Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Silicon Valley's "Pronatalists" Killed WFH. The Strait of Hormuz Brought It Back

governance.fyi

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

251–260 of 316 posts

Re: Silicon Valley's "Pronatalists" Killed WFH. The Strait of Hormuz Brought It Back

#251

Post by SenHeng »

doom2 wrote: post #176
ryandrake wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Take it one step further and give tax breaks to businesses that let employees work from home and close physical offices. At this point I'd rather use the stick than the carrot. Make employers 100% shoulder their employees' commute costs. Don't like it? Allow WFH or pay them enough to afford to live close to the office.

In some recent recruiter calls for hybrid positions in New York, I asked if the employer would pay for roundtrip Amtrak tickets 3x/week from where I live (a ~1.5 hour train ride). Of course the answer was no and I knew that already, but if the company policy is that all employees must live within 50 miles of the office, surely they know that a 50 mile commute by car could be as long or longer than an 85 mile train ri…

That's so weird. Employers have always paid for employees' commuting expenses here in Japan [0]. It's not even mandated by law and there's a legal limit of 150k yen / month, roughly $1000 though most companies limit it to 25k (~$200). Still it's enough that commuting by bullet train is a thing [1].

Even part timers get reimbursed.

[0]: https://japan-dev.com/blog/employee-benefits-in-japan

[1]: https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/y1nurn/places_outsid...

Re: Silicon Valley's "Pronatalists" Killed WFH. The Strait of Hormuz Brought It Back

#252

Post by mikkupikku »

rennokki wrote: post #241
mikkupikku wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how the transition from classic hammers to nail guns went for carpenters / framers.

Nail guns are tools, just like hammers. However, you have to know how to use it and to know how to adjust the pressure for the depth you need. It also costs money, much more than a hammer. And you can't use normal nails, you have to have a specific cartridge of nails, and you must know how to adjust it, and ultimately to not die. Now compare it again.

I think it's a fair comparison; experienced carpenters who've learned to work fast with a hammer, now asked to be 10x more productive while using a new tool they don't have experience with. It probably got more than a few a bit bothered.

Re: Silicon Valley's "Pronatalists" Killed WFH. The Strait of Hormuz Brought It Back

#253

Post by mcv »

embedding-shape wrote: post #35
alephnerd wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not in most of Europe. Most of the CEE along with Western European countries like Netherlands and Ireland have ass-in-seat requirements for American companies to unlock FDI subsidizes when opening a GCC. Additionally, management culture in London as well as Paris is very hybrid work oriented. There is a decent proliferation of WFH roles in Europe, but those are the same roles in the US anyhow - we're posting those in…

> Not in most of Europe. I live in Spain, and received WFH job offers from Spanish, French, Dutch, Swedish and German companies. For all intents and purposes, WFH doesn't seem "dead" in Europe at all, as far as I can tell. > like Netherlands has ass-in-seat requirements for American companies That might be true, but doesn't really tell us about Dutch companies, just what American companies want/does in Europe, doesn'…

The Dutch companies I've worked for tend strongly towards a single office day per week, which is an acceptable balance to me.

Re: Silicon Valley's "Pronatalists" Killed WFH. The Strait of Hormuz Brought It Back

#254

Post by tootie »

palmotea wrote: post #163
tootie wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pronatalists are outwardly concerned with birth rates while simultaneously railing against immigration while simultaneously begging for more H1-Bs. The implication is really "we need more white babies" but always taking a back seat to "I need more money".

> Pronatalists are outwardly concerned with birth rates while simultaneously railing against immigration while simultaneously begging for more H1-Bs. The implication is really "we need more white babies"... No, and I think that's a slander. If you look at the numbers, birth rates are falling everywhere . There's no fecund area pumping out babies at a rate to use immigration to solve the labor component of the birthra…

I mean Elon Musk is not really subtle about his white supremacy and how it dovetails with his calls for more babies. I don't think he'd even be upset by reading this.

I'm well aware that birth rates are falling in the rich world. It's a universal problem across all wealthy countries regardless of immigration or social policy.

I'm also not certain that this is some kind of urgent issue we need to do anything about. It seems like a natural cycle. And maybe we're better off letting the global population taper off.

I think you're also off base on immigration policy but that's a separate topic.

Re: Silicon Valley's "Pronatalists" Killed WFH. The Strait of Hormuz Brought It Back

#255

Post by givemeethekeys »

pc86 wrote: post #102
givemeethekeys wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is also a whole cadre of Vice presidents that needed micro manager level oversight over their teams in order to feel fulfilled. You don’t spend many billions on the offices for nothing. I imagine there was some pressure from cities as well since many downtown businesses rely on foot traffic.

