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The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

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Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#271

Post by sylens »

wmkn wrote: post #109

Looking at the comments and article, I almost feel like a freak for actually not minding going back to the office. My commute to the office is about a 10 mins walk - maybe that’s the difference with many others here. Either way, I like the separation between work and home. I also believe that online meetings and chat are not a great substitute for actually talking to people, especially when you are building something…

> My commute to the office is about a 10 mins walk - maybe that’s the difference with many others here

That is exactly the difference. Every single comment in here from someone who likes or doesn't mind returning to the office mentions that their commute is short and simple (quick walk/bike)

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#272

Post by dreen »

osigurdson wrote: post #258

I don't think there is anything else more illogical in modern society than waking up in building A, hopping in a car and fighting traffic for an hour to get to building B just to sit in front of a computer for 8 hours (perhaps with a few minimally productive meetings here and there), then commute back to building A 8 hours later. Building B sits empty for 16 hours a day while Building A sits empty for 10 with both be…

Please tell me you don't heat/cool your house 24/7. Other than that I can't agree with you more.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#273

Post by xtracto »

rickspencer3 wrote: post #243

I have a cynical view about this, but also expect it all to come out in the wash over time. My cynical view is that some older executives are, indeed, not as effective in remote companies and younger ones, because they have no practice running remote companies and haven't adapted. Additionally, many senior and middle managers never figured out how to assess and reward actual productivity on their teams, so relied on…

In my previous job, my boss (CEO) did not "believe" in remote work. He pushed so hard for everyone to be in the office during 2020 that there were several covid outbreaks in the office.

The punchline is that we had offices both in California and Mexico... and I was specially hired to open and maintain the office in Mexico.

I flew several times a year to Cali (thankful) but I just couldn't make him see that covid or no covid we would have to make remote work , because I was working remotely for him.

I ended up leaving for a 2x salary position and fully remote job.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#274

Post by progmetaldev »

matwood wrote: post #151
fcatalan wrote: post #70

"Emergency" WFH at my workplace have been slashed, everyone back in full since the start of the month. No reason publically given, been privately told "not about people like you, but some others have taken a 2 year vacation so management is fed up". I have emails from the CEO personally thanking me for my commitment in going way over what was expected when basically saving the institution during lockdown, so now I al…

> "not about people like you, but some others have taken a 2 year vacation so management is fed up" Then it's time to let people go. Early on in COVID leeway definitely needed to be given with daycares closed, people transitioning to WFH, etc... But at this point, if someone can't get their work done remotely, then they should find a non-remote job. We went fully remote prior to the pandemic, and I remember someone i…

This was exactly what I told my boss when I said I need to work remotely from now on. You have no idea what I'm doing whether you can see me across the office, or if I'm home. In my defense, I was able to display that working from home for me boosted my productivity. I can also get my son to school without having to deal with bus schedules.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#275

Post by incomingpain »

sylens wrote: post #263
incomingpain wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Yes, this is just the beginning of the end. I would even say this is the beginning of the end for cities as we know them. I think 80-90% of all white collar jobs will leave cities and suburbia. This will really change the dynamics. This is actually a super interesting subject I haven't considered. What is the tenability of cities without fossil fuels? I think we do know, it's really the cities that collapse. Farmers…

Cities existed before oil. A city without cars can actually be a massive improvement

>Cities existed before oil. A city without cars can actually be a massive improvement

True but cities required domestication of the horse. There were literally horse shit all over the roads and the occasional dead horse that was abandoned.

The answer isn't subways or monorails neither.

The answer may be robotaxis. I am very optimistic that this could solve a large degree of the issues.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#276

Post by shp0ngle »

wmkn wrote: post #109

Looking at the comments and article, I almost feel like a freak for actually not minding going back to the office. My commute to the office is about a 10 mins walk - maybe that’s the difference with many others here. Either way, I like the separation between work and home. I also believe that online meetings and chat are not a great substitute for actually talking to people, especially when you are building something…

I don't mind office when everyone is in. Some things are easier in person.

But this hybrid setup is literally the worst of both worlds. Why come to the office, when nobody is there anyway? There is no upside.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#277

Post by helen___keller »

lukebuehler wrote: post #200
incomingpain wrote: post #186

A ton of businesses are dealing with a bad hand right now. They know they cant successfully force everyone back to the office. If news goes out about X entity is going back to the office. Recruiters go to linkedin and reach out to all of those people and offer them work from home and a raise. Flipside, if you dont go back to the office. What are going doing holding so much $ and costs for nothing? Everyone who realiz…

> How long until climate change or expensive gasoline forces people to just stay home?? Yes, this is just the beginning of the end. I would even say this is the beginning of the end for cities as we know them. I think 80-90% of all white collar jobs will leave cities and suburbia. This will really change the dynamics.

> I would even say this is the beginning of the end for cities as we know them.

Alternate POV: this could save cities as we know them. All top American cities have been struggling for about 20 years now to handle urban growth, as cost of living goes through the roof and small businesses disappear when their renewed lease comes at twice the rent. As always, the survivors are those who can afford the change: homeowners and the wealthy on the residential side (keep in mind cities like Boston are majority renter), and large corporate renters on the business side (think Starbucks instead of Local Coffee Co)

Pre-war growth patterns (ie, densification and transit) have been generally outlawed, and big companies seem to have endless pockets to raise salaries to attract more highly paid workers to compete on rent; so there’s been no counterbalance on this trend. Until remote work.

Right now cities are still expensive, but the next few years as we transition out of the pandemic will determine whether remote work is here to stay; if so, you will likely see another suburban migration of ‘former reluctant office workers’ (we already had one wave at the start of the pandemic), and city real estate might finally cool off for the first time in decades

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#278

Post by dougmwne »

My story goes back 7 years. I had a life reevaluation and my family decided to prioritize location independence. Pre-pandemic my partner and I had been working remotely for years.

I never hated being on-site, I never had a monster commute. Actually one of my commutes was a fabulous bike tour of the major monuments of the national mall. I had a beer keg and a dog to warm my feet when I got to the office.

But once I got out of the office environment for a little while it was like being "red pilled". I could no longer ignore the absolutely silly justification for bringing everyone into the same place, I saw it only as a productivity destroyer for myself and others, I saw the relationships for what they were, shallow and transactional. My first and only stint back on-site it felt like coming back to high school after years and being amazed and all the silly things that loomed so large in your former life.

I'm not a hermit or an introvert. The office is still dead as a doornail for me.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#279

Post by tomrod »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #189
bob2222 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

find a fully remote job if you can

Whats the market like right now? I have a feeling extremely tight as everyone wants a remote job now?

Reporting in, both as employer and targeted as employee through recruiting channels. Recruiters are in full swing and it is hard to find people with data/analytics skillsets. Developers seem similar. Knowing coding seems like foot in the door, modern applications have all kinds of disparate dependencies like k8s, docker, virtualization, Kafka, etc.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#280

Post by boringg »

rickspencer3 wrote: post #243

I have a cynical view about this, but also expect it all to come out in the wash over time. My cynical view is that some older executives are, indeed, not as effective in remote companies and younger ones, because they have no practice running remote companies and haven't adapted. Additionally, many senior and middle managers never figured out how to assess and reward actual productivity on their teams, so relied on…

I would say the benefit of schmoozing (which i dont like) is information sharing about the organization. One thing thats particularly hard in large remote companies if information sharing outside of rigid structure (ie 1 on 1, meetings). Much needed even if some of it isnt great info.

And yeah i would say your take is pretty cynical and pretty ageist -> diminutive to someone for their ability to contribute is reduced greatly by using their age as a proxy.

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