Hacker News Reader

Comment by varelse | Hacker News Reader

If you don't see the value in delaying exposure to that virus until there is something close to a sterilizing vaccine that's your viewpoint and you are entitled to that viewpoint. I hope you realize others see things differently. I understand that people feel isolated and I support them doing as they please up to the point that it endangers others.

To that end, opening up all the corporate offices for those that feel the need to be in the office once again whilst 100% allowing work from home seems the best of both worlds. We have vaccines. But we also have a rapidly evolving virus and a perfect storm right now for it to evolve further. I'm betting on the virus to win this one in the short-term. But I'm also betting in the long term that it's doomed, fortunately.

View on HN

> To that end, opening up all the corporate offices for those that feel the need to be in the office once again whilst 100% allowing work from home seems the best of both worlds.

Except that's not what's likely to happen. Even if 100% WFH is the official policy, people will be leaned on to come into the office. And as the number of people working remotely shrinks, that will only get worse, because it's very hard to be an outlier when everyone else is communicating real-time face to face.

Speak for yourself. I've been WFH mostly for over a quarter century. No fate but the one you make and all that stuff...

I didn't say it can't work, I said it was harder to be the only remote person.

I've seen all-remote, all-local, and mixed environments. I just don't have faith that mixed environments work well, but every situation is different.

The secret is not hiring fungibles and instead hiring people you can trust. But also those sorts are in demand and your overlords will probably not give you the $$$ to hire them. So we're forced to make do with fungible talent and that's where it all falls apart IMO.

Got any sage advice? That's a rare amount of time to have done WFH in 2021

Stand up for your needs. And deliver sufficiently that your manager prefers to keep you working. The one exception where I tried to work 100% in an open office led to me catching the flu and staying stick for 4 months. People complained about my coughing so they gave me a private office rather than allow me to WFH until I felt better (got to keep the private office though). I had no complaints, but just about no one is going to do that.

I think it's fair that being the one remote member on a team is difficult. But especially going forward I don't expect that to be the norm. And in practice I'm generally communicating with people in a lot of different locations anyway.

I have been offered a job in a new SARS vaccine design team and, ironically, they want to put me in a tiny crowded office with no HVAC.

Of course, when I stated I'm less than happy about that, they claimed it's very safe. Yet all workers are traveling by bus and masks are not mandatory.

So are you seeing the red flags here or not? This doesn't seem like a winning effort. This seems more like the opening scene to The Stand or the French lab that spawned the zombie apocalypse. Not that I think this virus is the end of the world but I do think it is the global marshmallow test. I can wait a really long time. I'm not a people person anyway.

Aside: genuine bona fide former bench scientist who used to work in a hot lab here. I stopped working in hot labs because the safety practices of my coworkers terrified me. Many of them are dead of cancer now, decades later. While there's no strong evidence for it, I cannot entirely dismiss the lab Leak theory here based on my prior experience working with fellow scientists and their cavalier attitudes towards safety. Had I stayed I think I would have lost my mind.

Why is it ironic? The outcome from a proper vaccine would be eliminating masks and other measures. It seems 100% aligned with the company goals, but not the common perpetually-anxious-but-loves-to-look-rational dream.

We're so confident we'll stop the zombie apocalypse that we require all our new employees to be bitten by zombies!

I mean you could opt to stay super safe in a bunker and automatically die after 70 years or so, or go play along with the zombie wearing a helmet. There is a risk to living life to the fullest. Not everyone is you.

I don't intend to stay locked down anywhere.

During the peak of the pandemic I was still going to my office at Oxford University. However, this other institution I'm potentially joining has much more relaxed safety measures.

I think having a low-density office is a must even if there is no pandemics. I want to be productive, and I don't want to be surrounded by tens of coughing people during the flu season. It's just commonsense.

Um, one is pretty safe outdoors so far. I'm living a pretty good life modulo I miss watching movies on the big screen, mostly addressed by procuring a cheap 70" flatscreen. What's not so safe is congregating in poorly ventilated spaces. Why are you so hellbent on suggesting life is incomplete without doing so?

I'm not hellbent on proving anything, but looking at the thread at large, it seems you are very much. Carry on.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com