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Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

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Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#721

Post by tkiolp4 »

Nbox9 wrote: post #51

I work for another company that is going to do a partial return to office. I will be looking at options for companies that offer full in person office (or 90% in person office) after things settle down. I have worked full remote for a total of 5 years of my career, and I believe working in the office is a competitive advantage. * Overhearing hallway conversations (and joining them) helps spawn invocation. * I often d…

> I believe working in the office is a competitive advantage.

For the company, probably; not for me. All the bullet point you mentioned: none of them applies to me. It’s interesting to see different points of view, though.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#722

Post by tkiolp4 »

amyjess wrote: post #198
Nbox9 wrote: post #51

I work for another company that is going to do a partial return to office. I will be looking at options for companies that offer full in person office (or 90% in person office) after things settle down. I have worked full remote for a total of 5 years of my career, and I believe working in the office is a competitive advantage. * Overhearing hallway conversations (and joining them) helps spawn invocation. * I often d…

I do not care about being competitve. I work so I can draw a salary to fund my life. That's it. I don't care about constantly climbing a ladder. I don't care about advancing my career for the sake of advancing my career. I just want to enjoy my life, and working for a living is just my means to that end. If I'm making enough to be comfortable, I don't care about chasing a promotion or getting ahead of people. I can't…

This. I work because I need the money. Period. I love my craft and I practice it every day on my own terms and as little or as much as I want... but offering my skills to others just happens because I get paid.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#723

Post by nemo44x »

adflux wrote: post #579
winrid wrote: post #550

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually had a manager at a company openly say they were having trouble finding an intern as they only wanted a minority. I ended up waiting for months. I am very happy I got out of that place...

How is it that some people are so careful about being diverse that they end up being incredibly racist, and yet not notice it ?!

Because to be anti-racist you need to implement present discrimination to make up for past discrimination. It’s in their literature and literally a tenant in Kendi’s popular book “How to be an Anti-Racist” that countless diversity councils in corporations suggested their employees read during last years moral panic.

Civil rights violation? Probably.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#725

Post by benrbray »

mLuby wrote: post #531
disposablex wrote: post #428

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just had this conversation with my parents today. They asked why is working from home so wonderful? The number one reason I had was, because everyone can just be them, it's a lot different than in the office. The job can and should be a lot more inclusive and diverse when you're working in your own space -- home office, cafe, etc. You find what works for you, without having to worry about messing with someone else's…

Exactly. Remote work promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion.

I think this is yet to be determined, but even if you're right, it still promotes a different kind of inequality. Remote work is strongly biased in favor of those with the resources to have a nice, distraction-free office setup at home, and towards those who are already established in their careers.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#726

Post by teachingassist »

enriquto wrote: post #713
heavyset_go wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I save money by spending less on food, drinks, and electricity. For those of us who have to commute, it's not exactly the norm to be saving money while commuting. Commutes are responsible for a 10% drop in hourly wages[1], and the median commute time results in spending 10 full days commuting a year. The average commuter in one of the largest metro areas in the country will spend over 13 full days commuting a year:…

> Commutes are responsible for a 10% drop in hourly wages Maybe statistically, OK. But if you have a nice commute it may be likely the best part of your day. I have a mostly flat, 40 min bike ride in the woods every day, and it is my "me time" that I cherish and lets me unwind before and after work. Definitely not "lost time".

If you were given back those 40 mins, you could spend them on a 40 min bike ride in the woods.

If that's the absolute best way you can imagine spending those 40 mins, you don't lose the option to do that.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#727

Post by teddyh »

decodebytes wrote: post #561
Nbox9 wrote: post #51

I work for another company that is going to do a partial return to office. I will be looking at options for companies that offer full in person office (or 90% in person office) after things settle down. I have worked full remote for a total of 5 years of my career, and I believe working in the office is a competitive advantage. * Overhearing hallway conversations (and joining them) helps spawn invocation. * I often d…

I feel directly opposite to this, I am way more productive working from home as a programmer, for this reason alone: https://heeris.id.au/2013/this-is-why-you-shouldnt-interrupt... Also I find modern tools easily make up for not being in close proximity. Best of all as an engineering lead, I am not restricted to hiring in the small pool of engineers who can travel to the physical location of an office. I can hire tal…

Whenever this comes up, I usually link to this:

Don't Wake Up the Programmer!

https://alexthunder.livejournal.com/309815.html

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#728

Post by jack_riminton »

anarazel wrote: post #527
dcolkitt wrote: post #368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The innovation argument is particularly frustrating. By far the most innovation in computing this century has occurred in open source software, which by its nature is completely distributed. People who work on the Linux kernel or Postgres or Rust would be pretty shocked to learn that whatever they’re doing must not be innovative since they’re not hanging out in the hallway.

As a postgres dev, I do feel that the lack of in-person conferences over the last 1 1/2 years caused a perceptible slowdown in some areas. But I also can't stand working full in an office most of the time.

Conferences are a nice in-between. I can see a lot more companies coming together for talks, socials and meetings a few times a year

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#729

Post by teachingassist »

calvinmorrison wrote: post #321
heavyset_go wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I save money by spending less on food, drinks, and electricity. For those of us who have to commute, it's not exactly the norm to be saving money while commuting. Commutes are responsible for a 10% drop in hourly wages[1], and the median commute time results in spending 10 full days commuting a year. The average commuter in one of the largest metro areas in the country will spend over 13 full days commuting a year:…

I spend 150$+ per month on AC and heat because of the pandemic. I spent ~30$ in gas a month commuting. I could even walk if my bike didn't work. Personally I like the free AC. Once you optimize your job to be close to your home, many of the benefits of wfh disappear.

> Once you optimize your job to be close to your home, many of the benefits of wfh disappear.

Alternative framing: your life has been constrained by your career expectation of working in an office; you've optimised around that and found a local maximum.

Work-from-home doesn't remove that local maximum from you, but it creates an opening to find a higher maximum.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#730

Post by fhsm »

CydeWeys wrote: post #322
BrissyCoder wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand how so many people in this thread are saying they spend more on food while working from home. How is this possible? Does it vary by country? In Australia at least it is orders of magnitude less expensive to prepare food at home purchased from a supermarket than it is to buy food whilst out an about. Or are these people working for companies that provide food or something. I just don't get it.

> I don't understand how so many people in this thread are saying they spend more on food while working from home. How is this possible? It's simple. I work at Google, but this answer works for many other companies as well. Prior to COVID I would eat an average of 13 meals per week (and snacks) at the office. Now that I'm eating all of those at home, my grocery bills have shot up.

Not just grocery but also water, electric, gas, and home wear and tear. A lot of aspects of office work I’d previously considered table stakes or perks I now understand are compensation with detectable dollar value.
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