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34% of remote workers would quit rather than return to full-time office work

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Re: 34% of remote workers would quit rather than return to full-time office work

#131

Post by Ensorceled »

hvocode wrote: post #102
MattGaiser wrote: post #2

At any given point, half of workers are contemplating leaving. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/27/47percent-of-workers-are-con... The typical office worker spends a half hour searching for new jobs at work every day. https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/in-an-8-hour-day-the-aver... I’m not sure this is a revolution or just that plenty of people have no real attachment to their employer.

While there is likely some truth to it, the first survey is hardly unbiased: it’s a survey showing lots of people are looking for jobs conducted by a company focused on job searching. That would be like WebMD doing a survey of people on its site to see how many people think they’re sick and finding out “wow, lots of people think they’re sick”.

I'm trying to figure out how a job search company gains from warning employers that their employees may leave if they force those employees to come back to office full time ...

It would actually be like WebMD doing a survey to find out how many people are hypochondriacs and shouldn't be using their site.

Re: 34% of remote workers would quit rather than return to full-time office work

#132

Post by aroundtown »

Give me a dedicated office with a door that can shut, allow me to commute during off-peak rush hours, and raise my pay or shorten my work hours for the same rate... then we will talk about coming back in.

Currently:

I have an dedicated office at home, I can shut my door and work when I need to be distraction free. I don't have my head pinched by headphones for hours, and I can work in silence like I prefer. No coworkers interrupting me when I'm in the zone.

I've saved between 8-10 hours per week in not commuting. Worse, I've had bosses who enjoy flexing by having meetings promptly at 8am, where you have to leave extra early because you travel at peak rush hour.

I don't have to keep up appearances when I'm done with my work for the day or moment. If I'm waiting for responses or reviews, I can veg out, watch Netflix or play a video game, while staying on top of my email and work load. I've also taken to getting some of my house work done during this time. Laundry, mowed grass, exercise, lots of little things that used to get stacked up on the weekend.

I never have to eat off my diet, or feign excuses for not wanting to eat another office provided carb loaded meal. I stock my own foods, and have a hot meal for lunch everyday.

Finally, I don't have to smell the 2 smokers that spend a couple of hours smoking every single day nor do I have to sit next to someone with questionable personal hygeine. Yes Richard, you smell awful, and stink up half the office with your body odor and cigarettes.

Re: 34% of remote workers would quit rather than return to full-time office work

#133

Post by grep_name »

nkozyra wrote: post #19
samr71 wrote: post #4

I personally would rather quit than stay remote indefinitely, I can tell you that.

Talking with various friends and people among my network I can say that it varies so much. Some people would prefer to never go in, some people (like myself) would prefer an office presence but no requirement to attend and others would prefer to eliminate remote work. I find this interesting because we tend to extrapolate our own thoughts and preferences to the general public. And this is kind of why working together…

> would prefer an office presence but no requirement to attend

What does this really mean in practice, though? I ask this as a person who just applied to a remote position at a company based in the city I live in. In theory, I'd be glad to come in in-person during the early months to facilitate training, but in practice I wouldn't trust the company not to stop viewing me as remote during that time.

Re: 34% of remote workers would quit rather than return to full-time office work

#134

Post by mulmen »

Closi wrote: post #123
mulmen wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

34% being unwilling to work in offices does not imply not the 66% prefer to work in offices. It is entirely possible (however unlikely) that 100% of people prefer to work remotely but that 34% demand it. You just can't infer anything about the preferences of the 66% based on the preferences of the 34%. Some jobs have to be done in person, sure. But some jobs don't. Personally the extra two hours a day and reduced str…

> A friend of mine is in software sales. She doesn't need to physically be in an office ever. There are a lot of office jobs that can be done remotely. Lots of things can be done remotely, but that also doesn't mean that they are all done as well remotely. To counter your example about software sales - A few months ago I conducted an RFP process for some software, and the company that scored the lowest was the compan…

When she was in the office she was covering the southwest US from Seattle.

