10 ms·

And my team at Amazon almost every day has only 4/5 engineers at the office because one is taking it easy working from home. Sometimes people take hour lunches

And my team at Amazon almost every day has only 4/5 engineers at the office because one is taking it easy working from home. Sometimes people take hour lunches and leave after 7 hours. Sometimes they want to finish something and stay later.

gtrubetskoy 10y ago
In which way is "working from home" "taking it easy"?
- yazaddaruvala 10y ago
  You put "working form home" all in quotes :) For some of us its "working" from home :P
- citizenflynn 10y ago
  When you're running errands, fixing your car, and working on changes when you can.
  - jsemrau 10y ago
    Work-life balance? As well-educated adults it makes me cringe how we constrict ourselves mentally to being productive employees only in a specific geographical location. When working in companies with a global reach, the workday has 24 hours.
- andrewguenther 10y ago
  Because working from home is usually light on working.
  - themartorana 10y ago
    Not in my experience or the experiences of anyone I know or work with.
    - smm2000 10y ago
      A few times we got "work from home" day when teams moved from one building to another. You would expect more emails that day than usual as you could not just talk in person. Well, both number of email and commits went down significantly which tells me that people mostly "worked" from home that day.
      - toomuchtodo 10y ago
        If you're measuring productivity by email and commit volume, and you're a manager, you should be fired. It's the digital equivalent of "hours in the chair".
      - zzalpha 10y ago
        That was a one-off event. Folks who don't regularly remote work will think of that as a "treat". In their minds they're probably viewing it as an unofficial day off. Assuming that's comparable to a true remote work policy is silly.
      - Retra 10y ago
        Personally, I can't effectively work at home. If you send me home to work, I'm going to be constantly distracted. If you want me to be productive, make sure I have an office. So, with forewarning, I'm not the only person like this, and if a manager or executive wants to make this kind of decision and expect productivity to not suffer, they're being... stupid.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - toomuchtodo 10y ago
    Your viewpoint, without experience, is toxic to rational discussions regarding remote work (and is ironic, considering your employer).
    - Spooky23 10y ago
      No, it's just a different viewpoint. If you don't have measurable inputs and outputs (i.e. Tickets, service requests, widgets, cases, etc), you typically lose productivity. Not necessarily because of the employee, but also because of managers who don't function well with out of sight people. Personally, I think in many cases you'd get better outcomes out of sending people home at noon on Fridays than having them telework.
      - Falkon1313 10y ago
        > If you don't have measurable inputs and outputs Of course if you're not giving employees anything to do, you'll get reduced productivity. That's also true if you force them to sit in a chair in the office and do nothing. If you can't come up with anything for them to do (slow season, sales pipeline stalled) maybe let them pitch ideas for things they'd like to work on and give the ok on some. Either way, if they have something to do and you keep in touch with them on how things are going, things should keep moving even without specific granular measurements. But why not use tickets or tasks or something to make it visible? > also because of managers who don't function well with out of sight people Those people probably shouldn't be managers, at least not working with remote workers. Communication is critical. A remote team should feel like they're communicating at least as much as an in-office team, if not more.
    - andrewguenther 10y ago
      My viewpoint is exactly that, my viewpoint. I make it well known that when I am working from home it is likely because I have 9-5 errands to run, but I will be available throughout the day.
