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I Miss Working from the Office

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Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#401

Post by benhurmarcel »

arthurjj wrote: post #397
benhurmarcel wrote: post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work for a global 500 company, specialized in producing large technical equipment for aerospace. Our core activity is engineering and industrial production. For the area it's not a shitty company, the conditions are good and they have no trouble attracting employees. In the engineering department those who don't do 3d CAD get a single 20" screen, and a laptop with 8Gb RAM. Those who use CAD get a single 24" screen…

I worked at a aerospace defense contractor 8 years ago and this tracks with my experience. The quality of the equipment is terrible as is the pay in comparison to jobs with similar qualifications. I understand the economics of why these jobs suck, but there's no reason to stay. 8 years ago I had to move from an area I liked to get a better job. It will be interesting to see what happens with the rise of more remote h…

The issue is that in my experience the entire aerospace/aeronautics sector is like that. As well as most industrial sectors. At least if I stay in Europe.

So changing that means doing something else than my studies and experience. And I like working on aircraft.

I don't really have complains about salaries though. I find it's pretty normal compared to other industries. It's pale in comparison to the US, but that's a matter of continent, not sector.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#402

Post by newusr1121 »

enriquto wrote: post #345
derwiki wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Re: commute: would going for a walk or ride before and after work help? I’ve found myself biking far more during the pandemic because I can hop into a Zoom call just minutes after finishing my ride.

Yes, that's what I try to do. Unfortunately in France we are limited to a disc of 1km radius around our homes, which is a purely urban area in my case.

So is your main problem with WFH or the pandemic?

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#403

Post by user5994461 »

benhurmarcel wrote: post #391
user5994461 wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't buy it. Even when I was working in countryside Europe a decade ago we had better equipment than that and often double display (17" or 19" at the time). Some of the companies even had personal offices or small offices for 1-3 people. I don't doubt that there are some shitty companies out there that can't get an office chair and a display from this decade, but it's far from the norm.

I work for a global 500 company, specialized in producing large technical equipment for aerospace. Our core activity is engineering and industrial production. For the area it's not a shitty company, the conditions are good and they have no trouble attracting employees. In the engineering department those who don't do 3d CAD get a single 20" screen, and a laptop with 8Gb RAM. Those who use CAD get a single 24" screen…

Oh nice. I've worked in aerospace too, on smaller parts and sensors (didn't require a large office/factory).

The office was somewhat compartmentalized with biometrics between some rooms, classic in aerospace/defense work. IMO we were at zero risk of having an open office plan or noisy neighbors because of the domain.

The higher manager believed in giving double displays to those who did EE (layout and routing). Eventually every engineers was officially doing that to qualify for the double displays.

We were buying a fair amount of parts/electronics/hardware as part of the activity, some of it rather expensive. It wasn't too difficult to slip displays into the larger orders and get them approved. I recall every test bench I made came de facto with a PC and dual IPS display in the bill of materials lol

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#404

Post by newusr1121 »

thendrill wrote: post #94
deadlyst0rm wrote: post #5

Most people when they say they miss the office they mean missing dragging everyone with them to the office. You were in the office weren't you? Stay there then and have all the space you want :D I for one will never go back to the office.

Engineer here too. Absolutely agreeing with you. The people that want to go back to the office are also the same people that were wasting everyone's time in the office. Middle managers, office365 consultants, project managers etc. Etc. Generally the people that had the bullshit jobs in the office, and had little contributions except the "social contribution". I don't not want to go back to the office mainly because o…

I think also underperformers fit in there. Before they could hide their laziness via "social contributions".

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#405

Post by benhurmarcel »

user5994461 wrote: post #231
dagw wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe things have gotten better but I worked at a couple of large engineering companies in London 5-10 years ago and cramped, shitty, open plan offices with cheap ancient hardware was very much the norm at every place I worked at and visited. Coming from offices in Norway and Sweden I was shocked at how terrible their working conditions where.

Incidentally I've worked in London for the past few years, in a bank. Every desk in the building is equipped with aeron chair and multiple monitors. Yes every single one in the whole skyscraper (10 000 employees). That includes multiple floors full of developers. On our floor the entire department had quadruple monitors (24" IPS Dell UltraSharp monitors if you're interested). Allegedly we're privileged because the no…

Not every sector/location allows to find a "better company". We're not all superstar JS developers in a tech hub.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#406

Post by enriquto »

newusr1121 wrote: post #402
enriquto wrote: post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that's what I try to do. Unfortunately in France we are limited to a disc of 1km radius around our homes, which is a purely urban area in my case.

So is your main problem with WFH or the pandemic?

Good question. Since I never worked from home before, in my mind it is exactly the same thing. When the lockout ends I'll be the first to go back to the campus. Also, most of our students are yearning to resume the in-person classes. For me, doing math has always been a matter of several people scribbling together on a blackboard.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#407

Post by cambalache »

user5994461 wrote: post #196
benhurmarcel wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems pretty standard to me. Typical open-office setup, with one 24" screen and $5 keyboard and mouse that come with the PC, and a basic 10-years-old office chair. I've seen quite a few mid to large size industrial/engineering companies and it's a standard setup. Actually the ones having a 24" screen are lucky, most people get a 20". That's why people commonly bring their personal headphones, keyboard and mouse. A…

I don't buy it. Even when I was working in countryside Europe a decade ago we had better equipment than that and often double display (17" or 19" at the time). Some of the companies even had personal offices or small offices for 1-3 people. I don't doubt that there are some shitty companies out there that can't get an office chair and a display from this decade, but it's far from the norm.

I worked for a top-20 Fortune company (granted not software but we were still glued to our laptops the whole day) and the environment and equipment were exactly like OP described.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#408

Post by tayo42 »

krzyk wrote: post #387
petra wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it so hard to explain to employers the value of using 2 displays ?

My company provides 2 displays. But I'm the only dev that doesn't use the second display. I tried it for a month and it was tiresome. I had to move my head to often, I also always maximize my windows so maybe it is useful to those that don't. I would much more prefer a big screen (30 inch?) instead of two 24 inch. But unfortunately my Corp doesn't have such options. I would much more prefer

I have this same problem, i never use the second screen. I got my self a 27inch 4k monitor. I can have windows next to each other if i need to. more then enough space for my self. Anything else i would need to move everything to far back and I would start to need my glasses, or like you said constantly be moving my head

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#409

Post by tayo42 »

throwaway99283 wrote: post #200
benbristow wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Working in silence Nice if you have a detached house in a quiet neighbourhood. Try an apartment in a busy area, you'll be wearing noise cancelling headphones too!

With few exception, it's still not as noisy as having colleagues talking next to you.

my office had people taking calls at their desk... some landscapers here and there, or a crappy dog barking or a passing conversation are nothing compared to that nightmare. add in the constant clicking of everyone's mechanical keyboards

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#410

Post by ghaff »

learc83 wrote: post #357
ravenstine wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hiking trails near me are STILL closed due to the virus. For a while it was only open during weekdays and by appointment only. Now they've been flat out closed for a few months. Sure, I could drive half an hour to a completely open trail, but if I'm going to burn that much gas all the time I might as well start working in an office again.

It’s completely insane that your location decided to close all the trails. We took a 4,000 mile hiking road trip (up the east coast of the US and back down more inland) a few months ago and we never ran into a closed hiking trail.

I've seen parking closed or limited here and there. And some Mass Audubon properties, for example, may still be by appointment only. But, yes, in general I'm not aware of general trail closures in the Northeast.
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