37% of jobs in the United States can be performed entirely at home • Hacker News Board

Re: 37% of jobs in the United States can be performed entirely at home

#201

Post by JohnHaugeland » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 4:44 PM UTC

Adraghast wrote: post #100

mwattsun wrote: post #67

5 of us wrote Microsoft Works for the Macintosh while working at home from 1984 to 1992. Without the internet, we got together as needed to merge code, usually once a month, but sometimes once a week. We talked on the phone. We went to Microsoft once in awhile. It was ideal and worked very well. Maybe it was just our personalities that made it work, but I am astonished that any programmer would rather go into the off…

> I assume that some people are just very lonely and need face to face Anecdata from Hacker News suggests this is true. A lot of lonely young men here freely admit their coworkers are the only people they regularly interact with in-person, and remote work takes that away from them.

> A lot of lonely young men here freely admit their coworkers are the only people they regularly interact with in-person

Well, with the 8 hours they're getting back from not commuting, they'll have more time to go out and socialize in non-work settings

Re: 37% of jobs in the United States can be performed entirely at home

#202

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 4:45 PM UTC

unidosnuestros wrote: post #154

commandlinefan wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> lucky enough to have a lovely wife Me too, but I met my wife through work (we didn't work together, but I met her through a lady I did work with). I think a lot of young people - not just men - are hoping to interact with potential romantic partners through work.

That's the best part about work!

[deleted]

Re: 37% of jobs in the United States can be performed entirely at home

#203

Post by kwhitefoot » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 4:47 PM UTC

spookthesunset wrote: post #148

lbriner wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe the mayor also cares about local businesses that get their income from city workers as well as the transport networks which need all the money they can get. Maybe they care about the tourist buzz from a busy city or the saftey in numbers. You don't always have to assume the worst of someone just because they are powerful.

Don’t forget the suburban sprawl this sort of stuff will cause. Eating further and further into our natural habitats building giant houses for wealthy, privileged tech workers.

Work from home could plausibly have the opposite effect by liberating a lot of buildings from office use and repurposing them as homes. I know a lot of people who would prefer to live in a city rather than the suburbs, especially young people.

Re: 37% of jobs in the United States can be performed entirely at home

#204

Post by goodpoint » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 4:48 PM UTC

lbriner wrote: post #72

kreeben wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not?

We are going to have a massive problem with taking on juniors, particularly younger people. Without many people visiting the office, there is a lack of banter, encouragement, confidence building. Imagine you were 16 and your introduction to the world of work was sitting in your own bedroom! Honestly, I don't know how we deal with it unless we create a schedule where there has to be certain people in the office on cer…

This is the weirdest take on "think of the children!" that I've heard in a while.

Re: 37% of jobs in the United States can be performed entirely at home

#205

Post by jdminhbg » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 4:49 PM UTC

FpUser wrote: post #139

mwattsun wrote: post #67

5 of us wrote Microsoft Works for the Macintosh while working at home from 1984 to 1992. Without the internet, we got together as needed to merge code, usually once a month, but sometimes once a week. We talked on the phone. We went to Microsoft once in awhile. It was ideal and worked very well. Maybe it was just our personalities that made it work, but I am astonished that any programmer would rather go into the off…

>"I assume that some people are just very lonely and need face to face" This. We have managed to completely fuck up life style of the segment of the population to the point that they have no life outside of the office. This is sick.

That said, it made a huge difference that forced WFH coincided with closing all possible social outlets at the same time. If you discovered that you wanted to expand your social circle to diversify away from workmates, you were out of luck.

Re: 37% of jobs in the United States can be performed entirely at home

#206

Post by lotsofpulp » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 4:50 PM UTC

cwmoreiras wrote: post #187

lotsofpulp wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Regardless, I feel employees should get paid for their commutes. Why? How would it even be practical? What if there is congestion? What if someone moved after starting a job, or their commute time changes drastically? Does the employer pay for tolls?