      - toomuchtodo 10y ago
        Viewpoints are anecdotal. Bring data, not opinions.
  - obstacle1 10y ago
    Maybe this is the case for the specific type of person who ends up working where you work. But it isn't universal. Many of us don't need "adult supervision" in order to be highly productive.
    - andrewguenther 10y ago
      > But it isn't universal. Neither are people being highly productive without "adult supervision." In all seriousness, I find your comment incredibly insulting. I gave an opinion based off of experience, that doesn't mean that I'm some sort of child that needs to be supervised. > the specific type of person who ends up working where you work I typically prefer to keep my comments here civil, but seriously? Fuck you.
      - krisdol 10y ago
        > I gave an opinion based off of experience, that doesn't mean that I'm some sort of child that needs to be supervised. It also doesn't mean you're an expert. Next time you give your opinion, try not being insulting, and help us understand why you have that opinion. You gave one sentence that painted everyone working from home as lazy, and stated it as a fact. I work from home when I need to be more productive. The office has too many coworkers with ad hoc questions that apparently aren't important enough to ask online.
      - dasmoth 10y ago
        >>> Neither are people being highly productive without "adult supervision." This may be true, but it's frustrating when that just gets assumed.
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
      - obstacle1 10y ago
        Your post was a general statement that working from home is usually light on working. Stop and think about that for a second. Many of us here are 100% remote. How are we to interpret your general statement, except as insulting? A little self-awareness would be far more helpful to you than lashing out in anger.
  - trentmb 10y ago
    It's usually more honest. I guarantee I'm not working 8 hours straight in the office.
    - krisdol 10y ago
      When I work from home (or often, a cafe), I don't waste time commuting and going out to a long lunch. I get more hours of work done and less stress from navigating traffic.
  - jsemrau 10y ago
    I usually work from home when I have a full schedule of back-to-back calls. This quite frequently happens in my role. Looking at a slide deck listening to people talk can be done everywhere.
- jaredsohn 10y ago
  It can be quieter, you don't have to deal with office distractions, and if you are an introvert it can be less draining.
  - krisdol 10y ago
    That sounds ideal for working harder, not taking it easy :).
  - dasmoth 10y ago
    Certainly agree on the "less draining" part -- but I'd like to think I'm being paid for making stuff, rather than for ending the day shattered. Some employers seem to have different views, though.
    - jaredsohn 10y ago
      I don't disagree; Google says "take it easy" means "proceed calmly and in a relaxed manner" which I think fits what I described (and you'll probably get more work done this way, too if you already have a good idea of what you need to do.)
radiorental 10y ago
Punctuation and order are not prerequisits for making a point, but they help. Sometimes sleep deprivation manifests itself in strange ways sometimes.
- citizenflynn 10y ago
  As does spelling.
- ycombinatorMan 10y ago
  Like saying sometimes twice
rdtsc 10y ago
Don't work for Amazon but work from home. I don't take it easy at all. It can be even harder than being in the office because it is hard to stop working. So have to be vigilant about that. Now not burning gas and time and nerves stuck in traffic every day and being able to have lunch with my family is a nice bonus. But if that is considered "taking it" easy, a potential employee wouldn't benefit from that either, that would be time and resources just wasted (I guess car mechanics and gas stations would benefit from that at some point).
BookingPotions 10y ago
That's true sometimes, and makes sense in the salaried way. But to take a reduced pay you would need to be guaranteed reduced work. Also, you sound disgruntled, why don't you do the same if you feel your team allows it?

