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Comment by mavdi | Hacker News Reader

In this day and age, it is beyond my comprehension why anyone would choose waste a major part of their day in long commutes, pay extortionate amounts to rent and be bound to a single location. Most coders are way more productive away from the usual hassle of office space and politics.

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At least in the Bay Area, it's because, for a lot of engineers, the earnings so far outpace other places that the math just doesn't work. Believe you me, I've got a very fancy spreadsheet that runs through all sorts of models to get me out of here, but if I want to retire ASAP, it makes sense to stay.

For some. In my experience since leaving my earning nearly doubled and my cost of living took a nose dive. Plus other benefits.

If your company believes you can telecommute, it's not a small step for them to eventually believe that you can be outsourced more inexpensively.

If being able to work for any company remotely means I have to compete with the whole world, I’m ok with it.

Would you be willing to compete wage wise? It's completely possible to find programmers that speak English for single digit hourly wages.

I wouldn't be competing with the single digit programmers, but yes. Geography still matters for remote employees (due to time zones and the need for an occasional face time) as does the level of English and obviously the level of experience. The pool of people that fit that description isn't so large that I would have to work for minimum wage from the comfort of my mountain cabin.

You either can be outsourced inexpensively, or you can't. If you can, but your physical presence in a Bay Area office is effective in stopping your employer from figuring it out, then you should probably stay here.

I dislike working from home. I am more productive in the office, and I like having a concrete work/life balance.

Beyond that, the simple answer to your question is that most companies don't allow remote work.

I'm also much more productive at work, but I suspect I could do roughly as well at a decent co-working space in a cheap city.

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