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Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

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Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#481

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fundamentals were not bad ideas. Regus has been doing things similar to WeWork for decades. Neumann committing fraud, poor cash management, and self-dealing conflicts of interest are what killed WeWork. Not the coworking space concept.

What I don't understand is the multiples at which WeWork was trading. I could definitely understand the business model (it's cloud computing for real-estate!) and especially cool for remote/business travelers since from what I understand it was rather easy for a WeWork user to use any of their facilities.

People said the same thing about AWS: "Hardware is a commodity, how can they possibly turn a profit renting out hardware?"

Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#482
post #436

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not OP but I've been doing it in SEA for about 5 years now. Usually I stay in one place place for 6 months or so then take 6 weeks off to travel until I find a new beach to work from while sipping coconuts, but I'm feeling more like being settled now and I've been in Vietnam for the past year (bonus: no covid here). There are large communities of like minded people out here doing this, lots of couples in their late t…

What about health care?

https://safetywing.com/nomad-insurance/

Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#483
post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think coming in to the office 1x / week would let you live quite a bit further away than coming in 5x / week. At least for me, I could do a 60-90-minute drive to work 1 day per week, but would not want to 5 days.

But for what benefit? Will the office be full sized (forfeiting the cost savings to the business), or will teams have to negotiate which days they’re supposed to come in (forfeiting a large amount of the team building benefits). It just seems like a lot more work and hassle than being fully colocated or fully remote.

If "onmce a week office" becomes a thing, i could see a model where a few companies share a single office.

Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#484

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IntelliJ Ultimate is $500 for a commercial license I believe (and you need a commercial license to do work for a company over a certain size, even if you pay for it yourself). Sure it's not going to affect my finances either way but: 1. The 2 minutes it takes to file an expense report is a good trade for $200 (I don't make $6,000 an hour at my job) 2. It's the principle; they should pay for it, not me.

No, you don't have to do that¹. Where did you get that info? I don't want to argue your personal value calculation and I accept that you feel the way you do, so let's set that part aside. I've been using my IntelliJ licence at multiple jobs on my own and AFAIK if I don't get it reimbursed I don't need a business licence. ¹ https://sales.jetbrains.com/hc/en-gb/articles/207240855-Can-...

Ah you're right, I stand corrected on the license.

I don't see the value calculation as an emotional one, I truly don't see a reason not to fill out the expense report

Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#485

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has anyone else noticed that the typical IT introvert turns into an extravert when talking to other IT introverts about the things that they’re passionate about?

Heh, it's almost as if "introvert"/"extrovert" are just labels we use without any scientific basis. ...

It’s more like people use those words without understanding their correct definitions.

Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#486
post #481

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I don't understand is the multiples at which WeWork was trading. I could definitely understand the business model (it's cloud computing for real-estate!) and especially cool for remote/business travelers since from what I understand it was rather easy for a WeWork user to use any of their facilities.

People said the same thing about AWS: "Hardware is a commodity, how can they possibly turn a profit renting out hardware?"

It's more that they bill by the capacity used and it's possible to cancel at any time.

Same way a WeWork is more expensive than renting your own real estate but it's probably simpler than getting into a long term lease. Plus if your startup has to scale up WeWork can accommodate, unlike your typical office rental.

Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#487

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, you don't have to do that¹. Where did you get that info? I don't want to argue your personal value calculation and I accept that you feel the way you do, so let's set that part aside. I've been using my IntelliJ licence at multiple jobs on my own and AFAIK if I don't get it reimbursed I don't need a business licence. ¹ https://sales.jetbrains.com/hc/en-gb/articles/207240855-Can-...

Ah you're right, I stand corrected on the license. I don't see the value calculation as an emotional one, I truly don't see a reason not to fill out the expense report

I didn't mean to imply that it was emotional, just that it is your own preference and different from mine. Personal there as relating to your person.

Sorry, needed to clarify that, but I really don't want to argue this point with you.

Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#488

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 3. They are good at or enjoy office politics. As a counterpoint, we had a mix of remote department and in-office departments at my last company. Transitioning to fully remote made marked an increase in politics every time. It sounds counterintuitive at first, but fully remote moves even more conversations to side channels. At the office it’s hard to have secret exclusionary meetings without other people noticing ev…

The usage stats for our MS Teams instance shows this. Before COVID hardly any messages, after a massive increase as you'd expect, but private messages outnumber public messages 10:1 or more. Several times I've found out that there are multiple private chat groups all for the same P1 or Project instead of using Channels that all staff can see.

I've tried to convince my colleagues to use MS Teams channels instead of chat groups, to increase searchability and spontaneous joining (rather than needing to be invited). They've mostly resisted because they prefer the interface for group chats.

MS Teams makes a substantial distinction between:

- group chats, which appear like any other chat interface (Whatsapp, FB Messenger)

- and channels, which appear as potential threads to be nested (which most chatters _hate_)

MS Teams also has much greater overhead for adding members to a Team, which is a prerequisite for looping them in on a @mention within a Channel. All of these are much easier and straightforward on Slack, but you're basically stuck once your Corporate IT Overlords have selected a Product.

Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#489
post #348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like you, I am genuinely baffled by "WFH 4 days a week" arrangements (as compared to "WFH when you have errands that make it necessary", which is pretty common). If I have to come into the office 1 day a week, then I still have to foot the bill for a home office within driving range of the office, which sucks. I think at once a quarter you're starting to look at the ability to live on the other side of the country an…

Hypothetical question: What if it was WFH 4 days a week but the company foots (a) the difference between your rent and the median rent for the square footage of your living space in the country you live in, upto some reasonable limit, AND (b) all of your home office equipment and furniture?

I feel like tying work to the cost of your apartment is a distressing step towards company towns and company stores. Let labor and capital negotiate for rates based off what the cost of the labor is and the value it provides the company rather than coming up with Byzantine formulas that imply that a workers housing cost is the business of the company.

Re: Dropbox Converts to Permanent WFH

#490
post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The real issue is that one made a bet on a future that didnt come true. The opposite could easily have happened too. Oil prices could have hit $1k a barrel and people in the suburbs would be crying about the $500 fill up.

Except fuel prices going up was within the reasonable range of potential futures. Everyone suddenly forced to work from home wasn't.

2015 Bill gates disagrees with you.
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