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Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

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Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#521

Post by sokoloff »

cableshaft wrote: post #481
tachyonbeam wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I definitely agree about the socializing. I miss seeing friendly colleagues face to face and having lunch with them. It's not just that though. I started a new remote job during the pandemic and... I feel like I really don't have the same bond with these new colleagues that I had with my colleagues at my previous in-person job. I genuinely feel like we would collaborate better, and be a better team, if we could hang…

When I was at the office I'd take a 20-ish minute walking break around the office block almost every day. I don't know what it is about remote work, but even though I know the physical activity would be good for me, I have a hell of a time motivating myself to taking a walk around the neighborhood before/during work that I work only from home. And we started 100% remote before the pandemic, so it's not pandemic-relat…

Part of it is putting on a mask and walking around (the city) where I live is itself a reminder of the situation we’re stuck in.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#522

Post by throwaway2245 »

troydavis wrote: post #484

I'm a little disappointed at the percentage of comments which extrapolate personal anecdotes into societal behavior, and without addressing the data in this study - even to poke holes in the methodology, which is totally fair game (though IMO quite good, especially for what they had to work with). The whole point of a 15,000-person survey like this is so that we're not all stuck guessing based on our own experiences.…

> employees desire ~45% of days to be WFH.

What I found surprising about this survey is that most people wanted to split their week between the home and the office (according to Figure 3).

Only 24% wanted to work never or rarely at home; 27% wanted to work always at home; and 49% wanted to work a split week.

That's very different from what most people appear to comment.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#523

Post by staticAnalysis9 »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #29

I've been 100% remote and run remote teams since 2014 and I promise that it won't stick for the broader society. Here's why: 1. Socializing is the primary activity that happens at work for the vast majority of workers. The gal or guy coming by your desk to "check in" or "see how your weekend was" etc... is literally where they find their social outlets and personal connections. 2. Managers like to be able to watch th…

1. Is too static and assumes alternative outlets can’t or won’t present themselves.

2. Managers may need to adapt and give up being helicopter parents.

3. Same as 1

4. Again same as 1

Minus commutes, extra hours become available for other places like parks, actual friends rather than superficial friendliness of coworkers because life revolves around offices and we learn to fake interest.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#524

Post by buzzerbetrayed »

amelius wrote: post #420
konjin wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If my first employer had told young 20-something Me "I'm afraid we're not going to let you come in and sit in this felt cube every day after all. Instead we're going to ask that you fly to Thailand and work from a laptop on the beach from here on out.", I would not have reacted by explaining how work is a social thing that needs to happen in person. I'd kill for a felt cube.

You can create the illusion of a cubicle through VR goggles. Just download the cubicle app.

I actually hope that VR progresses to a point where one can work in it all day. The idea of having 8 virtual high resolution monitors set in any environment sounds awesome to me (amongst other advantages of VR). Unfortunately VR is still just way too low resolution for this to work today. As well as too uncomfortable to wear for 8 hours a day.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#525

Post by oopsiforgot7 »

cableshaft wrote: post #481
tachyonbeam wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I definitely agree about the socializing. I miss seeing friendly colleagues face to face and having lunch with them. It's not just that though. I started a new remote job during the pandemic and... I feel like I really don't have the same bond with these new colleagues that I had with my colleagues at my previous in-person job. I genuinely feel like we would collaborate better, and be a better team, if we could hang…

When I was at the office I'd take a 20-ish minute walking break around the office block almost every day. I don't know what it is about remote work, but even though I know the physical activity would be good for me, I have a hell of a time motivating myself to taking a walk around the neighborhood before/during work that I work only from home. And we started 100% remote before the pandemic, so it's not pandemic-relat…

Did you wear shoes at work? Do you wear shoes at home?

