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Coinbase will be a remote-first company

blog.coinbase.com

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Re: Coinbase will be a remote-first company

#121

Post by borvo »

yuribro wrote: post #18
Cookingboy wrote: post #7

I'm really curious, how many people actually prefer WFH permanently vs. just having the flexibility to WFH when wanted. If I wanted to stay home forever I'd have just taken a remote consulting job a long time ago, but I enjoy going to office and there is a lot of benefits that you don't get from being remote 100%. I've also made very good friends at work and I see my coworkers as much more than just another GitHub ac…

> If I wanted to stay home forever I'd have just taken a remote consulting job a long time ago, There's a difference between working from home as an employee and a remote consulting job. There is a place for both. > The cynical part of me thinks all this "WFH Permanently" initiative is just a disguise for companies to start lowering cost for entry to mid-level IC positions by hiring from areas with much cheaper CoL.…

It will be interesting to see what happens with salaries, given increased world-wide competition for jobs.

Re: Coinbase will be a remote-first company

#122

Post by roosterdawn »

Cookingboy wrote: post #7

I'm really curious, how many people actually prefer WFH permanently vs. just having the flexibility to WFH when wanted. If I wanted to stay home forever I'd have just taken a remote consulting job a long time ago, but I enjoy going to office and there is a lot of benefits that you don't get from being remote 100%. I've also made very good friends at work and I see my coworkers as much more than just another GitHub ac…

> The cynical part of me thinks all this "WFH Permanently" initiative is just a disguise for companies to start lowering cost for entry to mid-level IC positions by hiring from areas with much cheaper CoL.

This isn't cynical, but the sword cuts both ways. Eventually, those lower CoL areas will equalize towards a higher CoL as folks begin moving there to WFH. The other way around will occur there too, as the discount to entry or mid level IC engineers will erode over time, and the good ones will cost more because of trajectory, while the more middling ones likely will experience some erosion due to increased labor market competition.

With that said, I can't really speak as to what the second order effects or black swans will be regarding the shift to remote first. Some speculation:

- Will suburbs become more or less attractive as commute becomes less important of a perk?

- Will more remote tracts of land previously relegated to just outside the reach of exurbs become more or less attractive now that inhabitants are no longer precluded from virtual labor market participation?

- Will a caste system solidify around those who continue to commute to the office versus those who do not, or will it dissolve as the majority moves towards working and collaborating virtually?

- What will the effect of timezones be? Will we begin to see nations organize around timezone based vertical blocs as economies increasingly shift towards virtual labor and knowledge work?

Re: Coinbase will be a remote-first company

#123

Post by KingMachiavelli »

xoxoy wrote: post #117

I have trouble scheduling meetings between colleagues on the west coast and east coast as is. With a “remote first” company where some choose to move abroad potentially (though suspect most would stay in the US) scheduling meetings sounds like a complete nightmare. There’s no advantage to that at all.

Actually I think WFH would improve this. If both the west and east coast colleagues have to commute to their respective offices, there is a lot of wasted time during the beginning & end of the day. A person may arrive at the office on the east coast just as the west coast is waking up. If both locations were simply WFH, there would be more useful overlapping daylight hours to use because neither side has to commute. Additionally, one office could have modified hours such that they more overlapped with the other office either as a standard or simply as needed.

Re: Coinbase will be a remote-first company

#124

Post by zeku »

Cookingboy wrote: post #7

I'm really curious, how many people actually prefer WFH permanently vs. just having the flexibility to WFH when wanted. If I wanted to stay home forever I'd have just taken a remote consulting job a long time ago, but I enjoy going to office and there is a lot of benefits that you don't get from being remote 100%. I've also made very good friends at work and I see my coworkers as much more than just another GitHub ac…

In my area(a 2nd tier major US Metro, a city you've heard of and may even want to live in, a state capitol) you could pay that dev $50k.

Re: Coinbase will be a remote-first company

#125

Post by Kalium »

Cookingboy wrote: post #7

I'm really curious, how many people actually prefer WFH permanently vs. just having the flexibility to WFH when wanted. If I wanted to stay home forever I'd have just taken a remote consulting job a long time ago, but I enjoy going to office and there is a lot of benefits that you don't get from being remote 100%. I've also made very good friends at work and I see my coworkers as much more than just another GitHub ac…

> From my personal experiences most high level decisions are made, or at least started from countless hallway/micro-kitchen conversations or informal coffee walks, and meetings are just a way to present to people of decisions that's already made.

