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Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

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Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#111

Post by keiferski »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #105
gspr wrote: post #29

I wonder if this is related to the long commutes Americans have gotten used to. I'm not in the US, and while I would say I definitely appreciate the flexibility of being able to work from home (or from "not the office") every now and then, and I do like the present drop in meetings, I cannot fathom how people stay sane without a variety of other people around. My productivity has definitely dropped, and it feels like…

> Does anyone feel the same? The study headline is that half of Americans prefer work from home. The other half either prefer working from an office or haven't made their minds up yet. In my experience managing remote teams, including some people who are new to WFH, many people struggle with the isolation of WFH. For others, the honeymoon phase is short-lived as cabin fever sets in. During normal times, the solution…

It's not a matter of "they haven't come around to my opinion yet, but they will." Some people just like working with others, in person, face to face. And some activities are impossible to do from a computer screen, miles away (fashion or product design, for example.)

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#112

Post by flatline »

gspr wrote: post #29

I wonder if this is related to the long commutes Americans have gotten used to. I'm not in the US, and while I would say I definitely appreciate the flexibility of being able to work from home (or from "not the office") every now and then, and I do like the present drop in meetings, I cannot fathom how people stay sane without a variety of other people around. My productivity has definitely dropped, and it feels like…

My work is all meetings all the time, now. I’m on the phone most of the day. Little things that used to take 20 minutes now take an hour. I used to enjoy working from home a couple days a week because I got some peace and quiet and knew I could catch back up with people when I returned to the office. I went from loving to hating my job in the last three weeks. I am also constantly distracted by having the kids around and, you know, the end of the world. It’s not the isolation I mind it’s having to still work with others under these conditions. I think you have to have a very particular set of circumstances to enjoy wfh under these conditions and I doubt half of Americans have them. I suspect they just have a lot of free time around the house “working” and their jobs could largely be replaced with automation in the near future, but maybe that’s just a bit of jealousy on my part.

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#113

Post by andarleen »

cjrp wrote: post #42
andarleen wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Time for a lifestyle change I suppose.

I have friends and hobbies outside of work, but I still miss my "work friends". If you're going to be somewhere for ~8 hours a day, I find it's nice to have some company.

A partner, kids, a family, those might last longer than work friends who will likely move on from the friendship once they change jobs. I used to be in a similar situation (living in an expensive city, my only friends were work friends, and home was a lonely miserable place). Started doing remote work, earning the same amount of money, own a pretty decent mansion, and have permanent friends and people around me. Isolation or not it doesnt really bother me. The notion that for a decent career one should sacrifice everything is a trap. While we slave away in large corps, earning money, our employers pretty much already do what i said i am. One can still be a great engineer or whatever without a shallow life.

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#115

Post by PragmaticPulp »

Galaco wrote: post #96
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm anticipating that most HNers prompted to comment here will be those thinking this unlikely or wrong or whatever. On the contrary, this seems like the most honest take on the topic of remote work preferences. The headline says that 50% of Americans prefer working from home. That suggests that 50% prefer working from the office or aren't sure yet. In other words: Some people like to work from home. Some people do…

> The headline says that 50% of Americans prefer working from home. That suggests that 50% prefer working from the office. If you even glance at the article that's just not true. The remaining vote is split between 'Prefers the Office' and 'Unsure'. If you were to split the 'Unsure' based on the current ratio of 'Prefers Home':'Prefers the office' between the 2, you're looking at closer to 42% 'prefer the office'.

> If you were to split the 'Unsure' based on the current ratio of 'Prefers Home':'Prefers the office' between the 2, you're looking at closer to 42% 'prefer the office'.

I updated my post.

Given my prior experience managing remote teams, WFH tends to come with a honeymoon phase where people enjoy their new freedom but don't yet miss the social interaction of the office. Over time, some people tend to get cabin fever and feel isolated, especially if they don't have strong social networks outside of work. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the "Prefers Home' group switch to 'Not decided' or even 'No' over time.

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#116

Post by gspr »

flatline wrote: post #112
gspr wrote: post #29

I wonder if this is related to the long commutes Americans have gotten used to. I'm not in the US, and while I would say I definitely appreciate the flexibility of being able to work from home (or from "not the office") every now and then, and I do like the present drop in meetings, I cannot fathom how people stay sane without a variety of other people around. My productivity has definitely dropped, and it feels like…

My work is all meetings all the time, now. I’m on the phone most of the day. Little things that used to take 20 minutes now take an hour. I used to enjoy working from home a couple days a week because I got some peace and quiet and knew I could catch back up with people when I returned to the office. I went from loving to hating my job in the last three weeks. I am also constantly distracted by having the kids around…

Re the last parts: I sure hope you're right, but I think we're both a bit jealous and/or afraid that it is we who are ill-suited for a coming WFH future :-/

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#117

Post by eru »

Tade0 wrote: post #19

No wonder given that the daily commute is both mentally and physically taxing for most. I've been working remotely since 2015 and have already decided to settle in a perhaps less attractive, but definitely cheaper neighbourhood so that I could have some office space in the house. In the long run it's probably going to cost as much as the sum total of fuel and vehicles used over the years, but the main benefit is not…

People get used to most things. A few weeks after winning the lottery or losing an arm, they are mostly as happy as they were before. (Mostly! Not completely.)

But I read somewhere that the misery of commuting is strangely resistance to the hedonic treadmill.

See eg https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/may/01/change-...

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#118

Post by [deleted] »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #58
willvarfar wrote: post #25

I'm anticipating that most HNers prompted to comment here will be those thinking this unlikely or wrong or whatever. Every time something positive about remote working is on HN, only those opposing it seem to comment... So, anyway, here's my vote in favour of remote working! I've worked from home for the last 10 years straight, and two years in the decade before that. Working from home has always been best for me. Hi…

> I'm anticipating that most HNers prompted to comment here will be those thinking this unlikely or wrong or whatever. On the contrary, this seems like the most honest take on the topic of remote work preferences. The headline says that 50% of Americans prefer working from home. That suggests that 50% prefer working from the office or aren't sure yet. In other words: Some people like to work from home. Some people do…

[deleted]

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#119

Post by PragmaticPulp »

ffmike wrote: post #95
willvarfar wrote: post #25

I'm anticipating that most HNers prompted to comment here will be those thinking this unlikely or wrong or whatever. Every time something positive about remote working is on HN, only those opposing it seem to comment... So, anyway, here's my vote in favour of remote working! I've worked from home for the last 10 years straight, and two years in the decade before that. Working from home has always been best for me. Hi…

I've been full-time remote (work from home, with a 3-year stint of work from RV) since 1995. It's always worked well for me, and I've been plenty productive enough to keep employers happy. Raised 4 kids in that time, too, including homeschooling. When it works, it works!

For every positive WFH anecdote, we can find someone who performs worse with WFH.

That's the problem with using anecdotes to make sweeping decisions for entire companies: It doesn't acknowledge the differences between people.

Ideally, we'll end up with a mix of remote companies and in-office companies, and the people who prefer each style have plenty of options to choose from.

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#120

Post by stelios313 »

gspr wrote: post #29

I wonder if this is related to the long commutes Americans have gotten used to. I'm not in the US, and while I would say I definitely appreciate the flexibility of being able to work from home (or from "not the office") every now and then, and I do like the present drop in meetings, I cannot fathom how people stay sane without a variety of other people around. My productivity has definitely dropped, and it feels like…

Its crazy how exactly this describes my mental state when i am "working" from home.. I have colleagues that swear by it though, so i guess it differs from person to person
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