I hope work from home continues • Hacker News Board

Re: I hope work from home continues

#491

Post by occz » Tue, Apr 06, 2021, 6:07 PM UTC

havelhovel wrote: post #153

BitwiseFool wrote: post #51

Covid WFH is a real issue for our new developers. Especially the ones who are fresh out of college. They're missing out on so much institutional knowledge transfer. Especially the kind of monkey-see-monkey-do experience you need to build confidence using tools such as git. They're also hesitant to ping coworkers and ask for screen sharing time because they can't sense if the more senior developers are working on some…

It seems to me that the issues you raised could be addressed through simple technological solutions or better management, assuming your company actually wants to embrace remote work. New hires afraid to ask for help? Make it clear that it's part of their job. Developers need to see another developer's screen? Screen share over Zoom. Multiple employees don't know how to use a tool? Provide a one-hour presentation. Rin…

In addition to this, I can wholeheartedly recommend 'screen control sharing' (maybe there's a better name for the category of software I'm referring to?) such as Tuple or Drovio. Being able to pair program with two sets of input devices for the same screen is kind of revolutionary, actually, and has been a key part of collaborating remotely for our team.

Re: I hope work from home continues

#492

Post by zebnyc » Tue, Apr 06, 2021, 6:08 PM UTC

jonnycomputer wrote: post #134

hiq wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - my commute: I cycled into work, and the daily exercise was great This one is not like the others, it's completely up to you to have a bike ride e.g. at lunch time around the block when you WFH.

Oh, you're right. But when you have to cycle to get to work whether you want to or not, its easier to get that exercise in. I'm not a leisure cyclist. I don't dress up in spandex and ride an expensive bike. In fact, I have difficulty containing my derision for leisure cyclists. I know that the equipment they use has utility, but it also signals: I don't have to ride a bike. I have an expensive SUV at home, and I didn…

I am having a hard time following what you are trying to communicate. Apparently some one performing an activity cause it is leisure / you come from a poor neighborhood / they can afford nice(r) things, invites your derision. Did I understand you correctly? I am not sure how those factors are related but apparently they are to you.

Must be hard to find someone / something which escapes your contempt.

Re: I hope work from home continues

#493

Post by asdff » Tue, Apr 06, 2021, 6:09 PM UTC

Johnny555 wrote: post #470

decafninja wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a 30-something and married, so my situation isn't completely analogous to yours. But we have no kids and live in a pretty tiny 1br apartment with no backyard or other private outdoor space or even a balcony. Before covid we didn't really care, but covid makes us yearn for bigger, detached housing. My home "office" is a corner of our tiny bedroom (that said, my home office setup is still vastly superior to my work…

Before covid we didn't really care, but covid makes us yearn for bigger, detached housing Wouldn't full time WFH make that easier to do? Presumably you live in a small one bedroom apartment because it's within commute distance of work. If your employer stuck with WFH, then you could move to a house in a small town, probably for less money than you're paying for the apartment.

I have been noticing a line like this in job ads lately:

"this is a remote position but candidates must be able to commute to the office"

Re: I hope work from home continues

#494

Post by brofallon » Tue, Apr 06, 2021, 6:10 PM UTC

So curious to see what happens to salaries, and where people live, if WFH is common in many sectors. Will salaries go up or down on average if employers must compete nationally to find good employees? Will people flee high cost of living areas? Anyone know of good data regarding this?

Re: I hope work from home continues

#495

Post by JohnPrine » Tue, Apr 06, 2021, 6:11 PM UTC

HWR_14 wrote: post #140

blunte wrote: post #64

Wow, the author has a pretty miserable company :(. That said, I share most of the opinions even though I quite like the office environment of my company. I abso-fking-love choosing where I work (and to some degree, when). Being able to take my laptop and go sit under a canopy in my back yard when the weather is nice, seeing my rabbits hopping around the yard, my cats avoiding the aggressive she-rabbit, hearing the bi…

I'm thrown by people working on a laptop. Do you have a battery powered second screen? Is there some workflow tips I should adopt to make it work better? I'm quite jealous of people who can work on laptops. I wonder the degree to which people enjoy WFH is the same as the degree to which they enjoy working on a laptop. Even the people I know with a dedicated room for work set up want to go back to the office if they p…

I was like you until July of last year. Started working exclusively on my laptop (I'm a c++ engineer) and I found that it forced me to be more organized. Vim + tmux lets me make full use of a smaller screen. My productivity has honestly improved as a result

Re: I hope work from home continues

#496

Post by dunefox » Tue, Apr 06, 2021, 6:12 PM UTC

necrotic_comp wrote: post #458

dunefox wrote: post #432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> having a video conference open all day with everyone in This sounds absolutely horrible .

