161–170 of 468 posts
I genuinely miss the office. Being in a different space for work (one that was pretty gorgeous), in a nice part of downtown, able to tap people on the shoulder for quick questions rather than having to ping them over chat, more spontaneous collaboration (right before we went remote again I overheard two people discussing an area I have some expertise in and was able to interject and provide useful insight), extra pro…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you're correct, but one thing that is really missing nowadays, especially with phones and the internet, is active communities that exist in real life outside of work. Stuff like the elks lodge, rotary, bowling leagues, etc are just not as common anymore as I believe they used to be. Certainly there are many things that exist, but in a way societally it seems like they don't have very much cache, even as far a…
This is the other point I wanted to make (but frankly I was too scared that maybe it’s just because I suck at meeting people now that I haven’t socialized like a normal person in a year). It just seems harder to meet people _in general_ than it did even two years ago. Like where is everybody? Does everyone stay home literally all the time now?
There’s a reason why social isolation is used as punishment, even in carceral locations. We’re just getting out of it at a societal level.
I’m gonna go against the HN grain here and, despite having been fully for remote work for the first year or so of the pandemic, come out and say that life has really gotten a lot more repetitive and frankly disappointing since covid and the death of the office. I kind of miss meeting people in the office. I was in the unfortunate position of having moved to a new city for a new tech job where I knew nobody just seven…
... has pre-existing families/friends to socialize with. It's easy to believe the people you work with are friends to socialize with, but the reality is that most people cut ties with their coworkers as soon as they change job, especially early in your career when you're hopping from one job to another every few years. Those people are temporary friends at best. I recommend doing everything you can to cultivate frien…
Something that's very important when considering "the office": open spaces. For some people, they are terrible. Going to the office in a private office, in a small office with a few people or in an open space with 20+ people are all very different things for very different kind of people. I personally don't like open offices, especially where there are people behind me.
They are also a major problem with hybrid offices: meetings/conference calls.
If everyone is in the office, you find a meeting room... no problem (assuming you can find one).
If everyone is remote, you all jump on a call... no problem.
When half the team are remote, and multiple teams are remote, you suddenly have way more calls in an open plan office, which is horrific.
Hopefully the death of the always in, or always out, is what is new. I worked remotely, full time, for several years long before the pandemic. Early enough that anytime I told someone I would have to explain all the minutiae that Yes, I am able to get stuff done at home. No, I don't need to "get dressed for the office anyway" and "Yes, we have many video calls per day just to keep in touch" and so on. It was fun for…
And on the other end of the spectrum, there are people out there who feel absolutely suffocated by being stuck behind a screen and not being able to collaborate in the physical presence of others. The conversations, with all of their tiny details which get lost in text, voice or even video chats. Building rapport with others and getting to know them better, all of the spontaneous conversations that just don't happen at all. Even overhearing ones like that and learning more about what's going on in the company. And instead being stuck at home, in many situations even with noisy kids or a work environment that simply isn't good for their wellbeing in the longer term! They sometimes even see the days blending together and finding it harder to separate work from their private time.
The amount of empathy that i feel for these people is limited due to our personal differences, the same way that they don't necessarily imagine themselves putting themselves in the shoes of someone who hasn't felt one bit of discomfort at working remotely and finds social satisfaction elsewhere (online communities and enjoyment of video essays and such content in my case). The exact same way that for them working in the office just felt very normal and natural, it being their preferred way of getting things done. To me, it feels like those are just two very different types of people, regardless of their other qualities.
Neither of us are necessarily better in any way (unless you want to talk about what the majority of humanity is like and therefore which form of work it is better suited for), however those differences are where the problems will begin. Sooner or later, many will want to return to the office, while for others it will be a dealbreaker. In many cases, a particular type of work will be mandated "from above" and many employees will just decide to leave their companies and participate in a globalized economy instead... whilst taking all of their domain knowledge with themselves. A hot job market is probably overall a good thing, but knowing how much documentation and onboarding is lacking within the industry, i fear that there will be quite a few problematic situations to be encountered in the coming decade.
I actually summarized these thoughts in a blog post of my own as well: "Remote working and the elephant in the room".
Here's a link: https://blog.kronis.dev/articles/remote-working-and-the-elep...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you're correct, but one thing that is really missing nowadays, especially with phones and the internet, is active communities that exist in real life outside of work. Stuff like the elks lodge, rotary, bowling leagues, etc are just not as common anymore as I believe they used to be. Certainly there are many things that exist, but in a way societally it seems like they don't have very much cache, even as far a…
This is the other point I wanted to make (but frankly I was too scared that maybe it’s just because I suck at meeting people now that I haven’t socialized like a normal person in a year). It just seems harder to meet people _in general_ than it did even two years ago. Like where is everybody? Does everyone stay home literally all the time now?
I’m gonna go against the HN grain here and, despite having been fully for remote work for the first year or so of the pandemic, come out and say that life has really gotten a lot more repetitive and frankly disappointing since covid and the death of the office. I kind of miss meeting people in the office. I was in the unfortunate position of having moved to a new city for a new tech job where I knew nobody just seven…
... has pre-existing families/friends to socialize with. It's easy to believe the people you work with are friends to socialize with, but the reality is that most people cut ties with their coworkers as soon as they change job, especially early in your career when you're hopping from one job to another every few years. Those people are temporary friends at best. I recommend doing everything you can to cultivate frien…
I dislike this type of comment as it presumes that one person's personal experience is "reality" or a reasonable representation of what everyone else has experienced.
It assumes that something as complicated as personal relationships can be can be distilled down into some sort of "average" or "normal" protocol and that if your experience doesn't align, then you are an outlier, not-average, not-normal.
I don't think the concept of "average" or "normal" is particularly useful for something as multi-dimensional as establishing personal relationships.
Some of my longest and best friends are people I met in my first job after college.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you're correct, but one thing that is really missing nowadays, especially with phones and the internet, is active communities that exist in real life outside of work. Stuff like the elks lodge, rotary, bowling leagues, etc are just not as common anymore as I believe they used to be. Certainly there are many things that exist, but in a way societally it seems like they don't have very much cache, even as far a…
This is the other point I wanted to make (but frankly I was too scared that maybe it’s just because I suck at meeting people now that I haven’t socialized like a normal person in a year). It just seems harder to meet people _in general_ than it did even two years ago. Like where is everybody? Does everyone stay home literally all the time now?
The distinction of "WFH/remote" vs "on site" will blur once home is within a few minutes of work. People will literally walk to the office for a meeting and then walk home again. People who are working from home will pop in to share lunch and then go home again. This is my dream, anyway...