3 ms·

The 25-34 age range had the most “Yes” I want to work from home. I wonder if experience made the later years want to not work from home, or what caused that.

carlmr 7y ago
Maybe having kids at home and a wife you don't want to see.
nck4222 7y ago
Children probably. Don't get me wrong, I love being home and spending time with the family more, it's really the best part of this experience for me. But there's no way I'd be able to be as productive as expected under normal circumstances. I'm lucky if I get 4 hours in.
- deepGem 7y ago
  2 kids at home. I am dying to get into my office and work. The interruptions are just insane. I don't think I'll be a lot more productive in the office but I sure as hell will be a lot less stressed. Also my office is very quiet with almost zero interruptions.
- t3rabytes 7y ago
  The current situation isn't ideal. Everyone at my employer has working from home since the beginning (20 years ago, I'm at year 4 here) and it's been great, but my coworkers who all-of-a-sudden have kids at home during their workday who would normally be at school have seen a drop in their productivity.
- willvarfar 7y ago
  Presumably if you continue to work from home after the crisis, then your children return to school...?
  - nck4222 7y ago
    Not in my case, no. They're not school aged, and are at home during the day. Elementary schools where I am run roughly 9-3 as well, except on Thursdays when they run 9-2. Maybe I could make it work, but I would still prefer to have an office to go to most days.
- SauciestGNU 7y ago
  I have to say that I'm lucky if I get 4 productive hours in on any day, and most colleagues and peers I have talked to say something similar. That makes me want to ask here as a sort of informal poll, how many hours of the working day would you all say you normally spend working?
- bart_spoon 7y ago
  But surely actually working from home wouldn't involve taking care of your children all day. When you actually go to work, your children are presumably not sitting at home unattended all day, correct? You either have a spouse who can take care of them, they are in school, or they are in daycare. So working from home shouldn't be any different, and the only reason it is now is because all of those things are closed due to the pandemic.
  - nck4222 7y ago
    I don't mean this to be rude, but it doesn't sound like you have much experience working at home with children around. I don't think you should be so quick to assume you know the solution to a problem/situation you have no insight in to. Maybe what you're describing would work for some people. But to so confidently say it's a blanket solution for everyone and is not actually a problem, is frankly laughable.
    - bart_spoon 7y ago
      I have been working from home with 2 children under 5 for 6 weeks now. So you are the one being quick to assume something that you have no insight to. > Maybe what you're describing would work for some people. But to so confidently say it's a blanket solution for everyone and is not actually a problem, is frankly laughable. Please explain to me in what situation what I described wouldn't apply? When people work in an office, they have to have some form of childcare. Daycare, school, or a caretaker/spouse at home. Obviously those are not available right now in the pandemic, but if we are assessing the viability of WFH typically, then why wouldn't they work just as well as they do when traveling to an office? What is laughable about that line of thinking?
bovermyer 7y ago
The sample size is smaller, but the older age ranges actually have a higher percentage of wanting to work from home permanently.
the_duke 7y ago
Check again. The ratio is much stronger pro work-from-home in the 45-64 age ranges. But my initial guess would be that the older survey participants were more IT affine, but it's hard to judge with the sparse details.
marcus0x62 7y ago
My anecdotal experience: fewer of them have children. When you have small kids, it is harder to work from home and be productive. I’ve had coworkers who only came to our shared office to get away from the distraction of working at home. Some stats on % of women without children by age range: https://www.statista.com/statistics/241535/percentage-of-childless-women-in-the-us-by-age/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/241535/percentage-of-chi...
fendy3002 7y ago
My take is the old are having children and / or wife. Usually they are asked to do chores and cannot perform. Additionally, 25-34 age range tend to play with internet and games, as opposed to the older ones who go outside more.
tom_mellior 7y ago
> The 25-34 age range had the most “Yes” I want to work from home. Did they? The only question I see broken down by age range is not about wanting to work from home, but "are you more productive working from home?".

carlmr 7y ago

Maybe having kids at home and a wife you don't want to see.

nck4222 7y ago

Children probably. Don't get me wrong, I love being home and spending time with the family more, it's really the best part of this experience for me. But there's no way I'd be able to be as productive as expected under normal circumstances. I'm lucky if I get 4 hours in.

deepGem 7y ago
2 kids at home. I am dying to get into my office and work. The interruptions are just insane. I don't think I'll be a lot more productive in the office but I sure as hell will be a lot less stressed. Also my office is very quiet with almost zero interruptions.
t3rabytes 7y ago
The current situation isn't ideal. Everyone at my employer has working from home since the beginning (20 years ago, I'm at year 4 here) and it's been great, but my coworkers who all-of-a-sudden have kids at home during their workday who would normally be at school have seen a drop in their productivity.
willvarfar 7y ago
Presumably if you continue to work from home after the crisis, then your children return to school...?
- nck4222 7y ago
  Not in my case, no. They're not school aged, and are at home during the day. Elementary schools where I am run roughly 9-3 as well, except on Thursdays when they run 9-2. Maybe I could make it work, but I would still prefer to have an office to go to most days.
SauciestGNU 7y ago
I have to say that I'm lucky if I get 4 productive hours in on any day, and most colleagues and peers I have talked to say something similar. That makes me want to ask here as a sort of informal poll, how many hours of the working day would you all say you normally spend working?
bart_spoon 7y ago
But surely actually working from home wouldn't involve taking care of your children all day. When you actually go to work, your children are presumably not sitting at home unattended all day, correct? You either have a spouse who can take care of them, they are in school, or they are in daycare. So working from home shouldn't be any different, and the only reason it is now is because all of those things are closed due to the pandemic.
- nck4222 7y ago
  I don't mean this to be rude, but it doesn't sound like you have much experience working at home with children around. I don't think you should be so quick to assume you know the solution to a problem/situation you have no insight in to. Maybe what you're describing would work for some people. But to so confidently say it's a blanket solution for everyone and is not actually a problem, is frankly laughable.
  - bart_spoon 7y ago
    I have been working from home with 2 children under 5 for 6 weeks now. So you are the one being quick to assume something that you have no insight to. > Maybe what you're describing would work for some people. But to so confidently say it's a blanket solution for everyone and is not actually a problem, is frankly laughable. Please explain to me in what situation what I described wouldn't apply? When people work in an office, they have to have some form of childcare. Daycare, school, or a caretaker/spouse at home. Obviously those are not available right now in the pandemic, but if we are assessing the viability of WFH typically, then why wouldn't they work just as well as they do when traveling to an office? What is laughable about that line of thinking?

bovermyer 7y ago

The sample size is smaller, but the older age ranges actually have a higher percentage of wanting to work from home permanently.

the_duke 7y ago

Check again. The ratio is much stronger pro work-from-home in the 45-64 age ranges. But my initial guess would be that the older survey participants were more IT affine, but it's hard to judge with the sparse details.

marcus0x62 7y ago

My anecdotal experience: fewer of them have children. When you have small kids, it is harder to work from home and be productive. I’ve had coworkers who only came to our shared office to get away from the distraction of working at home. Some stats on % of women without children by age range: https://www.statista.com/statistics/241535/percentage-of-childless-women-in-the-us-by-age/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/241535/percentage-of-chi...

fendy3002 7y ago

My take is the old are having children and / or wife. Usually they are asked to do chores and cannot perform. Additionally, 25-34 age range tend to play with internet and games, as opposed to the older ones who go outside more.

tom_mellior 7y ago

> The 25-34 age range had the most “Yes” I want to work from home. Did they? The only question I see broken down by age range is not about wanting to work from home, but "are you more productive working from home?".