gtrubetskoy 10y ago

In which way is "working from home" "taking it easy"?

yazaddaruvala 10y ago
You put "working form home" all in quotes :) For some of us its "working" from home :P
citizenflynn 10y ago
When you're running errands, fixing your car, and working on changes when you can.
- jsemrau 10y ago
  Work-life balance? As well-educated adults it makes me cringe how we constrict ourselves mentally to being productive employees only in a specific geographical location. When working in companies with a global reach, the workday has 24 hours.
andrewguenther 10y ago
Because working from home is usually light on working.
- themartorana 10y ago
  Not in my experience or the experiences of anyone I know or work with.
  - smm2000 10y ago
    A few times we got "work from home" day when teams moved from one building to another. You would expect more emails that day than usual as you could not just talk in person. Well, both number of email and commits went down significantly which tells me that people mostly "worked" from home that day.
    - toomuchtodo 10y ago
      If you're measuring productivity by email and commit volume, and you're a manager, you should be fired. It's the digital equivalent of "hours in the chair".
    - zzalpha 10y ago
      That was a one-off event. Folks who don't regularly remote work will think of that as a "treat". In their minds they're probably viewing it as an unofficial day off. Assuming that's comparable to a true remote work policy is silly.
    - Retra 10y ago
      Personally, I can't effectively work at home. If you send me home to work, I'm going to be constantly distracted. If you want me to be productive, make sure I have an office. So, with forewarning, I'm not the only person like this, and if a manager or executive wants to make this kind of decision and expect productivity to not suffer, they're being... stupid.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- toomuchtodo 10y ago
  Your viewpoint, without experience, is toxic to rational discussions regarding remote work (and is ironic, considering your employer).
  - Spooky23 10y ago
    No, it's just a different viewpoint. If you don't have measurable inputs and outputs (i.e. Tickets, service requests, widgets, cases, etc), you typically lose productivity. Not necessarily because of the employee, but also because of managers who don't function well with out of sight people. Personally, I think in many cases you'd get better outcomes out of sending people home at noon on Fridays than having them telework.
    - Falkon1313 10y ago
      > If you don't have measurable inputs and outputs Of course if you're not giving employees anything to do, you'll get reduced productivity. That's also true if you force them to sit in a chair in the office and do nothing. If you can't come up with anything for them to do (slow season, sales pipeline stalled) maybe let them pitch ideas for things they'd like to work on and give the ok on some. Either way, if they have something to do and you keep in touch with them on how things are going, things should keep moving even without specific granular measurements. But why not use tickets or tasks or something to make it visible? > also because of managers who don't function well with out of sight people Those people probably shouldn't be managers, at least not working with remote workers. Communication is critical. A remote team should feel like they're communicating at least as much as an in-office team, if not more.
  - andrewguenther 10y ago
    My viewpoint is exactly that, my viewpoint. I make it well known that when I am working from home it is likely because I have 9-5 errands to run, but I will be available throughout the day.
    - toomuchtodo 10y ago
      Viewpoints are anecdotal. Bring data, not opinions.
- obstacle1 10y ago
  Maybe this is the case for the specific type of person who ends up working where you work. But it isn't universal. Many of us don't need "adult supervision" in order to be highly productive.
  - andrewguenther 10y ago
    > But it isn't universal. Neither are people being highly productive without "adult supervision." In all seriousness, I find your comment incredibly insulting. I gave an opinion based off of experience, that doesn't mean that I'm some sort of child that needs to be supervised. > the specific type of person who ends up working where you work I typically prefer to keep my comments here civil, but seriously? Fuck you.
    - krisdol 10y ago
      > I gave an opinion based off of experience, that doesn't mean that I'm some sort of child that needs to be supervised. It also doesn't mean you're an expert. Next time you give your opinion, try not being insulting, and help us understand why you have that opinion. You gave one sentence that painted everyone working from home as lazy, and stated it as a fact. I work from home when I need to be more productive. The office has too many coworkers with ad hoc questions that apparently aren't important enough to ask online.
    - dasmoth 10y ago
      >>> Neither are people being highly productive without "adult supervision." This may be true, but it's frustrating when that just gets assumed.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - obstacle1 10y ago
      Your post was a general statement that working from home is usually light on working. Stop and think about that for a second. Many of us here are 100% remote. How are we to interpret your general statement, except as insulting? A little self-awareness would be far more helpful to you than lashing out in anger.
- trentmb 10y ago
  It's usually more honest. I guarantee I'm not working 8 hours straight in the office.
  - krisdol 10y ago
    When I work from home (or often, a cafe), I don't waste time commuting and going out to a long lunch. I get more hours of work done and less stress from navigating traffic.
- jsemrau 10y ago
  I usually work from home when I have a full schedule of back-to-back calls. This quite frequently happens in my role. Looking at a slide deck listening to people talk can be done everywhere.
jaredsohn 10y ago
It can be quieter, you don't have to deal with office distractions, and if you are an introvert it can be less draining.
- krisdol 10y ago
  That sounds ideal for working harder, not taking it easy :).
- dasmoth 10y ago
  Certainly agree on the "less draining" part -- but I'd like to think I'm being paid for making stuff, rather than for ending the day shattered. Some employers seem to have different views, though.
  - jaredsohn 10y ago
    I don't disagree; Google says "take it easy" means "proceed calmly and in a relaxed manner" which I think fits what I described (and you'll probably get more work done this way, too if you already have a good idea of what you need to do.)

radiorental 10y ago

Punctuation and order are not prerequisits for making a point, but they help. Sometimes sleep deprivation manifests itself in strange ways sometimes.

citizenflynn 10y ago
As does spelling.
ycombinatorMan 10y ago
Like saying sometimes twice

rdtsc 10y ago

Don't work for Amazon but work from home. I don't take it easy at all. It can be even harder than being in the office because it is hard to stop working. So have to be vigilant about that. Now not burning gas and time and nerves stuck in traffic every day and being able to have lunch with my family is a nice bonus. But if that is considered "taking it" easy, a potential employee wouldn't benefit from that either, that would be time and resources just wasted (I guess car mechanics and gas stations would benefit from that at some point).

BookingPotions 10y ago

That's true sometimes, and makes sense in the salaried way. But to take a reduced pay you would need to be guaranteed reduced work. Also, you sound disgruntled, why don't you do the same if you feel your team allows it?