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"Nearly 8% of programmers now work from home, following a staggering increase of nearly 400% since 2000." Could working remotely reach a tipping point where it

"Nearly 8% of programmers now work from home, following a staggering increase of nearly 400% since 2000." Could working remotely reach a tipping point where it becomes the default? I could see it happening in the next 20 years, the advantages are too numerous. Most of the downsides are typically related to the inherent friction between onsite and the offsite workers, meaning companies that start out as remote-first will have a big advantages over companies that later add remote working options.

xeromal 10y ago
The biggest downside to me is decreasing the ways to make a friends and being social. I worked remote for about 8 months and I got bored seeing the same room in the day and the night. Of course not having a commute is an amazing thing and environmentally friendly, but I felt very disconnected from the world. I think once working from home is the norm something will have to exist to allow for meeting new people besides the status quo.
- clarkmoody 10y ago
  Well with the time saved from your commute, you could get involved in something locally. You could talk to your neighbors...
  - eric_the_read 10y ago
    ...who are all working in their offices, because most of them aren't programmers.
  - colmvp 10y ago
    I think this is where a lot of remote workers fail to adapt, myself included for a few years. Remote working has its disadvantages but it's not unsolvable. Nowadays, I make it a point to go to local meetups on a consistent basis, which actually allowed me access to social networks far outside the limited network within my company. What's nice is that it forced me to learn how to make friends outside of typical environments (work, school). It was far easier than I realized, and now I regret not doing it earlier in my life.
    - ArtDev 10y ago
      Meetups are awesome. I highly recommend board game meetups! There are lots programming related meetups as well.
  - MiddleEndian 10y ago
    Despite being rather introverted, I have a fairly active social life outside of work. Nothing against my coworkers, but I would work from home full time if I could. When talking to companies I am always surprised by how many are not friendly to fully remote employees, even ones who work on online collaborative tools.
- Retric 10y ago
  It makes a big difference how flexible your schedule is. I used to work from home and could take a few hours to see a museum/movie/etc in the middle of the week. Saving 5+ hours a week in commute time frees you up to be a lot more social as long as you actually leave the house regularly. The flip side is I also had weeks when I never left the house or really spoke with anyone, but as long as that's not your normal schedule it's IMO not a big deal. PS: I know some people who really got into online games with that schedule. An MMO is not quite a social life, but it's easier to maintain if your hours get wacky vs. the local culture.
- jtraffic 10y ago
  I had a long conversation about this with my Dad yesterday. He is an attorney who spent years working in fairly large organizations. Now he works from home most of the time. I like how he explained his experience. He said that working from home removes many of the day-to-day negatives, such as a boss on your case and having to wake up even if you feel terrible. On the other hand, he said working from home also removes many of the positives, in particular, working with other motivated people. I've tried for a couple of years now to get a group to work on side projects. The idea was to use video calls to meet and then work in a decentralized way. I've found it to be very difficult to keep the motivation high. Projects just starve to death. I wonder how different it would be if we had met in person.
  - badestrand 10y ago
    I am working from different coworking spaces for some time now. I think they actually (can) have the positives that your dad and others are missing - working alongside motivated people, causual smalltalk, you can make friends. I really like it but it is some luck to find a fitting location.
- brandall10 10y ago
