Facebook extends its work-at-home policy to most employees • Hacker News Board

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

#381

Post by chris11 » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 6:42 AM UTC

labcomputer wrote: post #364

fishywang wrote: post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'm not sure how you can claim all work was done during off hours with ten full-time jobs. If OP got caught he could have some very expensive legal problems.

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

#382

Post by warkdarrior » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 6:47 AM UTC

ed25519FUUU wrote: post #297

warkdarrior wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually at that point you are at the mercy of the local ISP.

You probably already know this but internet outside of the Bay Area is actually really good. We live in the sticks and we can get gigabit.

Sure, my point is that ISPs will start increasing their rates to squeeze more out of remote workers.

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

#383

Post by jjav » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 6:50 AM UTC

johannes1234321 wrote: post #117

Avalaxy wrote: post #112

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. None. I started 3 different consulting jobs during the pandemic and always felt very productive and very connected to my colleagues, even though I never met them.

After working remote for ten+ years I disagree. There are things one can better understand about a person in a face to face meeting. When discussions become differently casual. Also some discussions are simpler in a completely informal circumstance ("random" meeting at the watercooler) than a virtual meeting of any kind. Of course ymmv but blunt "None" isn't right.

Face to face is very overrated.

During 2020 I interviewed people, hired and onboarded a new person, ended up interviewing for another company myself, joined them, have interviewed and hired new people at the new gig. Never met anyone in person. No issues at all.

Been doing similar conditions for much longer than a year though. Over ten years ago I was leading a team of 20+, everyone distributed across the globe, nobody in the same timezone as me.

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

#384

Post by chris11 » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 6:51 AM UTC

ditonal wrote: post #40

magneticnorth wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious to hear why - what do you see as the drawback of more remote coworkers?

I'm mixed on remote work, even as an engineering IC, despite claims that only management want in-office. To me, the downside of remote coworkers is we've already seen a dynamic at many companies that start with "we'll allow remote workers" straight to "if we allow any in-person collaboration, then remote workers will be second-class citizens, so to pre-empt that, we will actively discourage any in person collaboratio…

> Twitter is re-opening their office but in a crippled state, where the food options are massively downsized

Is this permanent? My employer is reopening, but I'm expecting it'll be awhile before amenities like free meals and snacks get back to normal. There may be more health restrictions initially.

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

#385

Post by AndrewDucker » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 6:53 AM UTC

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?

My guess would be that that's a phrase.

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

#386

Post by jjav » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 6:55 AM UTC

caturopath wrote: post #188

wokwokwok wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People talk online too; it’s different for people who grew up using text messages and social media where they’re accustomed to building and maintaining online relationships. I’m old, so don’t look at me, but when you look at the cohort of folk who are dealing with wfh successfully and productively, it’s, in my direct observation, younger folk. None is perhaps true for more people than you think. The ones who are stru…

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…

> > the “oh no! I despise slack” group

I despise slack more than probably most anyone. I've been working remote more often than not since the early 90s though, so remote is very natural. Non-stop interruptions will kill you though, regardless of job location, so close that slack tab.

> I don't know what the tools are to turn chat into a value-adding thing, but I don't think they're in place yet.

It's called email.. in the case of slack, just let it send notifications to email. That's how I monitor slack, I'll check my email when I have free time between concentration sessions.

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

#387

Post by chris11 » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 7:00 AM UTC

__turbobrew__ wrote: post #371

ditonal wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not what's happening in reality though. I gave you two notable examples but I know of a few more as well. This isn't hypothetical, many companies are actively seeking to destroy their in-person culture (outside of company offsite events). Of course, since every corporate move has to have a feel good PR element to it these days, the buzzword to justify this direction is equity/equality, and that since DEI candi…

This is my experience as well. Companies are aiming for equality of outcomes even though WFH and office employees work in different environments. I think it is totally fine for an employee to make the decision to work from home and obtain greater freedom at the cost of worse promotion outcomes. The problem is that if employers say “hey you can work from home, but you are less likely to get promoted than your peers wo…

I'm not sure about an increased risk of lawsuits, though worse promotion outcomes is a bad answer for other reasons. That sounds like remote employees are less productive than on-site employees. I don't think companies would want to design a remote-work policy with that belief.

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

#388

Post by square_usual » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 7:00 AM UTC

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?

Not OP, but as someone who's used such handles in the past, using a password manager.

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

#389

Post by raverbashing » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 7:24 AM UTC

throwaways885 wrote: post #73

FartyMcFarter wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In particular I'm curious on the impact to junior employees. Some people think that junior people are having trouble learning things when WFH.

As a junior engineer, this is how I felt. Before the pandemic, getting help was as easy as sending a ping and rolling my chair over. Now, ironically, it's far harder to get help, as getting into a meeting (even a short, impromptu one) is a significantly bigger deal. I go into a minor state of social anxiety and just struggle to get anything done for a good 10 minutes before a meeting. Mainly because there's far more…

To be fair this seems more on the mentor side than on your side (which is bad for the junior engineer)

Having been in both sides of this I try to be helpful when people need my help (unless I'm doing something very urgent, naturally). But yes.

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

#390

Post by d110af5ccf » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 7:37 AM UTC

dheera wrote: post #367

d110af5ccf wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

No, there are residency laws in each state. I'm not sure what happens when they conflict. For example, camping for 1 month each year in WA isn't going to get you out of paying CA income taxes if you own a home there that you live in the other 11 months of the year.