Many of us were remote, and now many of us are being asked to come back? Knowing office workers all work with remote people in other offices, and there’s not much in-office dynamic like maybe there was 20 years ago, what are your primary motivations dragging us back into the office? Nearly every meeting I’ve had in an office since 2014 has been a video conference with remote people.
Ask HN: Employers, why do you want us back in the office?
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Re: Ask HN: Employers, why do you want us back in the office?
#2Not an employer. But I believe most employees simply put in less hours when working from home, and most employers aren't very good at rewarding people for their results, not their hours.
Re: Ask HN: Employers, why do you want us back in the office?
#3Pre March 2020 almost none of my meetings in the preceding 5 years included a single remote person. I liked that better for working. I felt more connected to my colleagues and more in tune with what was happening around the firm.
Of course I also enjoy some of the flexibility of WFH.
Re: Ask HN: Employers, why do you want us back in the office?
#4People need social connections with their peers to work together successfully. It's much easier to build these connections in the office than virtually. Seeing each other a couple times per quarter for an extended period could also work, but it's easier--if you already have an office space--to bring people together in the office once or twice a week.
Re: Ask HN: Employers, why do you want us back in the office?
#520 years ago I was on a lot of conference calls early or late in the workday, offshoring my job to a time zone 11.5 or 10.5 hours off, or with sysadmins 1 hour off.
The only thing that's changed in 20 years is Zoom or WebEx vs a conference bridge. There wasn't an in office dynamic then or now.
Re: Ask HN: Employers, why do you want us back in the office?
#6Some problems are solved faster by multiple people getting together in front of a whiteboard and drawing. For those kinds of problems it’s useful to have people in the same room until we have AR solutions that can fill that need. Also for some people, not leaving their home caused significant issues in their performance. People aren’t solitary creatures, so for some - the office fills that role. For others, home office works perfectly well. There isn’t a yes/no answer here. I should perhaps add, that coming to the office was always voluntary in my company, way before Covid.
Re: Ask HN: Employers, why do you want us back in the office?
#7Banks are offering almost 40% more than they offered me last year for 2 days hybrid. It's amazing.
Re: Ask HN: Employers, why do you want us back in the office?
#8People need social connections with their peers to work together successfully. It's much easier to build these connections in the office than virtually. Seeing each other a couple times per quarter for an extended period could also work, but it's easier--if you already have an office space--to bring people together in the office once or twice a week.
That sounds like a reason why an employee would go to the office. But not really something employer would care about - they don't care about employees social lifes in other contexts.
Re: Ask HN: Employers, why do you want us back in the office?
#9Real estate.
Re: Ask HN: Employers, why do you want us back in the office?
#10People need social connections with their peers to work together successfully. It's much easier to build these connections in the office than virtually. Seeing each other a couple times per quarter for an extended period could also work, but it's easier--if you already have an office space--to bring people together in the office once or twice a week.
That sounds like a reason why an employee would go to the office. But not really something employer would care about - they don't care about employees social lifes in other contexts.
> "People need social connections with their peers to work together successfully"