The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices • Hacker News Board

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

#151

Post by matwood » Wed, Mar 30, 2022, 10:58 AM UTC

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…

> "not about people like you, but some others have taken a 2 year vacation so management is fed up"

Then it's time to let people go. Early on in COVID leeway definitely needed to be given with daycares closed, people transitioning to WFH, etc... But at this point, if someone can't get their work done remotely, then they should find a non-remote job.

We went fully remote prior to the pandemic, and I remember someone in senior management asking me, 'how will we know people are working at home?' My response was 'how do we know they are working in the office?' If people aren't getting any work done it doesn't matter where they are. Management just feels better about seeing them in the office.

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

#152

Post by giantrobot » Wed, Mar 30, 2022, 10:58 AM UTC

whywhywhywhy wrote: post #123

I don't get why they are not just talking to each other, is it that hard to say "I'll be in on Wednesday, will you? So we can chat about X" and why are so many people living 2 hours away from where they work then complaining about it. Like you chose to live there and work elsewhere.

> Like you chose to live there and work elsewhere.

A business chooses their office location based on business needs. The business isn't worried about the myriad reasons people choose to live in a particular place.

So businesses are rarely right next door to every employee's house. Traffic in cities will easily make a short distance into a long duration commute. Living in more affordable suburbs makes for longer distance commutes.

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

#153

Post by iso1210 » Wed, Mar 30, 2022, 11:01 AM UTC

joaodlf wrote: post #51

I love coming in to the office. Granted, I live a 20 min walk away. The walk in is through a beautiful county park, surrounded by nature. Most of my colleagues who live further away have stopped coming in. Understandable, I wouldn't want to get in a car to get here, traffic in the UK is horrible. It's all about personal circumstances, really. Living close to my workplace, having access to a nice office that is (now)…

My office is between my kitchen and the bathroom so the commute isn't exactly onerous

However when the sun is shining I'll take a 20 minute walk a few times a day through the country, or I'll take an 40 minute long walk to a nice cafe for lunch.

If it's pissing it down then I won't.

Working from home doesn't stop me from choosing to go for a walk, or run, or bike ride, or horse ride, before starting work.

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

#154

Post by adingus » Wed, Mar 30, 2022, 11:02 AM UTC

maest wrote: post #97

ajdegol wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This guy goes into a bar in Mexico and there’s a dog lying in the corner, every so often the dog whimpers and whines a little. The guy asks the barman “what’s up with that dog?” And the barman said “oh, he’s probably lying on a nail.” After a few more minutes and another set of whines, the guy asks the barman “so why doesn’t he move?” And the barman says “it probably doesn’t hurt enough for him to get up.”

Interesting story, but why in Mexico?

Because that's where it happened

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

#155

Post by sneak » Wed, Mar 30, 2022, 11:03 AM UTC

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?

Most people are slow at typing and don't have great reading comprehension.

This means it is less "work" for them to speak and listen than it is to type and read.

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

#156

Post by jcims » Wed, Mar 30, 2022, 11:07 AM UTC

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…

There’s truth to this but the reality is that even when you’re in the office you might not see your boss on a day to day basis. I haven’t lived in the same state as my boss for the past seven years. Remote work for me has been a great equalizer.

One advantage of WFH: Zoom has put me in front of more senior leadership on a more frequent basis than I’ve ever seen while in the office. I’ve talked to managing directors on a weekly basis, sometimes daily, for the past 18 months or so. Prior to that it was quarterly at best.

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

#157

Post by t_mann » Wed, Mar 30, 2022, 11:08 AM UTC

I'll venture a bet (not sure it's 100% true, but a fun idea to explore): sometime last year there was media hype about FAANG developers quitting their jobs to join crypto/web3 projects. Surely, ballooning crypto valuations played a large role in that, but part of it might have been driven by SV companies moving back to hybrid work schemes, while crypto projects have perfected the 'work-anywhere-you-want, literally' (just let us know which time zone) and 'we'll pay for everyone to get together in an actually cool location from time to time'-schedule.

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

#158

Post by detaro » Wed, Mar 30, 2022, 11:10 AM UTC

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…

Not sure how "have a daily check-in" requires being in the office? If anything, more communication happening in open channels vs 1:1 talks means more visibility to higher levels.

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

#159

Post by pfarrell » Wed, Mar 30, 2022, 11:12 AM UTC

bob2222 wrote: post #130

mjevans wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In this case, would the 'change it' option be to just work from home and see what happens?

find a fully remote job if you can

At least give it a try. I suspect based on join dates that I’m similar or older than the OP. The more senior you get, the more time it can take on a search, but with remote work, you should definitely be trying.

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

#160

Post by g051051 » Wed, Mar 30, 2022, 11:13 AM UTC

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…

That was me. I worked in a place for 22 years that completely devalued WFH, and cancelled it entirely (pre-pandemic) with the Big Boss stating "We all know a 15 minute face-to-face conversation is better than a multi-day email chain". Then our organization collapsed under the weight of being "Agile" and laid off the entire group.

I'm glad they did...I got a substantial severance package, "retiree" benefits, and a much better fully remote WFH gig that pays better.

I would have stayed at the first place if it was possible to do so, but I'm much happier since they forced my hand. I'm certain I won't have to go back to an office before I retire.