Comment by taylodl | Hacker News Reader

Comment by taylodl | Hacker News Reader

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And I forgot to mention something - my productivity and my team's productivity have soared! I don't know why everybody else on my team is so much more productive but I know why I am: I play my guitar while thinking through something. For some reason playing music leads to insights I otherwise wouldn't have had. I keep my guitar within arm's reach of my desk and pick it up and play for a couple minutes every so often throughout the day. Try doing that at the office!

Oh wait, one guy tried. One of our best developers brought his guitar to the office because he said it helped him think. He did what I'm now doing (he was my inspiration actually!) and was soon asked to leave his guitar at home. They didn't give two shits what it did to help his productivity. No one on the team complained either because they always wore headphones. Seems as though a busybody walking by the team space thought somebody playing guitar at work wasn't "professional." All management said was they had received "complaints."

Yeah, screw that.

> One of our best developers brought his guitar to the office because he said it helped him think.

That would drive me insane. Headphones or not. But I totally get it! Working remote means I get to do all kinds of things that would probably annoy someone in an office, but help me think or concentrate.

> All management said was they had received "complaints."

that always means from other managers

Are you looking for a fully remote job then?

There's the kicker. We're going to be seeing how much people actually value remote work. Will you take the $300k "in-office culture" Amazon job, or the $200k fully-remote job.

I'm firmly in the remote work camp, you couldn't pay me enough to commute. It would not only ruin my day, but I would be part of the traffic congestion problem (for people who are causally required to be at their worksite).

Yes exactly. I'm fine with any company policy as long as it doesn't change every month. Then it's just one more criterion to select the offer you prefer, depending on your preferences.

I'm in the same boat. Pay me half of what a typical Google engineer makes and I'll still join, as long as I can be permanently remote. You'd have to pay me more to commute and another huge bump to compensate for being in an office.

I still feel like alot of people are going to value WFH even if it means making less. I've only recently experienced this, but there comes a point where you start to value time over extra money.

For the longest time I always chased the job that paid the most, all else be damned. But as I've made more and more, the amount of extra $$ required for me to move has only gone up.

Recently turned down several offers from companies that offered an extra $25k on my salary but required a drug test (I live in Colorado, I'll let that speak for itself) and in-office work. Each time I've asked myself whether the extra cash would be worth giving up the lifestyle that I currently have, a fairly easy going job where I have plenty of time to peruse outdoor activities. The answer has so far been a consistent NO.

I'd rather make $200k and be happy than make $300k and be miserable.

Yeah, after having kids I would way rather make less money and work from home. Right now I'm wasting an hour a day that I should be spending with my girls before they are old enough to go to school. It's heartbreaking.

Apparently, intel acquired the DEC CPU design team, and wanted them to take drug tests. At the same time, AMD wined and dined them.

Long story short, they refused to pee in cups, went to AMD and the result was either the Athlon XP or AMD 64. Either way, it was one of the generations that blindsided Intel, and led to lots of anticompetitive behavior.

The story isnt about them smoking pot, or whatever. It's about treating employees with respect.

I suspect mandatory return to office will create a few dozen of these stories.

Exactly and progressive tax is just the nail in the coffin. I'm honestly shocked at how high my quality of life is right now on a £3k/month budget—for both me and my wife.

> Will you take the $300k "in-office culture" Amazon job, or the $200k fully-remote job.

I make way less than $200k, so yes please. Show me the 200k fully remote full stack web developer job.

Only problem is it has to be open to hiring me living in Canada.

Shopify probably is hiring.

There is no way they are paying 200k, even Canadian dollars.

I mostly am fully remote now. My team is meeting in-person one to two times per month. Honestly I see that dwindling to one or two times per quarter throughout the remainder of this year.

The biggest change for me is pre-pandemic I would never have considered fully remote work. Now I would.

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