‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect • Hacker News Board

Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

#341

Post by marshray » Wed, Jun 30, 2021, 6:42 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #278

adflux wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spoken like a true 1%er

https://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/reports/2009/air... >The latest results from the 2009 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) show that 87 percent of U.S. households are now equipped with AC. That was 12 years ago.

Note that data doesn't break down the region 'North West'.

I don't have AC and neither do many of my coworkers.

Seattle has the lowest percentage of home AC in the nation. It's not installed standard in new construction.

Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

#342

Post by sethammons » Wed, Jun 30, 2021, 6:43 PM UTC

notional wrote: post #63

mdorazio wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can only speak from personal experience, but fwiw I'm currently consulting with 2 non-tech Fortune 500 companies. Both have implemented "hybrid" return to office policies where employees have to live within 100 miles of the office and be able to come in 1 day a week or 1 day a month depending on team. I've talked with executives in charge of large teams at both companies about this issue and so far it looks like th…

> employees have to live within 100 miles of the office and be able to come in 1 day a week or 1 day a month depending on team. This is much more reasonable than what I've seen most places offer. I don't mind the sound of that at all!

if one day a month, just fly in. I fly in for a week per quarter (pre-covid). My main office is in SoCal, but I live several states away. Budgets pay for the travel.

Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

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Post by bhub » Wed, Jun 30, 2021, 6:43 PM UTC

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #42

In my experience at least talking to some younger people there is a clear dichotomy: despite all the talk about Gen Z being "digital natives", people new in their career are much hungrier to get back into the office because they don't yet have good career networks built up and they're eager for mentorship. It is older, or at least more established workers who are less keen on that. I don't think FAANGs will have any…

I’m 45 and have been working partially remote for 4 years and fully remote since the pandemic. I really enjoy working from home. Spending more time with family and finding a good work/life balance and not having to commute are great perks.

I have recently started a new job and was interviewed and onboarded entirely remote. The process was fine and in the future I am not required to be in the office a lot either.

However I am eager to get into the office to meet the new people, have them at hand to ask questions (not just on teams) and generally assimilate into the team.

The problem with teams and other such tools is that I can’t see if someone is available or not. Their dot might be green, but they might be in the zone or otherwise not easily interruptible. In an office I can see whether or not this is the case.

I’m not keen to work in the office 100% but I am also aware of some of the benefits of being in the office at times. Especially planning meetings etc.

I also don’t think each case suits everyone and IMO flexible location is a good compromise allowing people to work where they would like. Let people come in when they need or for meetings but also let them work from home as they need.

Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

#344

Post by jessaustin » Wed, Jun 30, 2021, 6:43 PM UTC

srswtf123 wrote: post #192

throwaway743 wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, your examples of organizations are homogeneous in their nature, and borderline cult level communal. Unless you're in management or one of those workers who's an over zealous corporate kool-aid drinking yes-man who screams about company culture and has substituted any outside social life with the office and coworkers, these examples might be extreme and irrelevant. We're all slowly dying, and personally, I val…

> I value having more control over what little time I have left alive This right here is the entire argument. It's about control , and nothing more. The pandemic displaced a large group of socially successful people from the social hierarchy. Those people want to return to the old normal because they want their status back. They want control back. "You'll do what you're told because I said so, that's why." lies at th…

Some of these "in control" managers are just extreme extroverts, who can't comfortably live without a steady stream of victi^W "direct reports" to cater to their weird habits. Instead of simply creating a policy and a monthly report for a trivial daily process easily accomplished by a particular employee, it's so much more satisfying for such a manager to drop in unannounced every day to "supervise". These managers have been stuck at home long enough that all the maids and gardeners have quit and the third spouse has suggested a separation. An omnipresence of such people surely justified the invention of the guillotine...

Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

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Post by delecti » Wed, Jun 30, 2021, 6:45 PM UTC

okareaman wrote: post #334

oh_sigh wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 2 hour commute is your fault, not the fault of office job's. My commute is 10 minutes.

Move closer. Why didn't I think of that?

I think "get a job closer to your home" is a reasonable suggestion, even if that commenter was a bit blunt about it. In my most recent job search I avoided applying to positions that were further than I was willing to commute, even though they're in the same metro area.

Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

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Post by handrous » Wed, Jun 30, 2021, 6:48 PM UTC

nrmitchi wrote: post #196

okareaman wrote: post #161

I was extremely lucky to WFH during the first 12 years of my software career. When I finally got a job in an office I was shocked at how awful it was. The 2 hours commuting every workday, the flickering fluorescent lights, the noise of coworkers, the smell of burnt coffee or popcorn, the boss that drops by to see how you're doing and causes you to lose a hour of concentration so I might as browse the web until quitti…

> the flickering fluorescent lights, the noise of coworkers, the smell of burnt coffee or popcorn, the boss that drops by to see how you're doing and causes you to lose a hour of concentration so I might as browse the web until quitting time. Was this at a "tech" company of any kind, or a non-tech company with a small number of software engineers? This sounds more like an archetype based on Office Space rather than a…

This basically just describes the offices of most small- to large-sized tech companies that aren't part of West-coast tech culture (some of which has spread beyond the West coast, but does not dominate like it does there).

There are lots of them and they may well represent a larger proportion of dev employment in the US than either stodgy-old-established-bigtech (IBM, telcos) or ones that are a part of the aforementioned West-coast tech culture. They tend to develop industry-specific products (or, often, a whole bunch of industry-specific products) but are definitely tech—and often even purely-software—companies.

Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

#347

Post by InertBrake » Wed, Jun 30, 2021, 6:49 PM UTC

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #42

In my experience at least talking to some younger people there is a clear dichotomy: despite all the talk about Gen Z being "digital natives", people new in their career are much hungrier to get back into the office because they don't yet have good career networks built up and they're eager for mentorship. It is older, or at least more established workers who are less keen on that. I don't think FAANGs will have any…

Exactly this. The sudden all-remote arrangement last year wrecked my first big summer internship in every possible way. I take responsibility for a good deal of how it affected me emotionally and my subsequent lack of productivity. However, I also wasn't given the physical hardware lab projects I signed up for or any meaningful support. I felt deeply disconnected and unengaged, but pressured to pretend everything was okay.

At this point in my life, I'm one of those people who is screaming to get out of the house. It's a place of comfort to me for sure, but also distraction and stagnation. Couple this great start to my career with having a critical third of college plus youth in general being ripped from me, I think its pretty clear why I am against pure WFH. People in different situations and stages with different needs will want different arrangements, but I am not going to apply for remote positions as a new grad.

Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

#348

Post by cronix » Wed, Jun 30, 2021, 6:49 PM UTC

okareaman wrote: post #161

I was extremely lucky to WFH during the first 12 years of my software career. When I finally got a job in an office I was shocked at how awful it was. The 2 hours commuting every workday, the flickering fluorescent lights, the noise of coworkers, the smell of burnt coffee or popcorn, the boss that drops by to see how you're doing and causes you to lose a hour of concentration so I might as browse the web until quitti…

So, 2 hours a day. That's 10 hours a week. That's 40 hours a month. That's 480 hours a year, or about the equivalent of 3 entire months working 40 hrs/wk, sitting in traffic, doing nothing productive. Napkin math says you lost a lot more than ambience.

Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

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Post by throwaways885 » Wed, Jun 30, 2021, 6:50 PM UTC

Lammy wrote: post #273

achow wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From a single, young: I miss the office for.. - Free and convenient food. - Social chatter & engagement. - Making friends with employees who I don't know and connecting with new employees. - Work life separation (balance). - Proper workstation, climate controlled environment. - Sense of belonging - team outing, after hours beers.. - Intra and inter company sports and games. - Meeting potential dates. [Not me. Just em…

- Making friends with employees - Work life separation (balance) Does not compute.

It is possible, much in the same way that making friends at school does not require you to be glued to a textbook all day. But it requires self control and thoughtful boundaries.

Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect

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Post by claudiawerner » Wed, Jun 30, 2021, 6:51 PM UTC

klipklop wrote: post #59

dcolkitt wrote: post #15

I’m honestly perplexed what the FANGs are even thinking in being so aggressive about pushing an end to WFH. Sure it could all work out fine for them. Maybe employees will grumble for a bit, then settle back into office life. But maybe it wont’t . There’s a very real possibility that you lose a non-negligible percent of your staff (disproportionately the most talented who have other options), handicap your ability to…

Nobody wants to give up a something once it becomes a part of their life that they enjoy. The FANG workers got a taste of not having a daily long commute and don't want to give this small life improvement back. Getting back several hours of your life is pretty big. FANG companies however have gotten a taste of nearly unlimited power and have not heard "no" in years. They too don't want to give this up. This is why th…

My pay stinks (from what I can tell looking around on the net and at some former friends from university) and I'm going to have to move to the office for the first time soon. I'm unmotivated to work at home, and I'll be even less motivated at this pay to go into work and write C and Python all day on projects that don't interest me in the least.

I don't want to have to move.