Honestly, it's fine. Most of us are on mute for most of the day. In a trading environment, you need a hoot, and this is pretty much our equivalent. It works well and (at least with how our team works) it's not invasive.

Being watched by all colleagues all day is extremely invasive. I would definitely not want to work in this environment.

Re: I hope work from home continues

#497

Post by BlargMcLarg » Tue, Apr 06, 2021, 6:12 PM UTC

munificent wrote: post #447

vp8989 wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Engineering culture should be disseminated via documents rather than oral lore. If it's disseminated via oral lore it's expensive to change and is often misinterpreted across a large enough org. A silent killer of engineering orgs is bad practices that stick around because that's the way it's always been done. No one knows why because it wasn't written down. The only way to fix that is for someone high enough to prov…

> Engineering culture should be disseminated via documents rather than oral lore. I'm always startled by comments like this because it's so counter to how I understand humanity. We are social mammals . No amount of good grammar and excellent font choice can substitute for sharing the same physical space together, an act that has been core to what it means to be human literally since we first speciated. Yeah, writing…

I am equally startled by comments like this implying our nature as social mammals is so limited in ways to be appeased, or expecting the only way to be human is to work with colleagues of the same craft on an almost daily basis.

Socializing can be done with people outside that very limited circle. Meanwhile, I can get my knowledge-sharing itch by looking up new techniques on the internet, going to conferences, etc.

Re: I hope work from home continues

#498

Post by Consultant32452 » Tue, Apr 06, 2021, 6:13 PM UTC

blunte wrote: post #64

Wow, the author has a pretty miserable company :(. That said, I share most of the opinions even though I quite like the office environment of my company. I abso-fking-love choosing where I work (and to some degree, when). Being able to take my laptop and go sit under a canopy in my back yard when the weather is nice, seeing my rabbits hopping around the yard, my cats avoiding the aggressive she-rabbit, hearing the bi…

I wonder if there's a strong correlation between big city/rural dwellers and the work from home joy. I live at the edge of the suburbs with a nice yard that looks out onto the woods. I have a large home with plenty of space. I love working from home. If I lived in a tiny efficiency apartment in a big city I would hate being there all day, even though I might enjoy the benefits afforded to me by living close to lots of live entertainment, etc.

Re: I hope work from home continues

#499

Post by pwinnski » Tue, Apr 06, 2021, 6:14 PM UTC

People focusing on specifics about his particular workspace are very much missing the point. People calling him antisocial, as if he's somehow defective are very much missing the point.

Look, you might enjoy working in an office. That's fine, I don't think anybody's saying you're not allowed to return to an office. But for many people, probably most people, productivity is lower in an office, despite more time being spent "working." This has been demonstrated and reported on many, many, many times. To say that you don't care, you enjoy yourself more in an office is fine, but it doesn't mean an office is better for everyone, or even for you.

I have friends, I have family, I have activities in my neighborhood, and I would gladly never see any coworker in person ever again for the extra hour per day I can spend with my family and friends vs commuting. That doesn't make me anti-social any more than it does Mr Mercer. My office didn't suck, but I think the entire concept of a shared office kinda sucks. It's just so normalized that we don't realize how much it sucks until we step away for a year.

I mean, I was spending an hour a day to relocate to a place where I could be overall less productive for my company. Maybe some days I enjoyed myself more, sure, but that's an separate issue. If you want to spend time with coworkers, go ahead! Just don't pretend it's providing value for your company.

Re: I hope work from home continues

#500

Post by Johnny555 » Tue, Apr 06, 2021, 6:14 PM UTC

asdff wrote: post #493

Johnny555 wrote: post #470

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before covid we didn't really care, but covid makes us yearn for bigger, detached housing Wouldn't full time WFH make that easier to do? Presumably you live in a small one bedroom apartment because it's within commute distance of work. If your employer stuck with WFH, then you could move to a house in a small town, probably for less money than you're paying for the apartment.

I have been noticing a line like this in job ads lately: "this is a remote position but candidates must be able to commute to the office"

As long as they are up front about the commute requirements (once a week, once a month, once a quarter, whatever), that's fine. Employees can decide how far away they are willing to live.

I might be willing to do a 90 minute commute once a month, but not once a week. If once a quarter, then I'd even be willing to fly in at my own expense.