Comment by throwaway19473 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by throwaway19473 | Hacker News Reader

I am a 23 year old Covid-era graduate and I started a job at a big organisation last year. It is very noticeable how I, and all my graduate peers, are much more driven to come into the office than our older colleagues. I think it’s a combination of day to day social interaction that you just don’t get with WFH, and a genuine want to learn and develop professionally.

It’s honestly a bit disheartening seeing all of our older peers working from home all the time whilst simultaneously pushing an agenda of “network network network”. Of course we all see the benefits of a WFH / hybrid workplace but I’m sure everyone can admit that a conversation on Teams just isn’t as effective as in person.

People pushing the WFH agenda tout its benefits on productivity, but I argue that it’s detrimental in the long run because the lack of cohesion in teams will lead to more and more sticking points and blockers.

It’s all wonderful if you’re retiring in 10 years and you’ve already built your network, but for us younger people it’s definitely taking its toll.

You can build your network by doing a great job at your current work even if it is remote. I worked remote for my previous two companies--the last one is Amazon. I left both with great contacts. In fact, I was referred to Amazon by one of my previous coworkers whom, I had only met in person once. He knows the quality of my work because we have sat in meetings, and worked on projects together.

The point is you don't need to be physically present together to create a solid *professional* network. If your aim are more about building personal network (like making friends), then yes you need an in-office job. To me, I draw a very distinct line between professional and personal life, and in my 15+ years of professional life, I never got into sour relationship with my coworkers because of that.

I can understand this perspective, but I think it can work both ways. I'm 44 years old, and would also rather work from an office than from home, primarily for social interactions, and wanting to work outside of my house. My experience has been the inverse of yours, that most of my younger colleagues, who have spent the majority of their careers working from home, would rather continue to do so, and either hadn't had positive experiences working in an office environment and don't crave a return to it, or have focused their needs for social interaction elsewhere.

find a meetup.

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