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The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

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Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#111

Post by afr0ck »

watwut wrote: post #43

I think that people coming in and being alone or not talking whole day are things that will solve themselves over time. People/management will start to coordinate when who comes. People will start to socialize again. But, omg, I really don't want to go back to office. I like not having to travel there. I like breakfast in peace taking my sweet time for it and lunch at home. I like extra sleep I am getting in the morn…

I think WFH could be a blessing when you have a family. I still like WFH to a certain extent because I get more focused and more productive. But it has one major drawback: for solo people, like me, living alone, far from friends and family, it's very hard to not feel lonely. And to fill the loneliness gap, I tend to work more, casually burning out myself and then ending up depressed and feeling overworked.

I am still trying to build a social network on this new city, but it's a very hard process and a very long one. For now, going to office, makes me feel less lonely and I get some interactions and also do some activities with co-workers.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#112

Post by fcatalan »

rkangel wrote: post #94
fcatalan wrote: post #70

"Emergency" WFH at my workplace have been slashed, everyone back in full since the start of the month. No reason publically given, been privately told "not about people like you, but some others have taken a 2 year vacation so management is fed up". I have emails from the CEO personally thanking me for my commitment in going way over what was expected when basically saving the institution during lockdown, so now I al…

I love working from home, and I have a very enlightened employer but I do have some sympathy with the companies that have a chunk of employees who just don't work when they're at home. The situation in my company is simple to manage - we hire good people who are very capable and then trust them to get on and do the job. That works with the sort of people we hire and the sort of work we ask them to do. If they're at h…

It's the same here as in your partner's place. Even the proportions. This is government work: hiring practices are bad by design and "firing practices" unexistant. No one is ever fired. This means that the place is perennially understaffed in practice and depends fully on the goodwill, personal/professional ethics and patience of those that will do the work. But since they can't fire and we all have to live together somehow, management likes to keep the illusion that everyone is the same. So sometimes they will design promotion schemes or bonuses that favor slackers over the guys doing the job, or punish everyone equally for the sins of a few.

It's a pretty kafkian environment, but it's sort of a golden cage too: Pay is good, benefits great, stability rock solid. I'm used to a freedom of agency and independence that I'm afraid would go over badly in a normal place. So I stay.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#113

Post by di4na »

kamaal wrote: post #65

There is a big reason to Work from office, apart from the merits of the case like close collaboration, productivity et al. Most important of all is being able to see your manager on a day to day basis, a lot of people don't really understand how important seeing your bosses on a day to day basis can be to their careers. Most people have a problem of neglecting what isn't front of them, it's not malice or anything its…

I mean i already never got a raise or career path and already knew job hopping was the only way up, as it has been for the past decade.

And never got a manager trying to change that. We are in a mercenary industry and the faster we accept that the better for us all.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#114

Post by codewithcheese »

turbinerneiter wrote: post #37
stn_za wrote: post #26

In my view, the biggest problem with hybrid is: You are still required to live/reside near the office. Fully remote allows me to live in a very affordable area while still earning a great salary

First the companies offshored the jobs, now the employees offshore themselves. At some point, somebody will start asking why the Indian working remotely in India is paid less than the American/European expat working remotely from Bali.

Many companies already do location based salaries for remote workers, meaning you will be paid less if you live in Bali than San Francisco. Essentially, the company is performing location arbitrage rather than the employee.

Next companies create more attractive work places in cheaper areas and lures employees there.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#115

Post by fcatalan »

pmlnr wrote: post #101
onion2k wrote: post #75

Employees need to be on site, we’re told, because collaborating with one another has been harder to do when everyone is working from separate locations. I think this is true, but only if the main part of your job is collaborating eg talking to other people to reach a consensus. That is easier face to face. The problem is that only higher up management roles are actually like that. Lower down the tree people are expec…

> That is easier face to face Written down communication makes things impossible to wiggle out of later on, meaning the writing needs to happen anyway, why waste time on the face to face?

That's another reason for them. Can't make verbal promises to you and then forget about them via email.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#116

Post by iso1210 »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #88
rosmax_1337 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I have emails from the CEO personally thanking me for my commitment in going way over what was expected when basically saving the institution during lockdown It's a business not a skate park, tell your CEO that you appreciate the positive feedback but that if he really means what he is saying: he should put his money where his mouth is and give you a sizable raise or a considerable bonus.

Money doesn't solve every problem.

Money makes them think about value. When I took my current job in 2016 I wanted more than they could pay, they wanted me to be based in an office (Oh it would only be officially we dont mind you working from home)

We compromised, my contract says I work from home and they pay me for my time and travel if I go somewhere, and they can afford me.

Can they justify paying you an extra $50k a year (or $10k, or $100k) just to have you in an office?

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#117

Post by oneeyedpigeon »

Nursie wrote: post #71
stn_za wrote: post #26

In my view, the biggest problem with hybrid is: You are still required to live/reside near the office. Fully remote allows me to live in a very affordable area while still earning a great salary

I now live on a different continent from my workplace. It's great :)

Totally — it's a bit weird getting paid in a non-native currency, though :)

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#118

Post by showsover »

DoingIsLearning wrote: post #103
showsover wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It might go either way to be honest. I'm currently living and working Spain as a SWE (immigrant) for a US company and the amount of useless meetings there is insane. That makes it quite hard to work on-the-go as half of the day is spent in meetings (most of them with camera turned on).

Can I ask how are you dealing with taxes, working for a US company in Spain? Are you contracting your SWE services and billing them? Or are you an employee of the US company?

I'm an employee of the Spanish office, but the company itself is a US one.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#119

Post by rkangel »

fcatalan wrote: post #112
rkangel wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love working from home, and I have a very enlightened employer but I do have some sympathy with the companies that have a chunk of employees who just don't work when they're at home. The situation in my company is simple to manage - we hire good people who are very capable and then trust them to get on and do the job. That works with the sort of people we hire and the sort of work we ask them to do. If they're at h…

It's the same here as in your partner's place. Even the proportions. This is government work: hiring practices are bad by design and "firing practices" unexistant. No one is ever fired. This means that the place is perennially understaffed in practice and depends fully on the goodwill, personal/professional ethics and patience of those that will do the work. But since they can't fire and we all have to live together…

> I'm used to a freedom of agency and independence that I'm afraid would go over badly in a normal place. So I stay.

I think you're underselling the rest of the world a bit. Many if not most companies aren't great, but there are a good chunk that do empower their employees to do their job properly and that's how you get the most job satisfaction. Of course, this is without knowing your sector and role - it does vary.

You're in a great position that you're in a job you're largely happy with. You should use that as allowing you to carefully choose your next role, rather than as an excuse not to. It's also great in salary negotiations - you can pick a large number because in the worst case you go back to your perfectly reasonable job!

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#120

Post by oneeyedpigeon »

slategruen wrote: post #60

A lot of the sentiments seem to resent commuting a lot? Perhaps most of them works in the US and primarily use cars as a mode of transportation?

I think you have a point — a typical US commute is probably worse than, for example, a typical UK commute. But that's not to say UK commutes are acceptable — my 2 hour each way commute was expensive as well as horribly uncomfortable, and that was on pretty much one of the best rail lines I've used for commuting! Unless we solve the "it's too expensive to live near where you work" problem, I think the trend has to be more towards WFH.
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