is problematic for building teams and culture; and ad hoc "WFH whenever you feel like it" ge…

> which is problematic for building teams and culture;

Why? I've been remote for about 8 years. I don't think I've had any problems building relationships. The only thing you miss from the office is the time spent screwing around with co-workers. I guess you could consider that "Team building".

Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#84

Post by bartread »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #49
jopsen wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I somehow don't feel sorry if overpaid tech workers, like me, have to buy a desk and chair. It's not like you need new office furniture very often.

I suppose I don't feel overpaid, given that I'm living in a 1BR apartment. And now with my office closed, I'm somehow supposed to find a dedicated space in my tiny-ass apartment where I can: a) Setup the same configuration of laptop, multiple monitors, a desk phone, and an Ethernet jack into my router. b) Sufficiently insulate the background noise on the hours of Zoom meetings I'm expected to join every day from my g…

> I suppose I don't feel overpaid, given that I'm living in a 1BR apartment.

I was about to post on this topic as well when I saw your post. There are people on our team who have been working in less than ideal circumstances at home for more than six months now, and who are really struggling as a result.

Even if people do have a good space to work, if partners are working at home together there's often only enough room for one of them to use that good space at a time. Again, not ideal.

My priority at the moment is securing some office space so that people have some respite from the endless grind of working at home under these circumstances.

Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#85

Post by fatnoah »

puranjay wrote: post #31

As someone who has worked from home for a decade, I predict a mental health apocalypse in the near future. Working from home permanently requires support infrastructure not everyone has access to. It also requires a different approach to work altogether which, again, not everyone is capable of adopting. If you have family, work from home is great. But if you're single, staying cooped up alone at home can be a disaste…

>If you have family, work from home is great.

Hah, I feel the opposite. Having my family at home is what makes WFH unbearable. I'm constantly exposed to the stress of getting a child through the hybrid learning school schedule.

I get absolutely no quiet time or alone time during the day, whereas my office has many quiet places for me to clear my mind for a few minutes.

Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#86

Post by boulos »

geerlingguy wrote: post #7

WFH saves money for the company, I just hope that some of the expensive (to the company) perks like prime real estate, free meals, exercise programs, etc. can be translated into at least a minimal budget per employee of: Internet connection reimbursement, annual budget for workspace improvements (ideally with a large initial budget, like $1000 or more for desk, monitor, chair, etc.), and possibly some other perks. Bu…

Interestingly, the commissioned study opens with a productivity argument being much more than any of those perks:

> Loss of focus due to distractions translates to an estimated annual salary cost of US$34,448 per person in lost productivity, or US$391bn for US companies in the sectors analysed, equivalent to 28% of baseline salary payments

Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#87

Post by remus »

tidepod12 wrote: post #67
thrownaway954 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not trying to sound like a dick... everyone has to get out of the house and making actual friends in life. co-workers aren't friends, bosses aren't friends, clients aren't friends, work relationships aren't friends. we all need human interaction... join a club, a gym, yoga, bike club, whatever, just interact with people that doesn't involve talking about work. and sitting home and playing video games while good, isn'…

>co-workers aren't friends, bosses aren't friends, clients aren't friends, work relationships aren't friends. It really saddens me whenever I see this (apparently common) sentiment on HN. Through every job I've had, I've met some of my very best life-long friends. My wedding party is over half people that I met at work. A couple of my former bosses are people I see every couple of months (pre-covid) and are invited t…

I think it's important to make the distinction that while you can be friends with your colleagues it's very important to also have friends outside of work. Having friends from work is great, but if you only have friends from work then you have nothing outside of work which isn't healthy (for example, if things start going poorly at work then it can feel like you are trapped).

Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#88

Post by bob33212 »

dhouston wrote: post #33

To be clear (if you only read the headline :)), not entirely remote. Solo work at home, collaborative work in "studios", basically reimagining the offices into collaborative/convening spaces that you go into from ~once/week to once a quarter depending on team/role. Remote-only cuts out the in-person experience entirely, which is problematic for building teams and culture; and ad hoc "WFH whenever you feel like it" ge…

I have done this for years. I have seen that some people don't like it for the following reasons.

1. They prefer a predictable schedule. 2. They don't like being at home ( family or workspace issues) 3. They are good at or enjoy office politics. 4. They are incompetent managers and they don't know how to manage engineers other than looking over shoulders and taking attendence.

Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#89

Post by jeffbee »

jedberg wrote: post #81
jeffbee wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the steady state your point is right, but transiently a lot of companies are holding the bag right now. Dropbox specifically just built a 770000-square-foot headquarters in San Francisco which, let's face it, they didn't need in the first place (they were already trying to sublease 100k sq ft before COVID). Now they're marketing 1/3rd of that space into a massive glut of unwanted SF office space. Graph of SF offic…

What I find more interesting in that graph is the steady state of about 4M sq ft of vacant space at all times.

There's about 80 million square feet of office space in SF. 95% occupancy is actually extremely high.

Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#90

Post by tipsysquid »

monsieurbanana wrote: post #80
beardbound wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree. I'm single and have worked from home for years, minus a brief contracting gig in an office a few years ago. I made sure to make time for seeing people though. I have friends in my neighborhood and we would meet up for lunch or tea during the week and I would always go out on the weekends. With social distancing it's been really challenging. I'm fortunate that I have friends that are also careful t…

I'm not telling you to completely isolate, but this is wrong: > I keep telling my friends that you can't eliminate risk, just mitigate it to an amount that you're comfortable with, and that amount is different for everyone This is a pandemic, any risks you consciously take are risks you're forcing the people around you to take too. No single person can set the amount of risks he wants to take, it has to be decided gl…

>No single person can set the amount of risks he wants to take, it has to be decided globally.

This is preposterous. Each individual must evaluate their own risk tolerance.

If you're waiting on the world to decide something for you, you're playing life as a waiting game.

Please don't shame people for having a different risk tolerance than you.

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