I was extremely lucky to WFH during the first 12 years of my software career. When I finally got a job in an office I was shocked at how awful it was. The 2 hours commuting every workday, the flickering fluorescent lights, the noise of coworkers, the smell of burnt coffee or popcorn, the boss that drops by to see how you're doing and causes you to lose a hour of concentration so I might as browse the web until quitting time. I couldn't function in an office, so I was lucky to do my best work at home which I am still proud of. I'm not proud of anything I accomplished while sitting in office jail.
‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect
161–170 of 531 posts
Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect
#162Eh, I love my company and I love my coworkers and I’m unbelievably excited to see them in person. In fact, I’ve already started going back into the office (since April) and 1) my productivity is easily 5-10x what it was before 2) I’ve had amazing so many conversations that never happened over zoom — both productive and personal - and as more of our company’s employees return over the coming months I’m even excited fo…
> my productivity is easily 5-10x what it was before How are you measuring this? Those numbers seem incredulous.
I’d maybe get 1-2 hours of semi-productive time per day in. Write code 1 or 2 times per week. Honestly, I was pretty shocked at how I could get away with that and it was very demotivating to not have any reason to do more.
Now I’m firing on all cylinders for 7-9 hours a day, completing the entirety of a previous WFH day by 11 AM, and it feels _really_ good.
Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect
#163There is a massive loss of productivity to commute to and from an office for large durations of time. Cities actually calculate this loss per year in the millions.
I find it so odd that with the endemic ending that there is a call to return to an office without the commute problem solved. If productivity is lagging at home it's signs of other issues for the employee and the office doesn't magically solve them they just temporarily remove them.
Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect
#164I’m honestly perplexed what the FANGs are even thinking in being so aggressive about pushing an end to WFH. Sure it could all work out fine for them. Maybe employees will grumble for a bit, then settle back into office life. But maybe it wont’t . There’s a very real possibility that you lose a non-negligible percent of your staff (disproportionately the most talented who have other options), handicap your ability to…
==Making such a big push to go back in September instead of waiting until January just seems reckless to the point of irrationality.==
Maybe the goal is to get the type of expensive, experienced employees that inhabit HN to resign?
Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect
#165As a hiring manager, a lot of candidates I’ve been talking to lately have been telling me they are looking for a new job in part because their company has decided to stay all-remote and they hate it. The first thing they want to know is if we have an office and/or will open one soon. People just have different preferences. I think what we’re seeing right now is a significant expansion of remote roles. Previously if y…
> People just have different preferences. I'm always surprised how HN treats WFH as _obviously_ superior and desirable in every way, to the point where OP is claiming these mega corps may collapse if they ask their employees to come into the office.
I don't think anyone is arguing that WFH is "_obviously_ superior" for everyone, but there are clearly companies who are angling to push all of their employees back into the office (and back to the Bay Area specifically), and this isn't going to work for all of their employees, especially given the new competitiveness with other larger tech companies offering much more flexibility.
From what I've seen, people aren't advocating for strict fully-remote work, but rather flexibility for teams within larger companies to decide what works for them and what remote hiring policies makes sense within those teams, rather than having strict guidelines passed down from executives indiscriminately.
Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect
#166In my experience at least talking to some younger people there is a clear dichotomy: despite all the talk about Gen Z being "digital natives", people new in their career are much hungrier to get back into the office because they don't yet have good career networks built up and they're eager for mentorship. It is older, or at least more established workers who are less keen on that. I don't think FAANGs will have any…
From a single, young:
I miss the office for..
- Free and convenient food.
- Social chatter & engagement.
- Making friends with employees who I don't know and connecting with new employees.
- Work life separation (balance).
- Proper workstation, climate controlled environment.
- Sense of belonging - team outing, after hours beers..
- Intra and inter company sports and games.
- Meeting potential dates.
[Not me. Just empathizing]
Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect
#167Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is the exact sentiment I hold as well. I think the demographics of hacker news may be slightly swayed towards people who already have established networks and industry experience.
Not just slightly skewed. Also the HN audience is far more remote-oriented than I’ve encountered among my coworkers over the course of my career, including > 4 years working full-remote.
Anonymity probably accounts for a decent portion of the discrepancy (meaning some of your co-workers would probably be anti-WFH in person, and pro-WFH anonymously)
Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect
#168> 92% are even willing to switch industries to find the right position I'm increasingly convinced people not switching industries is a huge barrier towards equity in the job market. If another industry/location treats workers much better, but the cost of switching is too high, then the industries/locations aren't really competing for your labor. Competitive labor markets seem to be table stakes for fair work. COVID j…
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Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect
#169I’m honestly perplexed what the FANGs are even thinking in being so aggressive about pushing an end to WFH. Sure it could all work out fine for them. Maybe employees will grumble for a bit, then settle back into office life. But maybe it wont’t . There’s a very real possibility that you lose a non-negligible percent of your staff (disproportionately the most talented who have other options), handicap your ability to…
Your baseline assumption is that everything is peachy with full WFH. It's not always the case.
The people who are going to leave are people on the fence anyway. COVID accelerated stuff like retirements mostly, or was the straw the broke the back of people driving from rural Pennsylvania to Manhattan every day. Other than childcare issues that are timing-related, the non-medical objections to this are mostly just noise, and people will show up to work.
Re: ‘Great Resignation’ gains steam as return-to-work plans take effect
#170Keep boosting those compensation packages