I love having lunch with co-workers. It’s a great way to connect. Even though at my office only about 30% of folks are back, it’s roughly the same group each day. So I’m happy being back even if all meetings involve Zoom. At least getting a conference room for all the zoom calls is not too hard :)
Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
81–90 of 265 posts
Re: Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
#82This is the most frustrating part of being forced back to the Bay Area. Even before the pandemic, we always had distributed meetings, with people calling in from various buildings, conference rooms, phone booths, etc. So nothing changes between last month and this month, except that managers get peace-of-mind knowing I’m calling in from somewhere on the premises, and I’m back living in a place where I can’t afford a…
>I did have previous jobs where we worked on hard technical problems, and spending face-to-face time with a couple colleagues hashing out solutions at a whiteboard was invaluable. But that is not my FAANG job, where the whiteboards are rarely used for anything other than interview questions
I hope that I get to work on some actually hard problems at some point in my career. Sounds fun :)
Re: Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
I still find the replies to my personal experience very baffling. I didn't say what anybody else should be doing; I didn't present it as a universal truth. It seems very clear to me that there is room for a variety of workplace types. Strictly in-office, hybrid, and strictly remote. I said I enjoyed getting together with my coworkers; I also said my ideal situation would involve spending a majority of time remote.
It’s loss aversion. Many people perceive office environment to be unpleasant for various reasons (long commute, psychopathic coworkers, noisy, lack of privacy) and so now they have tasted freedom they have a strong negative reaction to losing it.
I just said I enjoyed one week in the office. After four years.
I'm not advocating for folks to stop working remotely. I'm not advocating anything.
I'll certainly never share another personal experience on HN, that's for sure.
Re: Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
I did the same and it was as unbelievably worthless as I recalled from before the pandemic. You know what really stands out in the office? How sad it all is. The frowns on the subway, the fake smiles in the office, the pretending, the posturing. Bleh. I'm resigning.
Quoted post unavailable.
no need to be rude
Re: Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
I enjoyed one single week of office work after four years of being fully remote, and plainly expressed my preference to continue being remote a majority of the time. I also don't interrupt others in the office, thanks very much. I've worked with those sorts of people (who hasn't?) and I resent them as well. You enjoy being remote 100% of the time? Cool. I think there is clearly room for a variety of employment arrang…
That’s not how this works. There’s an extreme bias toward butts-in-seats. “Everyone should do what’s best for them” is a nice sentiment, but not how the world works at all. There are a lot of people currently enjoying remote work who are rightfully worried about being forced back to the office for what they perceive as zero benefit. I’m not one of them, but I get where they’re coming from.
but not how the world works at all.
Re: Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
#86Have any of the pro-RTO folks on HN experienced this phenomenon? There's definitely a contingent here who do not prefer remote work, curious to read what they think of going back into the office only to have to continue to call in order to collaborate with coworkers.
Even before COVID all my collaboration with teammates was done online. (We use Teams now) I'm at the main site for my company; my boss and all my close collaborators are at a satellite location that's not within driving distance; my boss's boss is down the hall from me. For me, the act of leaving the office at the end of the day is an effective "off switch" that I don't have while my work station and my gaming statio…
A WeWork-type setup, where coworkers could come in and collaborate on certain days, sounds perfect for your situation.
Re: Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
#87I was thinking returning to the office is sort of a 'prisoner's dilemma'. Everyone has to make the same choice for it to be effective, otherwise the office experience is diminished and working from home is better at that point, since you'll be in remote meetings anyway.
I still think it's a matter of control that the office is preferred. There's absolutely no reason why software problems can't be solved remotely, especially when half of the industry is outsourced to China or India.
Re: Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
#88This reminds me of the time about 7 years ago when my team (in Redmond, WA) wanted to send me to Beijing for a year. I didn't agree so they sent someone else instead. He spent most of the year living in Beijing and working with a team in Bellevue, WA.
I once flew to Alberta, CA from New York to have a conference call with a team that was in another part of Alberta.
Well, those long distance charges will kill you.
Re: Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
I still find the replies to my personal experience very baffling. I didn't say what anybody else should be doing; I didn't present it as a universal truth. It seems very clear to me that there is room for a variety of workplace types. Strictly in-office, hybrid, and strictly remote. I said I enjoyed getting together with my coworkers; I also said my ideal situation would involve spending a majority of time remote.
At this point, the mere existence of the other group is a danger to what the first group sees as their interests. The human instinct is to minimize the other group, making their group appear larger, and strengthening the argument that their interests should prevail. Someone who wants to be completely untethered from the office is threatened by someone who wants to work in the office a couple days a week. It means the…
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Re: Employees are returning to the office to sit on zoom calls
#90This is the most frustrating part of being forced back to the Bay Area. Even before the pandemic, we always had distributed meetings, with people calling in from various buildings, conference rooms, phone booths, etc. So nothing changes between last month and this month, except that managers get peace-of-mind knowing I’m calling in from somewhere on the premises, and I’m back living in a place where I can’t afford a…
Those companies have to justify their office leases somehow.