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#526

Post by ghaff »

throwaway2245 wrote: post #522
troydavis wrote: post #484

I'm a little disappointed at the percentage of comments which extrapolate personal anecdotes into societal behavior, and without addressing the data in this study - even to poke holes in the methodology, which is totally fair game (though IMO quite good, especially for what they had to work with). The whole point of a 15,000-person survey like this is so that we're not all stuck guessing based on our own experiences.…

> employees desire ~45% of days to be WFH. What I found surprising about this survey is that most people wanted to split their week between the home and the office (according to Figure 3). Only 24% wanted to work never or rarely at home; 27% wanted to work always at home; and 49% wanted to work a split week. That's very different from what most people appear to comment.

Doesn't really surprise me. For people with a local team, scheduling 1 or 2 "collaboration days" seems like a pretty good compromise--as well as a change of scenery. The downside of course is that you still probably have to be driving distance or a train trip from the office--although your radius can potentially be bigger compared to coming in every day.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#527

Post by whatever1 »

throwaway2245 wrote: post #522
troydavis wrote: post #484

I'm a little disappointed at the percentage of comments which extrapolate personal anecdotes into societal behavior, and without addressing the data in this study - even to poke holes in the methodology, which is totally fair game (though IMO quite good, especially for what they had to work with). The whole point of a 15,000-person survey like this is so that we're not all stuck guessing based on our own experiences.…

> employees desire ~45% of days to be WFH. What I found surprising about this survey is that most people wanted to split their week between the home and the office (according to Figure 3). Only 24% wanted to work never or rarely at home; 27% wanted to work always at home; and 49% wanted to work a split week. That's very different from what most people appear to comment.

Couple of reasons behind that: 1) You dont want to miss out the opportunities that you get from f2f contacts 2) You don't want endless office interruptions when you have work to do

Seems that a WHF arrangement with dedicated meeting days offers the best from both worlds.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#528

Post by nilkn »

threatofrain wrote: post #308
mewpmewp2 wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's evident that being remote is just as effective or more why wouldn't most companies start catching the eyes of their potential candidates with that?

That's what it would take for work-from-home to organically catch on. Either the delta is obvious or it isn't.

The delta is pretty obvious, though. Companies that aren't in tech hubs no longer have to hire from a limited local talent pool, and companies that are in tech hubs can save on both office and salary expenses by hiring across the country. I've already seen local companies announce permanent hybrid models due to the former and large Silicon Valley unicorns like Coinbase announce permanent hybrid models due to the latter.

And speaking very anecdotally, where I work we've done plenty of surveys on WFH and the results were very clear: not allowing any kind of hybrid model would've become a retention disaster over time. The desire for at least some kind of flexibility post-pandemic was overwhelming.

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#529

Post by [deleted] »

nilkn wrote: post #528
threatofrain wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what it would take for work-from-home to organically catch on. Either the delta is obvious or it isn't.

The delta is pretty obvious, though. Companies that aren't in tech hubs no longer have to hire from a limited local talent pool, and companies that are in tech hubs can save on both office and salary expenses by hiring across the country. I've already seen local companies announce permanent hybrid models due to the former and large Silicon Valley unicorns like Coinbase announce permanent hybrid models due to the latt…

[deleted]

Re: Why Working from Home Will Stick [pdf]

#530

Post by sokoloff »

jader201 wrote: post #287
irrational wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. This is the main reason I prefer remote working. I don’t like socializing. I’m there to work, not to chit chat. You’re not my friend, your a fellow worker. 2. Time to get a better manager who trusts you. 3. Commuting is a waste of time. I roll out of bed and immediately start working. The company loses on time I could be working by having me commute. 4. Yeah, I definitely can’t relate to this one.

> The company loses on time I could be working by having me commute. Whoa, wait — why is it the company’s time to lose/gain back instead of yours?

It was your time, right up to the point where you pledged it to them as part-and-parcel of the employment arrangement.

If job A requires 10 hours of my day because of the commute while job B requires only 8 hours to accomplish the same thing, then employer A is paying me for all 10 of those hours even though they think they’re only paying me (25% more) for 8 of them.

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