I don't understand how the research methodology used in the article supports this conclusion. How did they rule out the possibility that the post-pandemic economic situation has had a greater impact on these jobs, leading to greater stress? How did they we rule out that remote work has led to greater range of outsourcing, resulting in more intense competition for these jobs, rather than that caused by
the lack of social contact? Or is it simply because the rapid development of AI in the research period has had a greater impact on these jobs, which is an obvious possibility?
Home alone: Remote work, isolation, and mental health
71–80 of 212 posts
Re: Home alone: Remote work, isolation, and mental health
#72For all the good this shift brought, I think a lot of people genuinely just aren't made for remote working. This _can_ also happen in IT and tech, however I think it's more of an issue in all the non-IT spaces that _also_ went remote due to the pandemic. IT tends to favor a specific cluster of brain wiring that is more likely to strive in such environments, which I think often skews our perspective on things. Employe…
Introverts, two-professional family units and affordable housing are all favoured by working remote. Companies have a larger pool of talent to draw from, and probably can lower their salaries.
And they also permit people with kids to participate.
Re: Home alone: Remote work, isolation, and mental health
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
>In most cultures "what do you do" is the first question that people will answer with their job position in most Western countries. No, it's the opposite, in most places in the world, average people typically respond with their profession just as they always had in every coultre on the planet, from India to Bulgaria to North America from 2000 BC to 2026 AD. Are you a blacksmith, are you a priest, are you a teacher, a…
I am in Asia, and do not experience that 'snobby western white collar' attitude here. It is seen as a polite form like "how's the weather", and answer like "just going to grab a snack", inviting others to join. Have worked with many people from different backgrounds due to an international/localization team and open source activities in Asia. And the name argument in a lot of places was a forced naming. In the Nether…
>I am in Asia, and do not experience that 'snobby western white collar' attitude here.
Probably because Asia isn't much like "the west".
>Have worked with many people from different backgrounds due to an international/localization team and open source activities in Asia.
Well-off tech workers who travel to (or host) open source conferences around the world, are a selection bias of a niche within a niche, not representative of the customs and attitudes of the general population within their respective countries, same how football fans(hooligans) who travel abroad at games, also don't represent the average people of their respective countries.
Re: Home alone: Remote work, isolation, and mental health
#74For all the good this shift brought, I think a lot of people genuinely just aren't made for remote working. This _can_ also happen in IT and tech, however I think it's more of an issue in all the non-IT spaces that _also_ went remote due to the pandemic. IT tends to favor a specific cluster of brain wiring that is more likely to strive in such environments, which I think often skews our perspective on things. Employe…
Introverts, two-professional family units and affordable housing are all favoured by working remote. Companies have a larger pool of talent to draw from, and probably can lower their salaries. And they also permit people with kids to participate.
Yes. I also took a lower salary to continue a remote only position. I've had recruiters reach out to offer positions in places I don't want to go back to, and I always politely tell them that they'd have to pay me more than I'm worth to go back.
Re: Home alone: Remote work, isolation, and mental health
#75This is also why having a good manager is key; I worked as an engineering manager and kept a near weekly 1-1 with my engineers, not per se to socialize, but to allow them to ask questions about the tasks, implementation comments, etc. but the environment I created allowed them to talk other stuff. All my associates appreciated this mix of technical talk, but also fun discussions, etc. I am sure it help them to stay a…
Maybe my managers have always sucked or I'm terrible at sharing info or not very chatty with people at work but I've personally always found weekly 1-1's to end up being fairly useless. May just be a person by person thing though, not saying what you have is bad per say. Very rarely did anything actually get discussed of any meaning. Ive always found them to end up just being another annoying meeting in my calendar.
I think almost all of my managers sucked and probably most in the world do. There's no real training, MBAs have their reputation for a reason or they're engineers promoted and maybe have a random close by mentor at best. The position is filled with career climbers. Career climbing doesn't priotize employees best interests.
Re: Home alone: Remote work, isolation, and mental health
#76I don't understand how the research methodology used in the article supports this conclusion. How did they rule out the possibility that the post-pandemic economic situation has had a greater impact on these jobs, leading to greater stress? How did they we rule out that remote work has led to greater range of outsourcing, resulting in more intense competition for these jobs, rather than that caused by the lack of soc…
This is a psychology paper. It’s difficult to attribute anything in psychology easily to a certain factor.
Re: Home alone: Remote work, isolation, and mental health
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am in Asia, and do not experience that 'snobby western white collar' attitude here. It is seen as a polite form like "how's the weather", and answer like "just going to grab a snack", inviting others to join. Have worked with many people from different backgrounds due to an international/localization team and open source activities in Asia. And the name argument in a lot of places was a forced naming. In the Nether…
>I am in Asia, and do not experience that 'snobby western white collar' attitude here. Probably because Asia isn't much like "the west". >Have worked with many people from different backgrounds due to an international/localization team and open source activities in Asia. Well-off tech workers who travel to (or host) open source conferences around the world, are a selection bias of a niche within a niche, not represen…
> isn't much like "the west"
as I said: a very Western way of answering, but you brought India into the mix too.
> Open Source Local people, not the expats or visitors. I have been a regional manager. Dealt with people from China, Japan, Cambodia, Laos, India, etc. Locals. You assume and limit a lot when I point out "different backgrounds".
Every day when I pick up my son, there is a middle eastern man (nationality not important) who asks the same question; and answers himself too as "waiting for my daughter". Westerners assume this means to ask about job. It isn't everywhere.
Common sense (and assumption) isn't as common, as the environment you grow up in influences this.
Re: Home alone: Remote work, isolation, and mental health
#78But if I want to be social why does it have to be people I didnt choose (i.e. co workers). Why can I WFH and socialise with my family/friends who I choose to be with. This is basically nothing to do with remote work and more about isolation.
Being forced to interact with people you haven't chosen to socialize is good for your mental health and for society. People interacting with different people are less afraid of the world, more trusting etc. Clustering into echochambers is bad for society as a whole.
Work is a fake environment where your communication is policed and you need to read books about how to effectively communicate to influence people do the things you want. Normals socialization isn't like that.
Re: Home alone: Remote work, isolation, and mental health
#79> After the pandemic, workers in remote-capable jobs spent more time working alone and avoided social activities with their friends, remaining more isolated both during and after work. This pattern was most pronounced among remote workers living alone: They spent entire days without human contact and their mental distress, use of mental healthcare, and antidepressants increased acutely. One of those results which is…
IDK I quite enjoy being home alone with no human contact. Interacting with other people is so tiring, and there's not much reward in it for me. Being with other people is stressful.
Re: Home alone: Remote work, isolation, and mental health
#80> Although a large body of research finds that workers want to work remotely, our findings suggest that workers may not realize the costs of remote work for their well-being
Sentences like this just make my eyes roll. 'Workers' have agency to make judgement on what has a positive and what has a negative effect on their well being.
Personally not having to commute led to me being able to attend meetup groups in the evenings where I formed an amazing group of friends and met my current partner. It had such a massively positive impact on my well-being.