Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s not a zero cost: it’s 40 minutes of time.
It might be a net positive if they enjoy the walk more than 40 minutes of other activity.
WFH doesn't mean they can't walk for 40 minutes though.
Why do so many people want us back in the office?
421–430 of 624 posts
Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?
#422Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not OP but I will throw in my 2 cents... 1. Work/life separation. Even with a separate computer, getting it shut away and Slack gone is easier said than done. Now everyone knows you're probably around somewhere and will read their e-mail or see their Slack message, even early in the morning or later in the afternoon. 1b. I work better in a dedicated environment. My home office has all kinda of other distractions. Hom…
> Social connections. There are many people I was friendly with but only at the office. Now I only interact with people on my own team or in closely related teams when we are working on some project that overlaps. My 'work world' has shrunk dramatically. I echo this sentiment. As a junior engineer in a large office, being able to keep track of other projects, who is working on what, what's coming up in a different bu…
Just book meetings with others in the company. I think school has trained us for structure and rarely are we willing to initiate without formal processes in place.
Send a meeting invite for 30 minutes to someone in the org with: "Hi. I'm new and I try to meet one new person every week in areas I'm not familiar."
Pro tip: Either pick someone who seems to have a cult following, looks to be untouchable in the org and or very active on internal company GitHub/Gitlab.
Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?
#423I miss being in the office so that I can go for coffees with people at morning tea, lunch and beers after work, I miss the human connection that cannot truely occur via via conferencing software, I miss walking around the city at lunch and even the 30-40 minute community to/from work (about half the time). I miss having a lunch room to sit and spitball ideas in that people truly, naturally walk in and out of, I miss…
Got to love the downvotes for expressing my personal opinion and experience through this nightmare that so many of us are in. HN comments are truly becoming like Reddit at times.
how do you downvote?
Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?
#424Earlier quoted context omitted.
Anywhere where you: - Have reasonable fast internet. - (Affordable) Hospitals/Police/Firewatch in reasonable distance - Are not to far away from the companies office as you likely still have to go to the office from time to time. EDIT: Most people don't live in Tokyo or cities with similar expensive housings. The cost of moving away from cities is often much bigger then "just" longer transit times from home to work.
In addition, you're being forced to adjust your personal lifestyle because of the office space your employer is choosing not to provide. Perhaps it would be cheaper to live in a farm house in the middle of nowhere, but what if you want to live in central Tokyo? Perhaps it's the American in me, but doesn't everyone deserve the right to pursue happiness, even if it's in the form of the city in which you live?
If other people flee the cities in favor of cheaper housing elsewhere, then real estate prices should decrease in places like Tokyo making it easer to live there for the people who want to.
Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?
#425Earlier quoted context omitted.
Really, there are only 2 costs that matter. On the one side you have the commute--both in time and money. On the other side is whether the place you'd be living in otherwise is suitable for long-term WFH or if you have to spend more money for another bedroom or whatever. So, if you already have a dedicated office in an exurban house (as I do), not commuting--which I rarely did anyway--is a cost savings. As someone wh…
To me the mental cost matters. For me, I'm mentally better off when I hang out with people physically than when I sit at home isolated chatting on slack. For you that might be different. So I'd happily pay the commute cost if I have to for my mental well being. If you don't need that that's fine. You can stay home. I have a gut feeling (so no data) that for many projects a core group of physically together people wil…
I find some degree of commute itself necessary for my mental health. The act of traveling itself flips a mental switch. Just being home all day, I basically have to go out and pick up a coffee or something in the morning just to simulate that feeling.
Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?
#426Earlier quoted context omitted.
While everything you listed is a factor, My experience it normally comes down to if you have a actual home office or not. People that have the luxury of a dedicated office at home, an actual room that is just used as an office, not a corner of the kitchen or living room that has the "family desk" that everyone shares, is more apt for WFH I know many people that do not have this space, and do not have the ability to c…
That’s not the only factor. I have a home office and can’t wait to get back. I work in an industry that’s all about relationships and those are hard to build remotely. I just started a new role and there’s no way I could ever progress upward in this state.
I don't know why you're being downvoted. It's a valid opinion that I happen to share. I have a great home office but I still want to be around other humans.
Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?
#427Earlier quoted context omitted.
While everything you listed is a factor, My experience it normally comes down to if you have a actual home office or not. People that have the luxury of a dedicated office at home, an actual room that is just used as an office, not a corner of the kitchen or living room that has the "family desk" that everyone shares, is more apt for WFH I know many people that do not have this space, and do not have the ability to c…
That’s not the only factor. I have a home office and can’t wait to get back. I work in an industry that’s all about relationships and those are hard to build remotely. I just started a new role and there’s no way I could ever progress upward in this state.
What do you do?
Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?
#428Earlier quoted context omitted.
A couple years ago, I had to move bare metal servers to my home to continue my job working at a VR technology startup, who had just decided to forgo their offices. I took on an extra $150-$200 in power expenses per month, and it was absolutely treacherous trying to get reimbursed for this. The company never considered the costs they were funneling into the employees - apparently - until people started to complain. I…
That would double my power expenses per month. Who knows if my circuits would even handle it. ADDED: My internet would also not be reliable enough for servers that other people were depending on. That's a big difference from my laptop being plugged in at home for 8 hours a day rather than in an office.
In a warm climate/season it could cost you even more. Not only are you paying for the servers' electricity, but you're also going to want extra air conditioning to remove the waste heat.
Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?
#429My commute is 20 minutes on an uncrowded ferry, and my home office is a tiny desk in my daughter's bedroom while she works on the other side on school stuff. My colleague has a massive house with a pool tennis court and so much space he has literally 3 never-used bedrooms. His wife looks after kids who are at school most of the day again. His commute is 2 hours each way. People are talking home vs office people are c…
The most important thing is choice. Some people are better off telecommuting and some people prefer the office. Forcing someone to use the environment that's worse for them will make them unhappy.
Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?
#430Earlier quoted context omitted.
To me the mental cost matters. For me, I'm mentally better off when I hang out with people physically than when I sit at home isolated chatting on slack. For you that might be different. So I'd happily pay the commute cost if I have to for my mental well being. If you don't need that that's fine. You can stay home. I have a gut feeling (so no data) that for many projects a core group of physically together people wil…
I find some degree of commute itself necessary for my mental health. The act of traveling itself flips a mental switch. Just being home all day, I basically have to go out and pick up a coffee or something in the morning just to simulate that feeling.
This must be learned, commuting is definitely not something I would say was good for my mental health.