That sounds like a problem for the company to figure out, not the commuter.

That sounds like it would result in the company allocating more of the budget towards people who commute more than to people who commute less.

As someone that commutes less, it means I get less pay, for no benefit to me.

Re: 37% of jobs in the United States can be performed entirely at home

#207

Post by hooande » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 4:50 PM UTC

Adraghast wrote: post #100

mwattsun wrote: post #67

5 of us wrote Microsoft Works for the Macintosh while working at home from 1984 to 1992. Without the internet, we got together as needed to merge code, usually once a month, but sometimes once a week. We talked on the phone. We went to Microsoft once in awhile. It was ideal and worked very well. Maybe it was just our personalities that made it work, but I am astonished that any programmer would rather go into the off…

> I assume that some people are just very lonely and need face to face Anecdata from Hacker News suggests this is true. A lot of lonely young men here freely admit their coworkers are the only people they regularly interact with in-person, and remote work takes that away from them.

This doesn't make sense. There are countless opportunities for social interaction. Join a church, a club, a sports league, a gaming discord. I get that there's a lot of friction involved in joining anything, and many 'lonely young men' don't want to put forth that effort. But it's definitely less total effort than forcing people to come to an office for the purpose of social stimulation. Just measured in terms of time and fuel spent commuting by each person, it isn't even close.

I think there are a lot of reasons that people prefer offices. Most of it is probably tradition and "that's the way we've always done things". If the reason is truly lonely people needing social interaction, then there are a lot of way better solutions.

Re: 37% of jobs in the United States can be performed entirely at home

#208

Post by humanwhosits » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 4:54 PM UTC

heassler wrote: post #192

mwattsun wrote: post #67

5 of us wrote Microsoft Works for the Macintosh while working at home from 1984 to 1992. Without the internet, we got together as needed to merge code, usually once a month, but sometimes once a week. We talked on the phone. We went to Microsoft once in awhile. It was ideal and worked very well. Maybe it was just our personalities that made it work, but I am astonished that any programmer would rather go into the off…

Going to the office means getting to know the people you work with to a meaningful level (there are other opportunities to do that besides meetings, such as having lunch together or going out for a coffee/walk) in a way that is simply not possible when chatting via google meets. But there’s also the increased exposure to serendipity. Unexpected things occur in the office. Maybe you overhear a conversation that makes…

> Unexpected things occur in the office. Maybe you overhear a conversation

The office rumor-mill produced a lot of bad politics in my experience

Re: 37% of jobs in the United States can be performed entirely at home

#209

Post by iso1631 » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 4:55 PM UTC

lamontcg wrote: post #173

30367286 wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I'd spin this around and cast it as a challenge -- regular, forced interactions with coworkers is minimally sufficient and retards some people from pursuing social activities outside the home. Absolutely. Additionally, even getting to that set of regular, forced interactions necessarily consumes the limited time those people would have to pursue those social activities outside the home. That is, it's hard to have a…

> Hybrid is a sufficient compromise. No it isn't.

I'm happy to meet up every few months, assuming my time and travel is paid for and it's arranged well in advance

Re: 37% of jobs in the United States can be performed entirely at home

#210

Post by hooande » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 4:55 PM UTC

flowersjeff wrote: post #157

This surprises...nobody? Except maybe bean counters/management types that need to show off perhaps. With that said, I do have concerns. These issues center around a shift in benefits offered as a result of this new paradigm ( hate using that word but ) around the nature of work. I.e. the gig everything economy coming to your job...soon Many folks in the US work a 9to5 not just for the pay, rather for healthcare and s…

If there is a large shift toward gig economy work, then the healthcare industry will shift as well. There's nothing preventing them from offering affordable healthcare to gig employees other than the status quo and their current profit models.

Something the size of the insurance industry is going to shift about 5-10 years after the general market. So if you're worried about short term gigification of your job, you might want to look into private insurance/benefit options now. Over the long term I think it will take care of itself.