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Nearly 40% of software engineers will only work remotely

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Re: Nearly 40% of software engineers will only work remotely

#141
post #2

Why would I commute (and in doing so lose 2 hours of my time per day)? Focusing in the office is next to impossible, the equipment is sub-par (I have a 3-monitor setup at home)? What is it about software engineering that requires physical presence? Currently we meet once a week in the office and I get almost no work done that day, and I’m not the only one.

>the equipment is sub-par (I have a 3-monitor setup at home)?

This is a funny reality. Even the profligate employers of software developers are reluctant to spend money on a monitor setup as nice as what I had at home at the entry level.

...except, of course, I paid for it - plus sales tax - with the money they gave me - net of income tax.

Re: Nearly 40% of software engineers will only work remotely

#142
post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope. You realize that kids need and beg for endless amount of attention from parents long after maternity/paternity leave ends, even in Finland. Its clear from your post you don't have much experience with being around small kids for longer time. Unless you plan to subsidize everybody's maternity leave till kids are teens, then leave is just bare minimum, even at 1 year, heck even at 3 as its back home. In fact, fir…

Your comment also points towards the solution for low natality. In rich countries people want a lot more for their kids. They want to raise the kids themselves and spent a lot more time with them in the unique moments when they are still small. So just pay one parent 12 years to take care of their kid. My guess is natality will jump right back.

Back in the day, on a farm kids used to be a form of free labor - of course they took effort up front, but after the oldest are capable for watching after the youngest it breaks even and then after few years the oldest can start to help with actual work.

Now days in cities kids are more like very expensive pets.

Re: Nearly 40% of software engineers will only work remotely

#143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looking for children under a certain age is more or less a full time job. Trying to mix it with work is, well, simply a bad decision. Over that age, and if the kids themselves can manage it... sure, it's great. You're there for breaks and emergencies - much better than being absent for the whole day.

I disagree. I work from home as a new dad of a nearly 8 month old girl now. The first 3 months I took off work to be a full time dad, but since then I've returned back to a 4 day work week and when I work Monday to Thursday I am not distracted by my baby girl at all. I have a separate room as an office, if the door is closed then it means no interruptions. My wife is still on maternity leave so she is free to do the…

I'm not sure how you disagree. It's still a full time job, done by your wife :)

I never said there's a hundred feet range around every child which makes work impossible. Only that you can't say that you can "just watch" the child, and expect to do work in the meantime. People do try this, on occasion.

Re: Nearly 40% of software engineers will only work remotely

#144
post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. I work from home as a new dad of a nearly 8 month old girl now. The first 3 months I took off work to be a full time dad, but since then I've returned back to a 4 day work week and when I work Monday to Thursday I am not distracted by my baby girl at all. I have a separate room as an office, if the door is closed then it means no interruptions. My wife is still on maternity leave so she is free to do the…

Sorry to say but sweet docile 8 month old girl is EZ mode and very different from a 3 year old boy running around banging on your office door demanding your attention every 20 minutes. Source: have 3 yo boy and 7 mo girl, even with stay at home mom to help. The girl’s presence is almost unnoticeable during work hours unless I want to see her, it’s fully under my control. The boy is a totally different story. Wouldn’t…

Will second this. I typically work later in to the day/night because our son is loud during the day and it can be hard to focus so I shift my hours.

Re: Nearly 40% of software engineers will only work remotely

#145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looking for children under a certain age is more or less a full time job. Trying to mix it with work is, well, simply a bad decision. Over that age, and if the kids themselves can manage it... sure, it's great. You're there for breaks and emergencies - much better than being absent for the whole day.

I disagree. I work from home as a new dad of a nearly 8 month old girl now. The first 3 months I took off work to be a full time dad, but since then I've returned back to a 4 day work week and when I work Monday to Thursday I am not distracted by my baby girl at all. I have a separate room as an office, if the door is closed then it means no interruptions. My wife is still on maternity leave so she is free to do the…

No offense mate but if your only experience so far is having an 8 month old, you don't get to have an opinion on this topic yet.

Re: Nearly 40% of software engineers will only work remotely

#146

I have the best of both worlds as an introvert - moved to a low COL city as my job is fully remote and rented a 15 m2 private office in a local office building for £230/month, that's 10 minutes away. This way I shield myself from family distractions during work hours. My productivity has never been this high.

My friend has this exact setup and, interestingly, a very similar price.

A five minute stroll is enough for him to get there and he can go back for lunch if he has a need.

I'm planning on doing something similar long term.

Re: Nearly 40% of software engineers will only work remotely

#147
post #11

While everyone has their preferences I find myself hating the office a lot less than I used to these days. (and I was very vocal about hating the office pre-covid[0]) However, some things of note: 1) My "Office" (not home) is not an "Open Office", it's a place where I can reasonably sit in peace and have control of my surroundings (this is something not afforded to most people in offices, and something that work from…

>Being able to look after your offspring is great! This is a big no and main reason why I am against WFH. Here in Finland we have ample maternity leave and pretty good paternity leave as well, so why in the fuck are we allowing these new fathers to "work" from home while looking after the kid? The mother has maternity leave precisely so she can take care of the kid(s), she should be doing it for the 8 hours you are w…

> cheap

> healthy food

> prepared by someone else

Pick two at best.

Re: Nearly 40% of software engineers will only work remotely

#148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Scandinavia there is free daycare. It works great, gender inequality in the workplace is amongst the lowest in the world. There is no stigma on bringing your kids to the daycare, like in some traditional Western countries; it is actually the opposite, people feel it's good for kids to be with others of their same age. However birth rates are dropping there as much as in all the other rich countries. So the problem…

(I often try and struggle to explain my thoughts on this, but I'll try again.) I keep hearing here in the UK that the reason people aren't having kids is because it's so expensive, and I do what you do -- point people at the stats in Scandinavia where a huge chunk of childcare costs is borne by the state, and yet the birth rates are dropping. My theory on this, and one that I personally felt as well, is that there's…

> My theory on this, and one that I personally felt as well, is that there's just no compelling reason to have kids outside of some biological imperative.

> Having kids is seen as a big life-changing decision that rocks a relatively comfortable boat of material comforts and some light hedonism. Why bother with this when you can coast comfortably through life?

I strongly disagree with this. It's a fair question, but humans are social creatures and find pleasure in more than just base things. We describe things as rewarding. Why play sports when you could sit down comfortably? If you play sports, why not play against the easiest opponent? Play all games on easy mode, why make it harder? Why go and find a romantic partner in life, wouldn't it be easier to sit at home and masturbate all day? Why study and learn new topics, why not just do the bare minimum to earn enough money to sit and watch tv.

People even volunteer. That's working for free.

This doesn't mean everyone has to find them rewarding, but there's far more to it than "I just feel I need to have kids".

Re: Nearly 40% of software engineers will only work remotely

#149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope. You realize that kids need and beg for endless amount of attention from parents long after maternity/paternity leave ends, even in Finland. Its clear from your post you don't have much experience with being around small kids for longer time. Unless you plan to subsidize everybody's maternity leave till kids are teens, then leave is just bare minimum, even at 1 year, heck even at 3 as its back home. In fact, fir…

>Its clear from your post you don't have much experience with being around small kids for longer time. Yep, that is literally what day care is for. This is how things have been done for decades . How are things all of a sudden any different - other than now the father is working from home and the mother can offload onto him and eat into his work time. As with everything having kids requires sacrifices, meaning you lo…

You don’t need to explain yourself. This person just felt the need to nit on you.

Having kids is a choice. For me, the right one, and a core part of who I am. But you don’t need to justify or explain why you made your choice.

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