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Stripe’s fifth engineering hub is Remote

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Re: Stripe’s fifth engineering hub is Remote

#111

Post by ghaff »

raverbashing wrote: post #45
drb91 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you expect remote to be less efficient? Working in an open office is incredibly distracting—of course there’s productivity gains from going remote.

This. Whenever someone asks "but how do they manage to be as productive as an office" I just roll my eyes People who "can't adapt to it" usually is resistant to using technology to communicate efficiently. They're usually the ones who think it's just fine to do a quick loud meeting with a colleague (next to someone else's desk who has nothing to do with the conversation and is deeply annoyed by it) Of course, talking…

I'm not sure that's completely fair. A lot of people--perhaps especially those earlier in their careers--genuinely enjoy the social aspects of an office as well as the ability to grab a room and whiteboarding something with colleagues, etc.

Sure, the latter can be replaced with other forms of communications, but it's not a 1:1 replacement and I totally get why a lot of people wouldn't want to work remotely, at least not full-time.

Re: Stripe’s fifth engineering hub is Remote

#112

Post by return1 »

throwaway55554 wrote: post #83
ngngngng wrote: post #61

I've always wanted to switch to fully remote. I worked from home for a couple weeks after my son was born and my current company didn't like it. My productivity was down and they noticed so they informed me I wasn't allowed to work remotely anymore because of it. Obviously it had nothing to do with the fact that they gave me 3 days of parental leave after the birth, so I was trying to help a recovering wife take care…

There are pros and cons. I've been partial remote for 6 years and full remote for nearly 5. I can do whatever I need to do to get into the flow of work; music, no music, lights, no lights, etc. I don't have to conform to what happens at an office. I can start early or work late (my "office" is several time zones away). I can take a personal call w/out feeling guilty. What I cannot do is walk over to a colleague's des…

I think this is something that will improve in the future. Cities everywhere are optimized for the very specific 9-5 living lifestyle and commute, and people heavily rely on work for social functions. But as more and more people are working remotely / without an office, i think we 'll see a shift. This will probably involve a lot of online communiction/coordination.

Re: Stripe’s fifth engineering hub is Remote

#114

Post by matthewowen »

domlebo70 wrote: post #64
dudul wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What metrics do you use to realize that you are less productive?

I was a lead/senior developer of a team of ~10 (in a startup of 30). I was involved heavily in the direction of the company, as well as the day to day running of my team. I now work remotely with a 15 hr time difference. Nowadays I feel extremely left out of the direction of the company, the direction technically, and what my team is up to day to day. I try to close these gaps during calls with my team every day, but…

Oh boy, my guess is that the 15hr time difference part is the biggest issue: it's rough to not have _any_ overlap in natural work hours.

Not to say that your issue might not be remote in general, but for me I definitely think that having much more than the 3 hour difference I currently have with my team would be tricky: just too much time where someone is waiting for someone else.

Re: Stripe’s fifth engineering hub is Remote

#115

Post by hobofan »

I've seen a sign on the street level in Berlin of a Stripe office and heard that 10-20 people are working there with half of them in engineering. I realize that this probably doesn't count as a hub, but how does it fit in with what's explained in the blog post? Has Stripe more non-hub locations?

Re: Stripe’s fifth engineering hub is Remote

#116

Post by freehunter »

Kaveren wrote: post #31
jon-wood wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They clearly state in the article that this is because they aren't currently set up as well to accommodate remote people across disparate time zones, but are looking to resolve that.

South America, Mexico, and other North American countries exist in the same timezones as the US and Canada. Is it something to do with hiring regulations being too much of a pain to deal with in countries where Stripe doesn't feel like the best talent is? Additionally, why not just offer remote positions that require you to work US hours? I manage just fine as someone self-employed and remote working with people in t…

Moving to remote work is hard and filled with problems to begin with. Adding different national holidays, connectivity challenges, cultures, languages, etc on top of that adds to the complexity. If remote work failed, is it because remote work doesn't work, or is it because of employees in different countries, or is it because of cultural differences, or is it because of...?

Starting with a limited trial seems a more risk-averse move. If remote work proves itself out, it can be expanded more easily than it can be retracted.

Re: Stripe’s fifth engineering hub is Remote

#117

Post by domlebo70 »

matthewowen wrote: post #114
domlebo70 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was a lead/senior developer of a team of ~10 (in a startup of 30). I was involved heavily in the direction of the company, as well as the day to day running of my team. I now work remotely with a 15 hr time difference. Nowadays I feel extremely left out of the direction of the company, the direction technically, and what my team is up to day to day. I try to close these gaps during calls with my team every day, but…

Oh boy, my guess is that the 15hr time difference part is the biggest issue: it's rough to not have _any_ overlap in natural work hours. Not to say that your issue might not be remote in general, but for me I definitely think that having much more than the 3 hour difference I currently have with my team would be tricky: just too much time where someone is waiting for someone else.

Yeah. I think you're right. I never had a problem with the odd WFH day when I was based onsite.

Re: Stripe’s fifth engineering hub is Remote

#118

Post by paulddraper »

> There are still some constraints on our ambitions. In our first phase, we will be focused primarily on remote engineers in North America, starting with the US and Canada. While we are confident that great work is possible within close time zones, we don’t yet have structures to give remotes a reliably good experience working across large time zone differences.

I get the time zone thing. So why not South America?

Re: Stripe’s fifth engineering hub is Remote

#119

Post by dudul »

paulddraper wrote: post #118

> There are still some constraints on our ambitions. In our first phase, we will be focused primarily on remote engineers in North America, starting with the US and Canada. While we are confident that great work is possible within close time zones, we don’t yet have structures to give remotes a reliably good experience working across large time zone differences. I get the time zone thing. So why not South America?

Maybe they don't have any legal presence there? No knowledge of employment laws, regulations, etc.

Re: Stripe’s fifth engineering hub is Remote

#120

Post by simonebrunozzi »

Stripe is such an amazing company, and I am really glad that they keep pushing workplace innovation this way.

I am currently looking for a new job (exec level) and unfortunately I don't see any great fit with Stripe's current openings, otherwise I would simply love to see how the company operates from the inside.

Keep rocking.

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