Visiting a customer site for a sales meeting is not the same as "working remotely". She does not need to go into the corporate HQ every day to do software sales. Yes, she did and will in the future visit customer sites.

> Only one example, but I think for most jobs something is often lost by having no physical presence and no in-person collaboration.

Sure but this ignores benefits. The question is if remote work is a net negative, in terms of utility.

Re: 34% of remote workers would quit rather than return to full-time office work

#136

Post by AzzieElbab »

Spivak wrote: post #97
AzzieElbab wrote: post #29

My guess that number will change when supplement checks stop coming.

Why? My job is now fully remote. I'm getting paid more than when I was in the office. Remote work != Not Working

I am in exactly same situation, but there will be a lot less remote work if they tell everyone to go back to office tomorrow

Re: 34% of remote workers would quit rather than return to full-time office work

#137

Post by nextlevelwizard »

mulmen wrote: post #47
Alupis wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, perhaps they had a year to clearly see they're perfectly incapable of doing so. Not every office job is software engineering folks... Imagine trying to manage a warehouse remotely... or bounce ideas off each other in real time at a marketing agency... or any of the other normal jobs that thrive with in-person interaction. Not to mention, 34% is a minority... we can't force the other 66% to work remotely just beca…

34% being unwilling to work in offices does not imply not the 66% prefer to work in offices. It is entirely possible (however unlikely) that 100% of people prefer to work remotely but that 34% demand it. You just can't infer anything about the preferences of the 66% based on the preferences of the 34%. Some jobs have to be done in person, sure. But some jobs don't. Personally the extra two hours a day and reduced str…

Have you considered that the reason why you aren't missing face-to-face meetings is because everyone is forced to do full time remote?

My team is really dreading the move to back to office, but I couldn't be happier. I get the nudge I need in the mornings to hit the gym again, I get cheap and healthy food during lunch with no effort on my part. And I get to see and interact with people who don't work in my team and I haven't had any work reason to interact with again.

Just listening in meetings there are many people like me who want to go back to office (at least part time) this means that a lot of meetings will again be held face-to-face and while there will be a token effort to clue in the remote people it will fall off fast not to mention all of the ad-hoc meetings that happen at the desks or hall ways.

I am not saying that you are wrong, but that being full time remote employee in a company that is not 100% remote all the time is way different than being the only (or one of the few) full time remote employee in a team. I still intend on being remote couple days a week, but I know for a fact already that the amount of time I sit in voice chat with the remote team memebers during the day will be close to zero on the days I am at the office.

Re: 34% of remote workers would quit rather than return to full-time office work

#138

Post by sigstoat »

benbristow wrote: post #44
toomuchtodo wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not a remote problem, that's a project management and communications problem. Physical proximity is no replacement for clearly communicated requirements/bug reports/product roadmaps as well as tribal knowledge (which should not be tribal but documented somewhere searchable and robustly accessible), but it makes a nice hack when everyone is required to be in the office.

Agreed on it being PM/Communications problems. Definitely easier in the office though. Another thing is that it's often harder to write your question/problem in text as a message, when in verbal communication it's a lot easier (personally, YMMV). But having to organise calls to get that verbal communication is a pain.

> Another thing is that it's often harder to write your question/problem in text as a message, when in verbal communication it's a lot easier

yes, we're finding that a lot of folks have deficient written communication skills.

another problem is that a lot of developers can type fast enough to program, but not actually type fast enough to productively use email/slack. that one surprised me!

i had a coworker right before covid started, who, you'd send him something in slack, and then watch the "JimBob is typing..." indicator flash on and off for 5 minutes. then he'd just show up at your door and say "no. five." or whatever the very brief answer was.

Re: 34% of remote workers would quit rather than return to full-time office work

#140

Post by slumdev »

I wasn't included in this survey. Make that 34.001%.

> Above all, that means freedom to set their own office hours.

This only works if every person on a team can work independently.

> That includes, for example, not needing to make chit-chat with co-workers.

I've fallen in love with being able to hear myself think. (Also my espresso machine and my standing desk.)

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