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Glad to see this data coming out. My company builds tools for remote workers so naturally, I speak with a lot of people who work remotely. I'd say most of the p

by dglass 7y ago

Glad to see this data coming out. My company builds tools for remote workers so naturally, I speak with a lot of people who work remotely. I'd say most of the pain points I hear from remote workers line up fairly well with the data in this survey (and also my own pain points since I've worked remote for over a year now). I'm not surprised to see that 97% of people would recommend working remote to others. Almost everyone I speak with says they would never go back to working in an office. While I can see myself going back to an office at some point in my career, right now the flexibility in my day far outweighs working in an office. I hear a lot of similar downsides as well. I'm a bit surprised that only 20% of people responded that they struggled with loneliness while working remote. In my experience this number seems to be higher. My coworkers and I work out of coffee shops quite a bit and almost everyone who goes to work in a coffee shop is doing so in order to break out of the loneliness of their home and be around other people (next time you're in a coffee shop, take note of how many people have laptops out). The problem though is that no one really interacts with people at coffee shops because everyone is at their own table on their laptops. We heard this feedback so much that we started holding Work Clubs[0] at coffee shops where people can sit down with us at the same table and work together for a few hours. It's not networking but it's a way to meet other people during the workday while getting your work done. We've had people from many different industries, ages, and walks of life working together and forming business connections. It's beneficial to the coffee shops too because when we all sit at the same table, order food and drinks, and it frees up other tables for more customers. Our communities are growing in Portland, San Diego, and the SF Bay Area right now, so come work with us if you're ever feeling lonely and need some IRL human interaction in your day! Mental health is an important factor for remote workers, and we're hoping to alleviate some of those struggles for the remote community. [0]: https://outofoffice.app/ https://outofoffice.app/

xrd 7y ago
I'm glad you called out the loneliness metrics and analysis. I agree that this is a place where we as an industry can make improvements and provide leadership. It is just about every day that I go from feeling disappointed that I will be having lunch by myself again, to feeling frustrated to think that I could have lunch with someone (but it would add 2 hours to my day if I drive up, time I don't have as a father of three small kids), ending with just being frustrated about being lonely. I'm grateful I don't have to commute, but being able to walk out the door of an office and find dozens of random people with which I could have lunch with is something I really miss. I'm really glad there are numbers behind this important topic. Loneliness is real, its a big problem, and it is something most remote companies don't talk about.
AlexCoventry 7y ago
Now that I work from home, my cat basically lives on my lap, so I'm never lonely. He does keep me from using my fancy keyboard on my lap like I'm used to, but it's a worthwhile trade.
JMTQp8lwXL 7y ago
Vaguely being around other people, even if with no intent to socialize (e.g., a coffee shop with mostly laptops) seems to fill the gap. If you feel lonely, it seems to go a long way, compared to sitting at home.
- ikeyany 7y ago
  Sort of like when people have the TV on at all times to not feel alone. But isn't that just masking the symptoms of deeper issues regarding self-imposed isolation?
  - pdimitar 7y ago
    Maybe it does mask it as you say but it also offers tangible benefits. Having a stream on my TV at all times while I'm awake definitely helped me feel almost no loneliness.
asterisk_ 7y ago
> surprised that only 20% of people responded that they struggled with loneliness while working remote. In my experience this number seems to be higher. Would you agree most lonely remote workers also tend to be younger? It's somewhat unfortunate that we don't have additional data on the respondents since it may provide interesting insight (e.g. confounders that immediately spring to mind are country of residence and marital status), but there's a natural tendency to drift towards "exploitation" of existing relationships as one gets older as opposed to "exploring" new ones. For instance, Doist's founder [1] cites being able to spend time with his son every morning as a major advantage. In any case an even greater push towards remote work seems inevitable, especially as the tech workforce grows older. [1] https://twitter.com/amix3k/status/1103740848519434240 https://twitter.com/amix3k/status/1103740848519434240
cs02rm0 7y ago
Perhaps they don't consider themselves struggling with loneliness because it's mitigated by such measures. The remote company I work with will buy you a desk in a local co-working space for anyone who wants it.
mikmeh 7y ago
Neat idea, I don't fit the demographic but maybe there is a stronger representation of the family man in remote working and why that loneliness stat is so low in your experience. My family keeps me plenty of company throughout the day and myself and coworkers have great communication. I have never felt lonely. It's not being with other people I miss though, it's the in person random collaboration sessions I miss. Reddit and this site fill in some of that gap.
- sedgjh23 7y ago
  My coworkers and I will have productivity, creativity, or brainstorming sessions at each other’s homes every two or three months (sometimes less frequently) to help fulfill the desire for in-person collaboration. Work is willing to reimburse for travel time because we’re lucky enough to have an owner that sees the value in it. Also, we all live in the same region, so it’s a 3 hour drive at most for any one of us, depending on where we decide to meet. You should consider something similar and propose it to management if you think it would benefit the team.

