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Comment by gilbetron | Hacker News Reader

I wonder how that graph will look in several years times. Will it be a bump that goes back down to near where it was? Seems doubtful. But I don't think we'll see it plateau at 80%, either. Maybe a drift back down to 50% ish?

At the beginning of the pandemic, I read a quote from a person that study the histories of pandemics and they said something like, "there will be two worlds, one before Covid, and one after."

It seemed like hyperbole then, but not anymore.

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I don't think I'd consider working in office for a company for my next position. All recruiters that email me in office work are ignored, all remote options get a reply and go on a list for when I'm looking again.

I want to eventually own a home but that's not going to happen for a long while in the Northern NJ area for me. For some place with temperatures I prefer more, lower taxes, and cheaper cost of living? It's definitely a possibility already.

> All recruiters that email me in office work are ignored

I would write a short reply that you won't consider their offers solely because of the office work requirement. Otherwise they can't be certain why they're being ignored. Make it abundantly clear why you're not interested. So when their managers grill them for low performance they can show them: Here boss, people aren't biting because we're asking them to come into the office. We need to change this asap.

That's a good point. I think I'll start doing that. Hopefully it (in a small way) nudges the industry.

Maybe throw in a 4-day work week too?

I've been floating that sometimes, just to gauge interest. I tell them that I'd be willing to change if a 4-day work week would be offered, at least covering my current salary.

It's a 20% increase in pay and I'd absolutely love to work Mon-Thu.

Considering I get fire-bombed by recruiters who don't even consider my geographic location, skills or stated desires, and who also can't be bothered to even acknowledge me when I respond like you suggest, I'd say don't waste your time. The vast majority of recruiters only want something from you and treat you like garbage once they're not going to get it. The profession's abysmal reputation is well deserved.

It’s too bad because there’s nothing wrong with offices, it’s the implication that you’re required to show up on some kind of schedule or something. “We have a fantastic office locations with free food, cool decor and meeting spaces, and you can go whenever you want”, but remote work is OK as much as you need/want is a great pitch to me.

Yea, fully agreed. I don't care about the existence of an office. I do care about the costs associated with me needing to be in the office. I recently ran the numbers for current job and, assuming I spend $15/meal + $1/cup of coffee, I still lose ~$3/day just commuting when I take advantage of free office breakfast/lunch food + microkitchen coffee. I also do not spend $15/per meal (my breakfast+lunch meal this morning ~$.60 to ~$1.60 depending on cost of ingredients, electricity, and my time).

I would, however, not mind having an optional office (and would actually prefer working for a company like that) so if it's a really hot day or I'm feeling crumby and want to change my scenery for a day or two I have a place I can go.

>"there will be two worlds, one before Covid, and one after."

However at the same time this cannot be applied to all areas of life. While a kind of awakening may have taken place at work, the importance of social interactions became particularly visible on the other side. I assume that the majority would rather like to return to the pre-covid era, and will strive for it.

If anything I have seen communities come together more than before. The fact that everyone now shares a somewhat similar challenging experience, we can choose to relate to each other more easily.

Some things will change for the long term, for example increased remote work.

However, there will be definitely a ton of people wanting go get their 2-3+ years back and to take advantage of life especially since so many have seen or been around death for so long.

Prepare for the New Roaring Twenties.

Mainstream remote work has arrived, and it's here to stay. White collar occupations outside tech will be forced to adapt and provide similar accommodations. Accountants, financial analysts, clerks. Any job that doesn't require manual labor or physical face time with a client will go remote. People will notice software engineers making 6 figures WFH and ask "Why can't I have that?" I believe this is part of what's fueling the Great Resignation. The disparity in terms of salary and work conditions between the worst jobs in society and the best jobs in society has become so great that a lot of people who used to occupy the worst jobs collectively said "fuck it" and successfully transitioned to better jobs, even if they're still not the best jobs society has to offer.

This is also the reason why I believe that teaching will eventually either go fully remote or start paying 6 figures straight out of college. The teaching profession sucks. Teachers understand now that they can earn the same income without having to babysit 30 kids five days a week and deal with the kafkaesque bullshit that is school administration.

I don’t see software engineering going fully remote. I certainly hope not; I’d have to retrain. The last 19 months have been enough to convince me I’ll never voluntarily do WFH for more than a day or so a time again.

yea sure it's not for everybody, but should be totally up to you whether you want remote or onsite.

Before the industrial revolution, most people worked from home. Outside of farmers we can think about jewelers, watch/clock makers, cobblers. There were those that worked in work houses because they were destitute.

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