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Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

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Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#361

Post by wavefunction »

johannes1813 wrote: post #165

I've been back in my company's office in person (medium-sized tech company) for the last week with a small subset of employees before we all go back, and I've become pretty convinced that these hybrid models will not go well. Even while wearing masks and social distancing, I feel far more connected to the others that work in the office, and whether it's fair or not, personal connection and trust play a huge role in c…

I don't know how long your commute is but I shudder at the notion of wasting my time physically travelling every day. Fortunately I am fully remote for at least the near future and I wouldn't mind travelling out every quarter for a week or something or some sort of periodic in-person work period. But sitting in traffic every day of your work week is no way to spend your life. Even taking mass transit means less flexibility in your day if it's not the automobile commute.

Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#362

Post by raywu »

A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #273
rtpg wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This conversation, when I've had it with people, usually ends up with the same conclusions: people would like to see their coworkers face-to-face like.... a couple times a month. People have deep relationships with others without needing to see them 5 times a day, after all! I think the difficulties around relationship building in this time are deeply linked to whether you are able to socialize "through a computer" w…

It is an interesting question. I have two new team members we added 2 months ago. Neither is very technical and, admittedly, it can get challenging sometimes, because pre-WFH, I could have just showed them what to do instead of spending 20 minutes trying to explain what I want them to do. I could technically grab a screen, but.. apparently, neither learns well that way and just yesterday I had some really odd issues…

Unrelated: how do you remember your username?

Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#363

Post by earleybird »

licebmi__at__ wrote: post #358
caturopath wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many of my best friendships were forged online, often in groups collaborating on doing real work. I have not been able to get any such spontaneity during remote work with my group or division at a large tech company with mostly young coworkers. I haven't been able to figure out why. > the “oh no! I despise slack” group Chat can be super useful, but can also create a nasty interruption culture. I don't know what the t…

>Chat can be super useful, but can also create a nasty interruption culture How is does chat creates an interruption culture compared to people literally standing in your shoulder and directly interrupting you? At least with chat I can decide to ignore the notifications until I’m finished with my current task.

bingo - chat interruptions are more manageable than a literal drive-by

Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#364

Post by labcomputer »

fishywang wrote: post #333
biztos wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get that this is a joke, but — would that be legal in the US? In Germany it definitely would not, at least not without it being specifically allowed by your contract. But maybe in the US, as long as you didn’t have a conflict of interest? Would the amount of total time worked matter? Would doing it in multiple states simultaneously matter?

A typical silicone valley company's contract usually have some clause saying that all your creative work while contracted with the company, even on off hours, belongs to the company. So signing two such contracts with two different companies usually means they both own the code you wrote for both companies, or maybe even trickier legal implications. Of course you can try to get that clause removed during contract neg…

Every SV company I've ever worked for has explicitly disclaimed rights to my work done off hours with my own equipment... as they are required to do under CA law.

Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#365

Post by warkdarrior »

raywu wrote: post #362
A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is an interesting question. I have two new team members we added 2 months ago. Neither is very technical and, admittedly, it can get challenging sometimes, because pre-WFH, I could have just showed them what to do instead of spending 20 minutes trying to explain what I want them to do. I could technically grab a screen, but.. apparently, neither learns well that way and just yesterday I had some really odd issues…

Unrelated: how do you remember your username?

That's the sound his co-workers make when he strangles them!

Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#366

Post by speedgoose »

bradlys wrote: post #344
dreyfan wrote: post #75

I currently have 10 fully remote engineering jobs. The bar is so low, oversight is non-existent, and everyone is so forgiving for under performance I can coast about 4-8 weeks before a given job fires me. Currently on a $1.5M run-rate for comp this year. And the interviewing process is so much faster today, companies are desperate, it takes me 2-3hrs of total effort to land a new job with thousands to chose from.

10 remote is a bit excessive. You only need like 3 to hit $1.5m and that’s far more manageable.

Where are these remote jobs paying 500k?

Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#367

Post by dheera »

d110af5ccf wrote: post #337
steelframe wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Get the job from the bay area and then move. What’s to keep you from getting a job that’s ostensibly in Washington state and then moving to California? I believe that’s called, “tax evasion.”

The company might or might not need to pay taxes differently on its end. On your end, you (the individual) are required to file an income tax return with the state you reside in. If you lie and say you are unemployed that's very obviously fraud. Whether the company you work for is willing to deal with any extra tax paperwork that might be required if you relocate is of course an open question.

What is defined as relocating anyway? If you work out of a camper van can't you just file taxes in any state you fancy driving to?

Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#368

Post by null_object »

cromka wrote: post #98
throwaway6734 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My biggest question right now about sustained wfh is how much of the current productivity is the result of relationships that were built in the office. A year ago, I remotely onboarded for a new position and recently I can head back into the office, and there's a massive difference for me between the virtual relationships I built and the in-person ones. I learned more about people that I had spent months zooming/emai…

> I learned more about people that I had spent months zooming/emailing with over the past few weeks talking to them face to face. One thing I thought of that could alleviate this would be the team work getaways. Think 2 weeks away, 3-4 times a year. Obviously not everyone can every join all of them, but I'd imagine most still would do 2. Ideally the families should also be invited. I am sure it would still come out c…

>One thing I thought of that could alleviate this would be the team work getaways. Think 2 weeks away, 3-4 times a year.

This proposal is so far outside what I’d consider ok that I’m not even sure whether I’ve understood correctly?

If employees are going away together somewhere for a couple weeks, four times a year, then they’re spending 2 whole months away from home, living in another location (maybe a hotel?) And the suggestion that they take their family along? What happens to the partner’s work? The kids’ school and their friends? Your social life?

And this is just scratching the surface of the practical considerations - totally setting aside the dystopian aspect of spending so much of your own time with your co-workers.

Even with your extra proviso that not everyone would need to join, if a company had this one aspect of their work-practice, then I’d avoid them at all costs

Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#369

Post by sinstein »

throwaway6734 wrote: post #38
magneticnorth wrote: post #12

I am really curious to see where we'll be in a year, two, three down the line wrt remote/office/hybrid work at major companies. This forced experiment has had some surprising outcomes about the effectiveness of remote workplaces, but working from home for only a year, in pandemic conditions, is clearly not the same as indefinitely in normal times. But there's reason to think that may go even better, not worse; I am r…

My biggest question right now about sustained wfh is how much of the current productivity is the result of relationships that were built in the office. A year ago, I remotely onboarded for a new position and recently I can head back into the office, and there's a massive difference for me between the virtual relationships I built and the in-person ones. I learned more about people that I had spent months zooming/emai…

This rings true for me. I was in a very hectic workplace when the pandemic began and was able to function pretty much as effectively as I would in office.

Then I made a switch to a different company towards the end of last year and I do not yet feel a part of the team as I would normally. This is despite having a friend in the team. New relationships have been very hard to build with completely remote onboarding.

Re: Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees

#370

Post by tolbish »

Igelau wrote: post #170
johannes1813 wrote: post #165

I've been back in my company's office in person (medium-sized tech company) for the last week with a small subset of employees before we all go back, and I've become pretty convinced that these hybrid models will not go well. Even while wearing masks and social distancing, I feel far more connected to the others that work in the office, and whether it's fair or not, personal connection and trust play a huge role in c…

> But I'm saying this as a young person excited to work in person, so maybe others (parents, those with long commutes) feel it's still worth it. Parent of three, going on four. Get me out of here!

That sounds like a problem with the pandemic, not a problem with remote work.
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