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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

#171

Post by lentil_soup »

levidos wrote: post #102

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.

I did something similar but went to a coworking space. A very nice 10min walk from my house, a bunch of my friends also work there so we have lunch together, in the evenings we sometimes go for a drink, close to my gym so can do gym breaks as well. Life changing!

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

#172

Post by orangepurple »

jxidjhdhdhdhfhf wrote: post #131
shrikant wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(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…

Poor people are still having a lot of kids, it's the developed world that has a problem. I think the decline is birthrate is much better explained by material wealth and the corresponding education of women that goes along with it as causes of the drop.

If you are having a substantial amount of kids at least one partner's income is entirely eaten up by childcare expenses so it is cheaper to simply not work and take care of the kids full time.

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

#173

Post by shakes_mcjunkie »

3np wrote: post #140
tarsinge wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My meandering point is that: everyone has different life situations Yes, so it's not about preferences, it's not about the pros and cons, it's about not forcing people for needless suffering. Forcing people who want or need (professionally or personally) to work with other people at home is absurd, and forcing people who provide better work at home (for jobs were it makes no difference to be in office) to commute a…

Sure. So some people will work for remote-first companies and some people will for for office-first companies. There's no one-size-fits all and different companies will work with different models. You're not forced to work at any particular company and no company should be expected to be the right place for all profiles. (Within that the employer of course does have responsibilities to accommodate employee differenti…

> You're not forced to work at any particular company

This is just false. People can be stuck at a company for a variety of reasons.

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

#174

Post by sethd »

dijit wrote: 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…

I had a similar setup: private office (not a great view, though) and 5-10 minute commute.

I would still only work from home.

I enjoyed riding my bike to work when the weather was nice, but I’d rather ride to other places instead (better routes). Same goes with walking, I’d rather walk around my neighborhood and nearby parks and lakes than the central business district.

I suppose my point is that even if you’re in an ideal situation, the office still doesn’t make sense. Most people are not in that position so it makes even less sense.

The occasional face-to-face get together is nice, but you don’t need an office for that.

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

#175

Post by jokethrowaway »

zdyn5 wrote: post #130
dustedcodes wrote: post #81

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…

If you have your own office at home and a dedicated adult even kids are not too much of a bother. Sure some occasional screaming and crying.

Two boys and one girl squad.

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

#176

Post by sidlls »

Hackbraten wrote: post #72
prmoustache wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is more for the commuting in and out of school that it helps. My kids could walk back from school but primary school do not allows them to get out without me. This is kind of stupid as I would sign a waiver if they wanted it but they won't. So until they both reach what you call high school in the USA I have to go to the primary school and back every day. The most funny thing is sometimes I go there by bicycle, le…

> primary school do not allows them to get out without me Please tell me you’re joking.

I doubt it, because I have a similar issue at my kids' school. Kids must either enter a parent's vehicle (which must have a paper or other sign with the names of the kids being picked up on display) at the drive-through pick up, be picked up in person, or get onto a school bus or other approved after-school service. They cannot leave, basically, without an adult who takes them. I was shocked when I found out about it.

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

#177

Post by peanuty1 »

concinds wrote: post #73

Do any of the Big Five stand out in terms of being above-average (or below-average) for WFH? Or are they universally meh? I know there's team-by-team variation, just wondering about overall trends.

Apple has been anti-WFH from the beginning, which led to their director of machine learning, Ian Goodfellow, resigning. Amazon was previously very WFH-friendly but their CEO, Andy Jassy, recently announced RTO. Meta and Google have allowed a high percentage of their employees to WFH. Microsoft has a lot of in-person roles in Redmond.

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

#178

Post by shanebellone »

shakes_mcjunkie wrote: post #173
3np wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure. So some people will work for remote-first companies and some people will for for office-first companies. There's no one-size-fits all and different companies will work with different models. You're not forced to work at any particular company and no company should be expected to be the right place for all profiles. (Within that the employer of course does have responsibilities to accommodate employee differenti…

> You're not forced to work at any particular company This is just false. People can be stuck at a company for a variety of reasons.

Stuck != Force

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

#179

Post by FooBarWidget »

zmmmmm wrote: post #70
FooBarWidget wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people don't have a home office, or even a basic desk + chair setup that's suitable for long hours of computer work. A colleague of mine prefers going to the office because at home he's constantly distracted by kids. Another has literally injured himself due working from his kitchen in a bad position for a year. It's worse than RSI. He had to rehabilitate for half a year just to get back to 95% health, and even…

> my experience is that most people don't have the discipline or will to do this This widely believed anecdotally driven piece of opinion-data was what COVID invalidated. Studies demonstrated no significant loss in productivity and in many cases increased productivity during WFH during covid - putting aside contexts where it was clearly unsuitable / suboptimal (people trapped in their houses with small kids, no appro…

It is my personal experience at my own workplace. I literally saw with my own eyes that if I don't force employees to have a proper work environment, then they won't set one up by themselves, only to get back pain a few days later.

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

#180

Post by herval »

dijit wrote: 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…

I doubt anyone with an office setup like yours would hate going to the office :-)
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