Why do so many people want us back in the office? • Hacker News Board

Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?

#621

Post by GFischer » Tue, Sep 15, 2020, 5:02 PM UTC

maremp wrote: post #570

sriku wrote: post #447

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of these are what one might call "first order effects" - i.e. factors immediately associatable with work location. For prolonged situation, higher order effects are going to become more important. Here are some candidates - 1. Improvement in city air quality due to reduced commute - road and flight. 2. Erosion of "social credits" over time due to lower bandwidth interactions when remote. 3. Cumulative impact of…

Most of the points make sense, but this one does not > Impact on the body - prolonged unmoderated sitting in bad postures, eye strain due to constant staring into the screen, bad eating habits, etc. How does WFH change how you sit and the eye strain? You’re doing the same work, what changed? IMO having a good office setup (chair, device, screen, room lighting) is a must for any WFH position, but especially if it’s fu…

I have a terrible setup at home. My office is extremely better set-up, and they spent several thousand dollars on seats, 32' monitors, etc.

Working on the crappy laptop and a kitchen chair is less than ideal - and the fact I was furloughed 4 months and ran out of savings means I can´t buy new stuff for WFH, not to mention it could end up being wasted money if I'm back in the office the next month.

And I'm not in the US so "used" stuff or other cheaper workarounds don't work for me (no "buy it from Amazon", there's no Amazon here)

Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?

#622

Post by AndrewUnmuted » Wed, Sep 16, 2020, 12:06 AM UTC

Dylan16807 wrote: post #376

VLM wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> send an electrician I think OP needed an electrician onsite anyway, as $200/month would be somewhat over 2500 watts continuous 24x7 which would require in the US at minimum two dedicated 15 amp circuits. That's a serious enough amount of heat to require the attentions of a HVAC guy also. I ran some small clusters at home for learning purposes and maybe $400 per year was pretty minimal compared to the cost of tuitio…

If your electricity is 10 cents per kWh it would be that much. Since they said NYC we can bump that to 21 cents and then $150-$200 becomes 980-1300 watts, or 8-11 amps. That's something most people could plug in to their bedroom or living room circuit without a sweat.

Is there a resource online one can use to figure out what the cost per kWh will be for their power usage in a particular area?

I am fascinated by how people know these figures seemingly off the top of their heads. :)

Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?

#623

Post by kemitche » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 12:19 AM UTC

maremp wrote: post #570

sriku wrote: post #447

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of these are what one might call "first order effects" - i.e. factors immediately associatable with work location. For prolonged situation, higher order effects are going to become more important. Here are some candidates - 1. Improvement in city air quality due to reduced commute - road and flight. 2. Erosion of "social credits" over time due to lower bandwidth interactions when remote. 3. Cumulative impact of…

Most of the points make sense, but this one does not > Impact on the body - prolonged unmoderated sitting in bad postures, eye strain due to constant staring into the screen, bad eating habits, etc. How does WFH change how you sit and the eye strain? You’re doing the same work, what changed? IMO having a good office setup (chair, device, screen, room lighting) is a must for any WFH position, but especially if it’s fu…

When I went full time remote (last year, before COVID), I had comfort and strain issues. I attribute them to 2 main causes, that I've since mitigated:

1. I replaced my commute with more screen time. This was a net increase in my daily time spent at a computer. 2. My screen time was more contiguous. I didn't have to walk to my coworkers' desks for a quick chat (whether casual or work related). Meetings kept me at my desk instead of moving. My work day transitioned directly into my personal hobby time (video games).

Re: Why do so many people want us back in the office?

#624

Post by Booleans » Fri, Sep 18, 2020, 4:16 PM UTC

DenisM wrote: post #241

SergeAx wrote: post #221

1. WFH is not for everyone. There are people with kids and no dedicated workplace at home. There are people with low motivation and self-control, and office routine just helps them to keep up. 2. You can't mix WFH with work in office. It's either one or the other. If you have a single employee working remotely - you should transform all the processes to WFH-style. 3. WFH shifts most of the burden onto management. Man…

> I never saw a single manager who likes WFH I do. But you've never seen me, so there is truth to your words. The employees are quite productive, I hate commuting, and Zoom works remarkably well to stay connected. Not as well as it could be, but it's finally "over the hill". Two things worry me: - The long-term isolation is detrimental to mental health, so we might be on borrowed time right now. - Onboarding new empl…

> The long-term isolation is detrimental to mental health, so we might be on borrowed time right now.

With WFH I feel like my social life is better than ever, even with the "quarantine". Due to the flexibility of work days I can meet friends outside at parks and enjoy socializing at a safe distance. This may change in the winter.