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My bet: remote-only for most companies won't last. If there's one thing I've learned over the past 8 years running this company, is most people really struggle

by meritt 7y ago

My bet: remote-only for most companies won't last. If there's one thing I've learned over the past 8 years running this company, is most people really struggle at remote. They don't have the dedicated work space, they lack the necessary self-discipline, and many people really start to falter without face time and social interaction. I suspect once this virus is solved, we'll see a flood back to in-person jobs. React was just a glib example anyway, I purposefully stay far away from anything trendy. I'm hiring people who are data smart, can think in SQL, and fully understand that AI/ML/NLP is smoke and mirrors bullshit in the vast majority of contemporary applications. Anyway, I guess my broader point is: When every single PE/VC is battening down the hatches, firms are preemptively laying off people by the thousands before their clients even start missing payments, and a large number tech employees are in mortgages/leases they cannot sustain without those aforementioned salaries? We're about to see a tech bust and housing crash far worse than dot-com. Things are going to get really bad. Programmers are about to be competing head-to-head with front-of-house restaurant employees for gig-economy jobs. Thus, I can afford to wait a bit to find the right people.

randomdude402 7y ago
Haha, glib examples indeed. I agree with you about remote reverting to a large extent. I have been working 90% remote for a while, but most of my co-workers have not and it is driving them crazy after only a few days. We know that a large subset of companies would prefer to have visibility and control. I still think that even if only 5% of the tech employees forced to work remotely for the first time these next couple months get a taste for it, it will change the landscape of remote work in a noticeable way. Even if just a few decent sized employers see and acknowledge good productivity in these next couple months and the talent pushes the issue, it could end up with a lot of 300k positions in california being replaced by 130k remote positions basically anywhere else. After being forced to do it for a while, it's hard to imagine this not happening to some extent, especially in areas that aren't especially strongly affected by stock market news bites.
mcv 7y ago
> "most people really struggle at remote" I used to think that, but now that circumstances are forcing me to work remote, I'm amazed at how much I get done, even with the crap communication due to the overloaded VPN at work. And that's while also trying to homeschool two children. Alright, this is a weird situation that's not comparable to anything else, but still, velocity seems remarkably high in my team.

by meritt 7y ago

randomdude402 7y ago

Haha, glib examples indeed. I agree with you about remote reverting to a large extent. I have been working 90% remote for a while, but most of my co-workers have not and it is driving them crazy after only a few days. We know that a large subset of companies would prefer to have visibility and control. I still think that even if only 5% of the tech employees forced to work remotely for the first time these next couple months get a taste for it, it will change the landscape of remote work in a noticeable way. Even if just a few decent sized employers see and acknowledge good productivity in these next couple months and the talent pushes the issue, it could end up with a lot of 300k positions in california being replaced by 130k remote positions basically anywhere else. After being forced to do it for a while, it's hard to imagine this not happening to some extent, especially in areas that aren't especially strongly affected by stock market news bites.

mcv 7y ago

> "most people really struggle at remote" I used to think that, but now that circumstances are forcing me to work remote, I'm amazed at how much I get done, even with the crap communication due to the overloaded VPN at work. And that's while also trying to homeschool two children. Alright, this is a weird situation that's not comparable to anything else, but still, velocity seems remarkably high in my team.