Hacker News Reader

Comment by notJim | Hacker News Reader

> I for one am even more in the no-remote-only-gigs camp given recent events.

I don't understand this, why?

Regarding the rest of your comment, I totally agree. My mom and sister both work for a large, old-fashioned company, and the company didn't even let them take their dual monitors home with them when WFH started. They both had to buy setups out of their own pocket, and these are not people making tech salaries.

Really the biggest cost you're leaving off is space though. It's really preferable to have a dedicated space for an office, and this is not free. It's one thing for someone who made a choice to go remote, but for people forced into it, it feels unfair to me.

It wouldn't surprise me if in the new world, offices are viewed as a perk rather than a requirement due to all this. I personally work remotely for the record, but talking to many people in my life, it's clear this is not for everyone.

View on HN

>I don't understand this, why?

My sentiments are similar to OP's, and for me a large part of my job satisfaction was getting to hang out with really incredible people all day, getting lunch with those people, getting afterwork drinks with them, etc. Hanging out on video chat just isn't the same.

Of course, an argument can (and maybe should) be made that it's smarter to to keep your work focused on the work, and find your social outlets elsewhere. However, the unfortunate reality is that for those of us far removed from school and our home towns, work is where we tend to make our friends.

On top of that, I just enjoyed the change of scenery in leaving my apartment in the burbs to go into a nice office space in the city. Feeling restricted to the same space for 24 hours a day is driving an unhealthy level of cabin fever and boredom. For the first time in my life, I envy those with the big house and a yard.

Of course that later point would be somewhat mitigated in a world where I could work out of shared space or the local coffee shop, so I'm not sure if that's an indictment of remote work in general for my purposes.

> Feeling restricted to the same space for 24 hours a day is driving an unhealthy level of cabin fever and boredom. For the first time in my life, I envy those with the big house and a yard.

This is because of corona, not because of working from home.

People say this but I don't really see the alternative. I can't imagine going to a coffee shop to loiter every day. The reality is I'm gonna be at home in my office, and that is tiring.

I used to work remotely and really disliked it. Not talking to coworkers and being stuck at home all day were the two big reasons. I'm right back there now due to the pandemic, and it's much the same, the evenings and weekends are somewhat more boring than before but we still manage to get out and do stuff because the weather is nice this time of year.

I think this could be different with a complete overhaul of corporate culture but I haven't seen it yet in 20 years of employment with "teleworking" being an option at least part of the time. Perhaps remote-first teams really are different, but you're still stuck at home all day, or spending time and money going to a coffee shop and maybe finding a seat+wifi, etc.

I was working remotely for a few years and in my opinion coworking spaces are the best of both worlds. I like to leave my apartment for work, I need a environment where I can concentrate and I like to see and talk to people, making friends. But I also like not having a boss around and being able to come and go whenever I want. You have all this in a coworking space and if you move to the opposite part of town (or change the city) you just change your space so that your commute never gets more than 10 minutes. Best of both worlds!

True, hence my follow-up sentence on this point being mitigated in a world where we felt more free to work in alternative work spaces.

It's not like I don't get out to run, go to the park, or even occasionally meet a friend for a drink on a spacious patio. So my comment was somewhat hyperbole. But sharing the same space for work and sleep is still driving me a bit batty.

We all have different needs of course. I recognize I don't share the same needs as many. Hence I'd never advocate for a workplace that didn't accommodate those that did prefer to work remote.

>and the company didn't even let them take their dual monitors home with them when WFH started

That is such a low life mentality. Not to give two screens worth $200 to someone who's probably making 10-20 times that a month.

What I envisage is super localised hubs,or small office spaces in residential areas. Small building nicely fitting into the area and offering local people some level of office like environment

My company wants us to go through 20 years of back emails Because it will save money when they love them to “the cloud”

Penny wise pound foolish

> I don't understand this, why?

As far as I can tell, this seems to be an introvert/extrovert thing (for the most part). Extroverts miss being around people they can engage in conversations with, while introverts love not having extroverts around trying to engage in conversations with them. I think both camps have valid needs and right now the extrovert's needs aren't being met to their satisfaction.

I consider myself an extrovert and I love wfh. I don't consider conversations at work to be socialising. I guess it helps that I live with a few other people and play games with friends after work so I don't really feel alone or stripped of socialization.

Given that the whole world is geared towards extroverts, I'm happily drinking their uncomfortable tears for the time being.

This isn't always the case. If you are an introvert, work often is your main contact with other people. Work at home would be like working third shift for me, no "sunlight" of contact with other people. It'd be way too easy to be alone.

Well said. This is a point being missed by many here. I feel it too!

I can see the opposite as well. Extravert people can socialize more easily outside work. Introverts still need to socialize if they are not antisocial. For me(introvert) it much easier to socialize at my workplace: No need for smalltalk, we already have something in common. Outside of work you have to start a conversation with a stranger which can be really hard for an introvert.

Exactly - I'm lucky in that I made a deliberate decision to have a slightly longer commute because it meant a bigger house and closer to an amazing school my children attend. I'm fortunate to have a proper office that I can enter at the start of the work day, and leave at the end - separating my work and home life.

Having to work from your lounge, or kitchen, or worse bedroom makes it much harder to switch off.

Yep. The people who optimized for space at the cost of a longer commute are the winners here. Those of us who prioritized a short commute with the expectation of not being home every day for months on end are losing.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com