  I go out to cafes half of the time - even if it's just 4 hours or so. That said, it's relatively easy/quick for me as I live in downtown San Diego. There's literally 5 cafes within a 2 block radius of my condo and probably a couple dozen that are great for working out of within a 5 mile drive. I'm not super social but I regularly strike up conversations and occasionally form friendships while I'm out and about.
- bphogan 10y ago
  I think you hit the nail on the head here - there are lots of folks who view work as a way to be social and make friends. I wonder if a lot of it stems from the fact that sometimes you have to relocate for a new gig, and making friends at work is easier. I suppose it's also good to have friends at work when times are tough. That's never fit my definition of work though. Work is where I go to work, to get stuff done with motivated people. I mean, I'll be friendly with coworkers, sure... but I didn't necessariliy choose them. Kinda like highschool or college - these people are around because they were placed there. A friend of mine called this "Friends of geographical convenience" once. I have lots of people I get along with at work... but would I invite them to my daughter's wedding? A child's graduation? Would I loan them money if they were desperate? Would I help them move? Could I count on them to help me in troubled times? Probably not, cos people move on from jobs pretty quick. Work friends are kinda like Facebook friends. My real friends and I share more common interests than just computering. ;) That said, I do have a couple of friends I met through work. But that's different than using work to find friends, I think. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know. Just thinking out loud I suppose.
  - padobson 10y ago
    >I wonder if a lot of it stems from the fact that sometimes you have to relocate for a new gig, and making friends at work is easier. I like this. Because it could lead to some interesting demographic shifts as more people go remote and where they live becomes less important to work, and more important for other things, like making friends. For example, I like pro wrestling. I know that wrestling fans are overrepresented in Orlando, FL. If I already work remotely, then it would make sense for me to move to Orlando to be around people who have similar interests. This could apply just as easily to religion, politics, hobbies, and other things once income is less tightly coupled to geography.
- atemerev 10y ago
  "Social" is not the same as "coworkers". There are people to meet beyond work.
avenoir 10y ago
I've been a remote employee for 2 years now. I strongly believe that the majority of people will not be able to mentally adjust to working out of their home. It's only human nature. There are days I feel like I will go insane if i spend another 10 minutes in my apartment. Then I'd go to a coffee shop and just relax mentally while feeling like part of society. And i'm an introvert.
- xeromal 10y ago
  Indeed. A good amount of humans are social creatures and need interaction. A coffee shop is a good idea. You don't even need to talk to people. Just being immersed in a busy environment is good enough sometimes.
  - autokad 10y ago
    if i dont speak to humans, even for a short while, I start forgetting how to. being immersed isn't enough, if anything it feels more alienating to me
- maxxxxx 10y ago
  When I worked from home I did much more in terms of extracurricular activities. I am working in an office now and after a day of dealing with people I am exhausted and just go home to collapse. I think my social life has suffered a lot from working in an office. Yes, I interact with people but not really on my own terms.
- zeppelin101 10y ago
  But working from a cafe is still pretty much 'working from home'. It has many of the upsides of working from the non-remote office with the upsides of choosing your environment (e.g. what kind of cafe are you looking for?).
- ArtDev 10y ago
  I have a wife and kids, so its nice to visit with them on my breaks if they are around. This is a key difference if you don't have kids yet. I am rarely lonely, even if I never leave my house.
remotehack 10y ago
In the early 2000's I thought it would be more common now. It looks like by the time it gets to where recruiters understand what I'm asking for, it will be time to retire.

