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70% of startups offer remote work options as hiring heats up, YC data shows

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Re: 70% of startups offer remote work options as hiring heats up, YC data shows

#161

Post by AdamJMarsh »

nostrebored wrote: post #53
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #40

I honestly don't understand how any startup can even hope to compete if they don't offer remote options. Hiring is incredibly tight right now, and I'm sure glad my options are "anybody within ~2 timezones" over basically only people within a 15 mile radius of my office because traffic is horrendous in my city. Not to mention, how have companies not realized how to build robust remote company cultures over the past 2…

Because everyone who seriously invests money in businesses knows that there’s a performance hit you take as a remote company. People haven’t been paying for offices for the last ten years for no reason. Engineering is one segment where this penalty seems to be lower. However, engineers seem to be unable to understand that every other function functions better in person. The tradeoff you’re hoping to make is that the…

This is becoming a very outdated view.

If a business takes a performance hit, perhaps their talent acquisition, organisation, process flows and leadership are sub par?

Don't believe me? Wait till you lose your best performers because you want them in an office. There's a bigger performance hit you'll take there, along with staff who are demoralised and stressed out with one eye open on the job's market, trying to drop kids off or whatever else they need the flexibility for.

Remember my post as a warning the next time you espouse this view, because it's inaccurate and it isn't valid in every single case.

Re: 70% of startups offer remote work options as hiring heats up, YC data shows

#162

Post by vanilla_nut »

echelon wrote: post #21
colordrops wrote: post #16

Startups are going to either need to start paying a lot more or giving more serious equity stakes if they want to hire anyone who isn't straight out of college or already wealthy.

Those aren't the only levers. Imagine a three day work week. Or part time work, letting you also maintain your FANGA job.

Or a homework-style schedule: show up to meetings Tuesday/Thursday, no required working hours the rest of the time. Work when you want, just be productive.

Re: 70% of startups offer remote work options as hiring heats up, YC data shows

#163

Post by pleb_nz »

mstibbard wrote: post #59
keithnz wrote: post #14

Be interesting to know for the "remotes" how remote is remote. Some are localish remotes, some are world wide remotes, and some somewhere in-between. One of the problems seems to be ( and I'm sure some start up will try to solve this) is employing people worldwide has a lot of legal issues with regards to local employment laws and payment issues.

I think most "remotes" are within time zone-proximity. The employment regulation burden is also massive for going truly global-remote. Australia and NZ for example have strong employment laws AND do not overlap time zone-wise with most of the rest of the world. We have some great talent here but it's often too hard to make it work. Disclaimer: I made https://rafo.com.au to collate remote jobs that work for Aussies &…

Nice site and awesome work. Going to have a better read of what's available later on for someone here in NZ.

Re: 70% of startups offer remote work options as hiring heats up, YC data shows

#164

Post by mgkimsal »

arrakis2021 wrote: post #61
nostrebored wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because everyone who seriously invests money in businesses knows that there’s a performance hit you take as a remote company. People haven’t been paying for offices for the last ten years for no reason. Engineering is one segment where this penalty seems to be lower. However, engineers seem to be unable to understand that every other function functions better in person. The tradeoff you’re hoping to make is that the…

This. As someone who works remotely and loves it, I’ve observed this on HN for years. It’s like engineers can’t (or won’t?) acknowledge that other roles in an organization go beyond staring at lines of code on a computer screen. Hell, even product managers I know like coming in to an office to collaborate on the big whiteboard wall they can’t fit inside their home.

There's a bunch of things about 'being in an office' that aren't so much about 'being in an office' as they are 'not being in your house'. Cynically, you could point out some power dynamic - symbols of you being part of something 'larger' than yourself are often parts of offices (big or small), and you're submitting yourself to some rituals shared by your colleagues and (many?) others in society.

BUT... there's also less responsibility for maintenance - offices often will have cleaning/maintenance, decent hvac, etc. They can provide a standardized work environment that helps legitimately separate 'work' from 'home', which many people need help in doing (even pre covid).

Yes, you get the big whiteboards and maybe other equipment that just doesn't make sense for a home (big copiers from decades ago, etc) as well.

Re: 70% of startups offer remote work options as hiring heats up, YC data shows

#165

Post by 999900000999 »

PraetorianGourd wrote: post #153
999900000999 wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why ? Working remote , never being late to a meeting , never having to commute, vastly outweighs all that. I have an odd feeling many people like in person work so they can socialize. We have bars and concerts for that. We somehow went from COVID will kill us all if we dare step into an office to shut up and get back to work. Stop wasting money on office space. Let people live wherever ( assuming your in the same cou…

I think it’s going to be “I can…” versus “I am” or “I do”. Lots of people will _think_ “I’ll just up and move anywhere!” but very few actually will. And in my experience, having the freedom but electing not to exercise it is more depressing then not having the option. Sometimes the dream is better than the reality

Well the inverse of that is you have the freedom to not move when you get a job in another state.