I've had a similar experience. WfH does a lot to inhibit those conversations by raising the bar to informal conversation. A mixed environment will tend to mean that informal discussion happens in the office first, and over video link when people remember to ask the others. I've seen this blow up into major tension with as few as three or four people involved.

I think a lot of people are low to mid-level ICs whose career ambitions don't include promotions. No few are quite attached to the freedom, the romance, of being a digital nomad.

Re: Coinbase will be a remote-first company

#126

Post by xoxoy »

KingMachiavelli wrote: post #123
xoxoy wrote: post #117

I have trouble scheduling meetings between colleagues on the west coast and east coast as is. With a “remote first” company where some choose to move abroad potentially (though suspect most would stay in the US) scheduling meetings sounds like a complete nightmare. There’s no advantage to that at all.

Actually I think WFH would improve this. If both the west and east coast colleagues have to commute to their respective offices, there is a lot of wasted time during the beginning & end of the day. A person may arrive at the office on the east coast just as the west coast is waking up. If both locations were simply WFH, there would be more useful overlapping daylight hours to use because neither side has to commute.…

Main problem is a blurring between work life. With one office no one would dare schedule meetings too early or too late in the day. With different time zones you might have to have a 7am meeting on the west coast or 7pm on east coast. There needs to be strict calendar blocking to maintain sanity.

Re: Coinbase will be a remote-first company

#127

Post by nogabebop23 »

lstodd wrote: post #58
sverhagen wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I do not want a hip fancy office full of zany perks and a weird cult. Notice taken. Good for you (not sarcastic). This is why you "have been working remote by choice for years". But as the OP said: > If I wanted to stay home forever I'd have just taken a remote consulting job a long time ago ...and he didn't. Neither did I. In the past I have worked remotely for about a year, it wasn't great (admitted that company…

> 3) all of them are desperately looking forward to going into the office again for any sort of time. This basically means that they did not modify their lifestyle for remote work. Purging office bullshit from your life requires some changes in lifestyle, no question about it. The workplace has to be established, distractions (much less than what is in the office, but still) have to be managed. Social needs have to b…

>> This basically means that they did not modify their lifestyle for remote work.

Ah yes, the "if it's not working you're doing it wrong rsponse". See also: Agile Methodology

Ironincally these types of back-forths are far more common in remote, async conversations than face-to-face.

Re: Coinbase will be a remote-first company

#128

Post by nogabebop23 »

meowface wrote: post #75
lstodd wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 3) all of them are desperately looking forward to going into the office again for any sort of time. This basically means that they did not modify their lifestyle for remote work. Purging office bullshit from your life requires some changes in lifestyle, no question about it. The workplace has to be established, distractions (much less than what is in the office, but still) have to be managed. Social needs have to b…

Or it means they chose to look for an office job despite knowing remote jobs were available, because they prefer having real-life interaction with co-workers or other physical benefits. I personally far prefer WFH/anywhere. But I've always been very introverted and reclusive. I love the freedom of being able to work alone from any location, but I know many or perhaps most people crave some kind of in-person socializi…

>> I love the freedom of being able to work alone from any location

is the alternative to working in an office really working alone? Should it not be moving your interactions and realtionships to alternative channels, not eliminating them?

Re: Coinbase will be a remote-first company

#129

Post by nogabebop23 »

GordonS wrote: post #47
LB232323 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been working remote by choice for years. You don't have to stay at home, you just need internet access. This means you have the freedom to work from anywhere on the globe as long as you can access the web. This is a pretty straightforward advantage of the internet. Some jobs have always been "remote". For example, writers still type their manuscripts from anywhere and mail them to editors. However, only some j…

> You don't have to stay at home, you just need internet access. This means you have the freedom to work from anywhere on the globe as long as you can access the web I've been working from home for several years, but to be truely productive I need a separate working space with a good desk, good chair and multiple large monitors. On occasion I've worked from an airport or a cafe, but the noise, seating position, table…

plus, you know, a tiny little teeny part of the population might want to buy a house, start a family or make location-specific commitments that last more than 6 months.

Re: Coinbase will be a remote-first company

#130

Post by bluntfang »

Cookingboy wrote: post #7

I'm really curious, how many people actually prefer WFH permanently vs. just having the flexibility to WFH when wanted. If I wanted to stay home forever I'd have just taken a remote consulting job a long time ago, but I enjoy going to office and there is a lot of benefits that you don't get from being remote 100%. I've also made very good friends at work and I see my coworkers as much more than just another GitHub ac…

>If I wanted to stay home forever

Remote First != stay at home forever. You're being deliberately inflammatory towards people who prefer to have control of their surroundings, including the people they surround themselves with.

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