xeromal 10y ago

The biggest downside to me is decreasing the ways to make a friends and being social. I worked remote for about 8 months and I got bored seeing the same room in the day and the night. Of course not having a commute is an amazing thing and environmentally friendly, but I felt very disconnected from the world. I think once working from home is the norm something will have to exist to allow for meeting new people besides the status quo.

clarkmoody 10y ago
Well with the time saved from your commute, you could get involved in something locally. You could talk to your neighbors...
- eric_the_read 10y ago
  ...who are all working in their offices, because most of them aren't programmers.
- colmvp 10y ago
  I think this is where a lot of remote workers fail to adapt, myself included for a few years. Remote working has its disadvantages but it's not unsolvable. Nowadays, I make it a point to go to local meetups on a consistent basis, which actually allowed me access to social networks far outside the limited network within my company. What's nice is that it forced me to learn how to make friends outside of typical environments (work, school). It was far easier than I realized, and now I regret not doing it earlier in my life.
  - ArtDev 10y ago
    Meetups are awesome. I highly recommend board game meetups! There are lots programming related meetups as well.
- MiddleEndian 10y ago
  Despite being rather introverted, I have a fairly active social life outside of work. Nothing against my coworkers, but I would work from home full time if I could. When talking to companies I am always surprised by how many are not friendly to fully remote employees, even ones who work on online collaborative tools.
Retric 10y ago
It makes a big difference how flexible your schedule is. I used to work from home and could take a few hours to see a museum/movie/etc in the middle of the week. Saving 5+ hours a week in commute time frees you up to be a lot more social as long as you actually leave the house regularly. The flip side is I also had weeks when I never left the house or really spoke with anyone, but as long as that's not your normal schedule it's IMO not a big deal. PS: I know some people who really got into online games with that schedule. An MMO is not quite a social life, but it's easier to maintain if your hours get wacky vs. the local culture.
jtraffic 10y ago
I had a long conversation about this with my Dad yesterday. He is an attorney who spent years working in fairly large organizations. Now he works from home most of the time. I like how he explained his experience. He said that working from home removes many of the day-to-day negatives, such as a boss on your case and having to wake up even if you feel terrible. On the other hand, he said working from home also removes many of the positives, in particular, working with other motivated people. I've tried for a couple of years now to get a group to work on side projects. The idea was to use video calls to meet and then work in a decentralized way. I've found it to be very difficult to keep the motivation high. Projects just starve to death. I wonder how different it would be if we had met in person.
- badestrand 10y ago
  I am working from different coworking spaces for some time now. I think they actually (can) have the positives that your dad and others are missing - working alongside motivated people, causual smalltalk, you can make friends. I really like it but it is some luck to find a fitting location.
brandall10 10y ago
I go out to cafes half of the time - even if it's just 4 hours or so. That said, it's relatively easy/quick for me as I live in downtown San Diego. There's literally 5 cafes within a 2 block radius of my condo and probably a couple dozen that are great for working out of within a 5 mile drive. I'm not super social but I regularly strike up conversations and occasionally form friendships while I'm out and about.
bphogan 10y ago
I think you hit the nail on the head here - there are lots of folks who view work as a way to be social and make friends. I wonder if a lot of it stems from the fact that sometimes you have to relocate for a new gig, and making friends at work is easier. I suppose it's also good to have friends at work when times are tough. That's never fit my definition of work though. Work is where I go to work, to get stuff done with motivated people. I mean, I'll be friendly with coworkers, sure... but I didn't necessariliy choose them. Kinda like highschool or college - these people are around because they were placed there. A friend of mine called this "Friends of geographical convenience" once. I have lots of people I get along with at work... but would I invite them to my daughter's wedding? A child's graduation? Would I loan them money if they were desperate? Would I help them move? Could I count on them to help me in troubled times? Probably not, cos people move on from jobs pretty quick. Work friends are kinda like Facebook friends. My real friends and I share more common interests than just computering. ;) That said, I do have a couple of friends I met through work. But that's different than using work to find friends, I think. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know. Just thinking out loud I suppose.
- padobson 10y ago
  >I wonder if a lot of it stems from the fact that sometimes you have to relocate for a new gig, and making friends at work is easier. I like this. Because it could lead to some interesting demographic shifts as more people go remote and where they live becomes less important to work, and more important for other things, like making friends. For example, I like pro wrestling. I know that wrestling fans are overrepresented in Orlando, FL. If I already work remotely, then it would make sense for me to move to Orlando to be around people who have similar interests. This could apply just as easily to religion, politics, hobbies, and other things once income is less tightly coupled to geography.
atemerev 10y ago
"Social" is not the same as "coworkers". There are people to meet beyond work.

avenoir 10y ago

I've been a remote employee for 2 years now. I strongly believe that the majority of people will not be able to mentally adjust to working out of their home. It's only human nature. There are days I feel like I will go insane if i spend another 10 minutes in my apartment. Then I'd go to a coffee shop and just relax mentally while feeling like part of society. And i'm an introvert.

xeromal 10y ago
Indeed. A good amount of humans are social creatures and need interaction. A coffee shop is a good idea. You don't even need to talk to people. Just being immersed in a busy environment is good enough sometimes.
- autokad 10y ago
  if i dont speak to humans, even for a short while, I start forgetting how to. being immersed isn't enough, if anything it feels more alienating to me
maxxxxx 10y ago
When I worked from home I did much more in terms of extracurricular activities. I am working in an office now and after a day of dealing with people I am exhausted and just go home to collapse. I think my social life has suffered a lot from working in an office. Yes, I interact with people but not really on my own terms.
zeppelin101 10y ago
But working from a cafe is still pretty much 'working from home'. It has many of the upsides of working from the non-remote office with the upsides of choosing your environment (e.g. what kind of cafe are you looking for?).
ArtDev 10y ago
I have a wife and kids, so its nice to visit with them on my breaks if they are around. This is a key difference if you don't have kids yet. I am rarely lonely, even if I never leave my house.

remotehack 10y ago

In the early 2000's I thought it would be more common now. It looks like by the time it gets to where recruiters understand what I'm asking for, it will be time to retire.