I've already done this.

Re: 70% of startups offer remote work options as hiring heats up, YC data shows

#166

Post by snicker7 »

adgjlsfhk1 wrote: post #125
moises_silva wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People keep on saying this but it's just not obviously true. How is it obviously not true? I mean. I love remote work. I started working remotely way before it was mainstream and I'm advocate for it. I've managed remote teams for many years too. Even so, I can't claim there's no performance hit. I just think the performance hit is small enough that in most cases the benefits for people and businesses outweigh it.

Not obviously true != obviously not true.

English isn’t abelian.

Re: 70% of startups offer remote work options as hiring heats up, YC data shows

#167

Post by aunty_helen »

mstibbard wrote: post #59
keithnz wrote: post #14

Be interesting to know for the "remotes" how remote is remote. Some are localish remotes, some are world wide remotes, and some somewhere in-between. One of the problems seems to be ( and I'm sure some start up will try to solve this) is employing people worldwide has a lot of legal issues with regards to local employment laws and payment issues.

I think most "remotes" are within time zone-proximity. The employment regulation burden is also massive for going truly global-remote. Australia and NZ for example have strong employment laws AND do not overlap time zone-wise with most of the rest of the world. We have some great talent here but it's often too hard to make it work. Disclaimer: I made https://rafo.com.au to collate remote jobs that work for Aussies &…

I dunno bro, contactors generally dodge the employment law issues. That's why a contractor charges out at 110 an hour whilst an employee would be happy with 50.

As someone who prepandemic was contracting back to nz whilst living in south america and now is starting to hire contractors, NZ and OZ don't represent good value spend in comparison to many other countries that have great people also but are getting paid 5 instead.

I have friends back home I would love to bring on to my team but the thought of paying them gives me shivvers.

Re: 70% of startups offer remote work options as hiring heats up, YC data shows

#168

Post by aunty_helen »

bin_bash wrote: post #137
mstibbard wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think most "remotes" are within time zone-proximity. The employment regulation burden is also massive for going truly global-remote. Australia and NZ for example have strong employment laws AND do not overlap time zone-wise with most of the rest of the world. We have some great talent here but it's often too hard to make it work. Disclaimer: I made https://rafo.com.au to collate remote jobs that work for Aussies &…

it's also hard to work with people across hemispheres because of daylight saving time. I'm used to the hour difference I have with people I work with in Europe but I have no idea how many hours I'm separated from Australians because it changes 4 times through the year.

Wait, doesn't your calendar just update itself for this? This is a pretty weak reason. It changes at most 2 hours.

Re: 70% of startups offer remote work options as hiring heats up, YC data shows

#169

Post by ahelwer »

shagie wrote: post #140
anonporridge wrote: post #2

Cool. Now start offering more part time roles.

For a developer role, I have difficulty seeing how part time is economical. An article from 2019: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/720122267 > GARCIA: The occupation with the single biggest part-time penalty is web developer. Wages for part-time web developers are 49.5% less than wages for full-time web developers. And that is our PLANET MONEY indicator - part-time web developers make only about half as much per hour…

Part-time is much more difficult to find and much less lucrative than full-time consulting part of the time.

The big leap is you have to give up the perceived stability of your monthly paycheck. You are unemployed and unpaid by default. The easiest way to deal with this is to keep 6-12 months’ worth of living expenses in cash. You can tune your risk this way; less cash, more risk.

Re: 70% of startups offer remote work options as hiring heats up, YC data shows

#170

Post by truetraveller »

KerrAvon wrote: post #158
avidphantasm wrote: post #98

I get why remote work is popular, and for some tasks/jobs I think it can work well. However, I think in-person interaction is critical for breaking new ground, starting new initiatives, etc. So far, nothing replaces being in the same room hashing out ideas on the whiteboard, etc.

Agreed it’s impossible to hash out new ideas over videoconferencing. It’s so slow and grainy! Who can actually break new ground without other people nattering in the same room? Not everyone has even a 56k modem! Sharing germs and viruses is an absolute requirement. And if I can’t have a chance meeting with you at a wate rcooler to discuss what happened on Jay Leno last night, how can I can possibly start new initiati…

You had me in the first sentence; I actually nodded!
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