Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#311

Post by rcpt » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 2:53 AM UTC

magneticnorth wrote: post #12

I am really curious to see where we'll be in a year, two, three down the line wrt remote/office/hybrid work at major companies. This forced experiment has had some surprising outcomes about the effectiveness of remote workplaces, but working from home for only a year, in pandemic conditions, is clearly not the same as indefinitely in normal times. But there's reason to think that may go even better, not worse; I am r…

The people who show up will be winning turf wars and getting all the good projects.

Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#312

Post by the-rc » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 2:54 AM UTC

cletus wrote: post #243

nkozyra wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But I now live in Florida. It's about the 182nd day in a row where it's been 70-80F. What part of Florida? It generally starts hitting 90 in May most of the state and stays there into November. I've lived in NYC and yes, January-March can be tough and a few weeks in September are awful but Florida is just oppressively hot for six+ months of the year. The worst part is it doesn't cool down at night so you don't even…

Miami. I'm not sure it's hit 90F hit but it's definitely hit 85-88F. So close. I'm not sure how much hotter it'll get but I'm all about it still. I've thought about why this is. Not commuting I think is a big part of it. So the weather doesn't have to bother me if I don't want it to. Like I literally don't have to go anywhere. I think the trade winds are a big factor too. Hot, humid and still is a special kind of hel…

I know this is an anecdote, but.. I run along the Hudson. I see some regulars only during March-October. They have houses in Florida, too, but can "survive" there only during the coldest months.

Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#313

Post by steveBK123 » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 2:55 AM UTC

GongOfFour wrote: post #232

cactus2093 wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> NYC summers are a special kind of hell beyond the heat and humidity That is absolutely wild to me. I also lived in NYC for 10 years, the summers there are magical. The city comes alive in such a unique way, people are outside relaxing in the parks, having backyard and rooftop parties, heading out to the beach on the weekends. There are a bunch of great weekend trips to be had a few hours away by train in Long Islan…

Did you commute every day on the subway? If so how long? I lived in NYC for 10 years and I hated the summer daily commute because all that aliveness led to hangovers and me sweating all that magicalness out daily on my walk and wait on the platform. You aren't wrong that NYC is great in the summer but it's also a special kind of hell with heat and humidity. Both can be true.

Yes, between the sweaty walk to train, sweatier subway station, and potentially sweaty train car.. I started carrying ice water in my bag in summers. I also had a hack of stopping by the Duane Reade on my way to office with a walk-in cooler section and just standing there for 2 minutes before grabbing a drink to take to work.

Also how can we talk NYC summers without mentioning the unique combination of dried dog piss on sidewalks and decaying garbage. This varies by neighborhood, but if you have a lot of high rises you know what I'm talking about.

Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#314

Post by cromka » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 2:55 AM UTC

nanidin wrote: post #196

marcosdumay wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Renting a hotel for a week is probably way cheaper than $8k per person. Your costs were large in part because of the small scale that is done.

My $8k figure was based on 4 company get togethers per year ($2k * 4). $2k for one week of travel expenses was based on 5 nights of hotel at $150/night ($750), 5 days of rental car at $200, gas for the car at $40, roundtrip flight at $500, travel to/from home airport at $60, parking at home airport at $50, and 6 days of meals @ $55/day ($330). Grand total $1930 plus taxes and tips. When my company rented out the conv…

The thing is I did not even think of doing that in the US, one of the most expensive of places. And even if in the US, you don't have to go to another city. No, quite the contrary. Some wilderness. Alaska, maybe? Montana? And that's not for the whole company at the same time, but for individual teams. You want some sightseeing? Sure, how about Puerto Rico? Or abroad, like Mexico, or South America? The options are limitless. Assuming people WFH anyway, it doesn't have to be "close" to anywhere in particular.

Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#315

Post by ckdarby » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 2:56 AM UTC

steveBK123 wrote: post #307

It cuts both ways. I love WFH and would love to do it indefinitely. Used to do it 1-2 days/week at prior job. My wife and I are both ICs and introverts, and happy to have the space/privacy/quiet. However, my firm especially is really taking advantage of it. They are getting far more work out of us while acting like they are doing us a favor by not dragging us back yet. Meeting load is up 25-50%, but story points per…

This sounds like poor expectation setting and more poor management.

Use your 1:1 time to set reachable hour expectations with your manager.

Switch your "quick chats" to Slack messages and /reminds to get your answers in timely fashion.

Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#316

Post by cromka » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 2:58 AM UTC

treis wrote: post #180

marcosdumay wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Renting a hotel for a week is probably way cheaper than $8k per person. Your costs were large in part because of the small scale that is done.

You're not including airfare, food, and meeting space. It might not quite reach $2k but pretty close. But that's likely still cheaper than office space. That ranges anywhere from $20-$70+ per square foot depending on city and how nice it is. So even a tiny desk space is 500-2k a month.

Still, you guys assume this would be within the US, only. Excuse me for saying that, but that's some typical, US-centric kind of thinking. There's really whole world out there. If you're going to go for 2 weeks, go to Asia, South America or Central/South Europe and pay a third of the costs. Heck, do you know how cheap country side airbnbs in Portugal or Italy are? THAT'S how you build lasting memories.

Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#317

Post by biztos » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 3:00 AM UTC

dreyfan wrote: post #75

I currently have 10 fully remote engineering jobs. The bar is so low, oversight is non-existent, and everyone is so forgiving for under performance I can coast about 4-8 weeks before a given job fires me. Currently on a $1.5M run-rate for comp this year. And the interviewing process is so much faster today, companies are desperate, it takes me 2-3hrs of total effort to land a new job with thousands to chose from.

I get that this is a joke, but — would that be legal in the US?

In Germany it definitely would not, at least not without it being specifically allowed by your contract.

But maybe in the US, as long as you didn’t have a conflict of interest?

Would the amount of total time worked matter? Would doing it in multiple states simultaneously matter?

Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#318

Post by nkozyra » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 3:00 AM UTC

the-rc wrote: post #312

cletus wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Miami. I'm not sure it's hit 90F hit but it's definitely hit 85-88F. So close. I'm not sure how much hotter it'll get but I'm all about it still. I've thought about why this is. Not commuting I think is a big part of it. So the weather doesn't have to bother me if I don't want it to. Like I literally don't have to go anywhere. I think the trade winds are a big factor too. Hot, humid and still is a special kind of hel…

I know this is an anecdote, but.. I run along the Hudson. I see some regulars only during March-October. They have houses in Florida, too, but can "survive" there only during the coldest months.

That's me. Born in Florida, but totally comfortable in NYC other than February/March and those 2-4 terrible weeks in summer.

It's really hard for me to overstate how outside-unfriendly Florida is.

Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#319

Post by ergocoder » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 3:02 AM UTC

magneticnorth wrote: post #12

I am really curious to see where we'll be in a year, two, three down the line wrt remote/office/hybrid work at major companies. This forced experiment has had some surprising outcomes about the effectiveness of remote workplaces, but working from home for only a year, in pandemic conditions, is clearly not the same as indefinitely in normal times. But there's reason to think that may go even better, not worse; I am r…

To be honest, once a person next to them cough.

All these millionaires will immediately realize that the vaccine that is 99.999% is still not worth their kids' lives. No matter how low known risk is, it's not worth it.

Cough and whisper "why can't I taste anything?"

Then, everyone will get to work from home.

Nobody will get an advantage of being at the office.

Keep coughing.

Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#320

Post by anyfoo » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 3:02 AM UTC

steveBK123 wrote: post #307

It cuts both ways. I love WFH and would love to do it indefinitely. Used to do it 1-2 days/week at prior job. My wife and I are both ICs and introverts, and happy to have the space/privacy/quiet. However, my firm especially is really taking advantage of it. They are getting far more work out of us while acting like they are doing us a favor by not dragging us back yet. Meeting load is up 25-50%, but story points per…

"Unlimited" vacation time is so bizarre to me, it almost seems like a scam to me. Obviously it's not legally binding, otherwise a malicious employee could not work a single day and legally not face repercussions.

But in Germany at least, vacation days are a matter of law. The number of days per year is part of the contract, and there is a strict minimum of 24 days (at least in Bavaria). It is as far as I know not legal to prevent people from exhausting their allocated vacation days within the full year, a couple of years ago a court decided that employers have to remind employees when they risk expiring their vacation days after a year.

So I guess anyone who has "unlimited" vacation time does not actually have unlimited vacation time, but the opposite: The legal minimum of mandated vacation time, with the option to get additional time on top if the employer agrees. Effectively, any person who even just has one day more than the legal minimum, but fixed, has more right to take time off than someone with "unlimited" vacation!