by dglass 7y ago

xrd 7y ago

I'm glad you called out the loneliness metrics and analysis. I agree that this is a place where we as an industry can make improvements and provide leadership. It is just about every day that I go from feeling disappointed that I will be having lunch by myself again, to feeling frustrated to think that I could have lunch with someone (but it would add 2 hours to my day if I drive up, time I don't have as a father of three small kids), ending with just being frustrated about being lonely. I'm grateful I don't have to commute, but being able to walk out the door of an office and find dozens of random people with which I could have lunch with is something I really miss. I'm really glad there are numbers behind this important topic. Loneliness is real, its a big problem, and it is something most remote companies don't talk about.

AlexCoventry 7y ago

Now that I work from home, my cat basically lives on my lap, so I'm never lonely. He does keep me from using my fancy keyboard on my lap like I'm used to, but it's a worthwhile trade.

JMTQp8lwXL 7y ago

Vaguely being around other people, even if with no intent to socialize (e.g., a coffee shop with mostly laptops) seems to fill the gap. If you feel lonely, it seems to go a long way, compared to sitting at home.

ikeyany 7y ago
Sort of like when people have the TV on at all times to not feel alone. But isn't that just masking the symptoms of deeper issues regarding self-imposed isolation?
- pdimitar 7y ago
  Maybe it does mask it as you say but it also offers tangible benefits. Having a stream on my TV at all times while I'm awake definitely helped me feel almost no loneliness.

asterisk_ 7y ago

> surprised that only 20% of people responded that they struggled with loneliness while working remote. In my experience this number seems to be higher. Would you agree most lonely remote workers also tend to be younger? It's somewhat unfortunate that we don't have additional data on the respondents since it may provide interesting insight (e.g. confounders that immediately spring to mind are country of residence and marital status), but there's a natural tendency to drift towards "exploitation" of existing relationships as one gets older as opposed to "exploring" new ones. For instance, Doist's founder [1] cites being able to spend time with his son every morning as a major advantage. In any case an even greater push towards remote work seems inevitable, especially as the tech workforce grows older. [1] https://twitter.com/amix3k/status/1103740848519434240 https://twitter.com/amix3k/status/1103740848519434240

cs02rm0 7y ago

Perhaps they don't consider themselves struggling with loneliness because it's mitigated by such measures. The remote company I work with will buy you a desk in a local co-working space for anyone who wants it.

mikmeh 7y ago

Neat idea, I don't fit the demographic but maybe there is a stronger representation of the family man in remote working and why that loneliness stat is so low in your experience. My family keeps me plenty of company throughout the day and myself and coworkers have great communication. I have never felt lonely. It's not being with other people I miss though, it's the in person random collaboration sessions I miss. Reddit and this site fill in some of that gap.

sedgjh23 7y ago
My coworkers and I will have productivity, creativity, or brainstorming sessions at each other’s homes every two or three months (sometimes less frequently) to help fulfill the desire for in-person collaboration. Work is willing to reimburse for travel time because we’re lucky enough to have an owner that sees the value in it. Also, we all live in the same region, so it’s a 3 hour drive at most for any one of us, depending on where we decide to meet. You should consider something similar and propose it to management if you think it would benefit the team.