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Comment by chrisaycock | Hacker News Reader

> Having little human contact is really devastating

Chronic isolation massively accelerated the burnout I had from my startup. While I had worked from home for several years, I went out most nights of the week to see friends. The lockdown eliminated that.

I had to make a serious change in direction for my own mental health. So earlier this year I put the startup on indefinite hold and did the unthinkable: I got a job.

I feel tons better now than I did a year ago. I still prefer working from home, but now I have people I can talk to on a daily basis.

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I’d add “for some”.

It’s not devastating for me. I’m happy for people to get what they need, but the broad brush in these declarations, at this stage of the conversation, is unhelpful.

Glad you're policing what "stage of the conversation" we're at. We wouldn't want to be at the stage where a lone "works for me" dismisses legitimate concerns from what could be your top employee.

Handled by the “for some” part. Some people like RTO, some like WFH, some want a bit of both, some want to live 2 km/miles from the office, and some want to live 2000 km/miles from the office. Some want the water cooler, some want to be left alone and focus. Some want to maximize income and others want balance. Anything that hews strongly in a particular direction will close off another demographic of workers.

Society should tilt the scale at least back to even in terms of power balance. Currently, the scale is tilted heavily towards the employer and against the employee. Power should always be even, if not slightly tilted in favor of the individual.

Who is the ‘individual’ you are referring to? In tech and many other skilled industries the individual employee has a huge amount of control over what their life looks like, who they work for, where they live, etc.

Those who are less skilled likely have less ‘power’ as you define it. But isn’t that exactly what we should expect?

Actually, the current labor shortage has given even those unskilled workers some temporary power. At least until the govt transfer payments dry up, student loan payments restart and people are forced back to into the workforce in droves.

My daughter (high school) described the last 400 or so days as seemingly each one like the one before. I happen to agree.

While one could argue that commuting into work before the pandemic was each day running into the next, I think I would have to disagree. The random conversation and exchange with coworkers, talking about life plans over lunch ... it's missing over WebEx/Zoom.

No doubt some prefer to work remotely but I am beginning to think the idea of offices and collaboration between coworkers is neither an antiquated system that's long past due for the trash heap not is it a nefarious plot among corporate to enslave its workers. I'm beginning to think it evolved out of a necessity for the majority of workers to feel a sense of worker-community and camaraderie.

Your family has been disconnected from others and friends. Wfh doesn't have to mean isolation. The community who needs you is more local. One day you will retire and work won't be there.

The people you worked with will be there, as friends

>beginning to think it evolved out of a necessity for the majority of workers to feel a sense of worker-community and camaraderie.

Respectfully? Bollocks.

We didn't have any other alternative besides offices until a few decades ago, and we all know how much inertia society has.

It couldn't have started as the alternative because sending a letter to ask your colleague something wouldn't work to begin with.

Also, distrust of employees.

>It couldn't have started as the alternative because sending a letter to ask your colleague something wouldn't work to begin with.

You might be surprised. At my first engineering job, we basically sent letters to people at job locations with questions. (OK, the secretary typed a memo up and it went up to the comms room who transmitted a Telex but, yes, basically a letter.)

You could have make some time to meet with friends or other social activities, after all, with your own company you had infinite flexibility.

But it looks like you bought that myth about “when you are not working your competitors are, so work ALL the time” instead. And you end up closing the startup anyway.

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