Maybe I'm just lucky but the worst micromanagement has always been from my direct supervisors, never VP-level. In my experience most at that level (especially when it's several layers removed from the ICs) do as little work as possible, and spend most of their time hanging out with other VPs and trying to move on to the next step. Are the tech firms the ones spending billions on office buildings? It's certainly not t…

When a company looks for a new office, cities give them subsidies to open office there. Those subsidies come with strings attached beyond, "please lease this office space". They expect additional foot traffic that the other businesses near the office would benefit from.

Re: Silicon Valley's "Pronatalists" Killed WFH. The Strait of Hormuz Brought It Back

#256

Post by iso1631 »

th0masfrancis wrote: post #120
softwaredoug wrote: post #51

If I could afford to live 15 minutes from the office I 100% would go to an office. But housing, transportation, daycare costs make that impractical. If they really want me in the office, companies need to engage on these issues in the metros they live in. They need to clear NIMBY barriers to urban housing, support transit, and good parental leave.

Plus I need the ability to deduct my transport cost from taxable income.

So the person living near the office should subsidise your choice?

Re: Silicon Valley's "Pronatalists" Killed WFH. The Strait of Hormuz Brought It Back

#257

Post by michaelsbradley »

rimunroe wrote: post #216
michaelsbradley wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And… that’s just not how the time factor actually works. If wife and husband are home during her most fertile time window in a cycle, she will instinctively “find him” for some magic moments that may not be particularly planned or even romantic, rather more characterized by a delightful and clumsy urgency.

> If wife and husband are home during her most fertile time window in a cycle, she will instinctively “find him” [...] Have you known many couples who had trouble trying to conceive? There's a reason fertility monitoring strips, apps, etc. are such a huge market, and it's not because people are trying to avoid pregnancy. > [...] for some magic moments that may not be particularly planned or even romantic, rather more…

Don’t misunderstand the situation to which I’m narrowly referring:

Man available to the woman effectively around the clock every day, setting majority of the time is private and comfortable enough that sex can just happen, in compressed and sometimes exciting timeframe, i.e. even if busy with WFH and childcare.

I am aware of couples who struggled or are struggling with fertility, and using the various tools and techniques to increase the odds. I am not discounting their experiences and hardships. I am saying that, on average, if more couples of child bearing age are sexually accessible to one another effectively 24/7, then there are natural instincts that can and do play a role in them coming together sexually at the critical time for conceiving a child, and so more children would be conceived.

Re: Silicon Valley's "Pronatalists" Killed WFH. The Strait of Hormuz Brought It Back

#258

Post by scythe »

pc86 wrote: post #153
scythe wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been thinking that this is a reason why the megacities are winning. In the largest cities, a couple can cohabitate and both find jobs. In smaller cities, you have to get lucky, and if one partner's job falls through (which may be unavoidable) then you might have to move! In a one-income household you can live in a city with one industry. Two is a coordination problem. The eleven largest cities have reached esc…

You might be the first person I've ever heard say "Seattle has a favorable climate."

I associate it with cool summers which are rare in the US. The rain and dark won't be everyone's cup of tea, but other places with similarly cool summers either have very harsh winters or rhyme with "Nabisco".

Re: Silicon Valley's "Pronatalists" Killed WFH. The Strait of Hormuz Brought It Back

#259

Post by pllbnk »

pj_mukh wrote: post #127
softwaredoug wrote: post #51

If I could afford to live 15 minutes from the office I 100% would go to an office. But housing, transportation, daycare costs make that impractical. If they really want me in the office, companies need to engage on these issues in the metros they live in. They need to clear NIMBY barriers to urban housing, support transit, and good parental leave.

This is the right answer. I have a child, work remotely and while I appreciate the flexibility, I kind of hate it for my career. The article is mostly vibe-y without any digging into why people with children need to commute from so far. It's rent, the answer is almost always rent. Its my rent, its my child-care workers rent, it my kids school-teachers rent. It's always rent.

Not necessarily. We happily moved away to suburbs because we grew tired of the city noise and chaos. The child can stay outside, we have a proper backyard, there are barely any cars in the street. It was much more affordable but was a side effect rather than the main reason to move. And when both parents work from home, as we do, we are doing just fine with a single car. For those exceptional circumstances when we need to be away in different places at the same time, the cab is still nearly infinitely more affordable than a second car.

Re: Silicon Valley's "Pronatalists" Killed WFH. The Strait of Hormuz Brought It Back

#260

Post by pllbnk »

lizknope wrote: post #144

My comment from a thread last week We saw how much less pollution there was during the pandemic https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/04/8110190 ... I worked from home but a few times I needed to go to my parents house during what used to be rush hour. Less than 5% of normal traffic and fuel demand dropped so much that prices were lower. My job went hybrid in 2022 and then return to office full time last…

In Europe post-pandemic rush back to the offices revealed more than anything that the Green Deal has actually been just the greenwashing. Bureaucrats just sat there not even once mentioning that WFH was actually a great opportunity to fight climate change, clean the air and revive small towns.
Post reply on HN