4 ms·

I've been working remotely for ~12 years now, it's working just fine for me thanks. I'm incredibly productive and I am producing good work.

• whateveracct 6y ago
  It also doesn't matter if you would be more productive in-person or not. Maximizing productivity isn't some moral truth we must satisfy. Corporations for good reason try to get workers to think it is.
  • aeronaute 6y ago
    Glad to see you bring this up because I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I get the feeling that many people are on board with the idea that productivity trumps all and are willing to be like rags to be squeezed by their employers until every last productivity drop comes out. I think this needs to be talked about more with an eye towards reducing the amount people must work.
  • brandmeyer 6y ago
    Its not a moral truth, its an economic one. If you want to charge a premium price for your labor, you had better be offering a premium product, or your customers won't buy it.
    • aeronaute 6y ago
      Can you elaborate a little on how maximizing productivity is directly related to offering a premium product? For what it's worth I disagree, this doesn't seem like a truth at all.
    • whateveracct 6y ago
      It's also not an economic one. My salary is locked in. So long as I don't get fired, I get paid the same. So I can give different outputs and get paid that same "premium price." Just have to meet the bar. So it's in my interest to reduce how much work I do in order to increase my de factor hourly rate. If you factor in promotions etc, it's the same thing - just a different bar. I guess you could say I'm offering a "premium product" either way and be right, but my original point stands. I don't need to be giving 100% to get that money. And the longer I'm at a job, the more I can understand the effort bar I need to meet and influence it downward.
      • brandmeyer 6y ago
        Do you seriously think that you should get full pay for part-time work? If you only want to work part-time, then by all means feel free to pursue part-time employment. But if your employer finds out that they've been paying for full-time labor and getting only part-time labor, don't act surprised and indignant if they fire you.
        • whateveracct 6y ago
          Yes I should get paid my current salary for my current work. Feedback on my work is that it is "Good" which means the employer is happy paying me for my contributions. I'm not being paid for my labor and time - I'm being paid so long as my employer thinks what I'm giving them is worth it. I'm not grifting anyone - I'm just in an at-will employment arrangement. Caring about hours worked is for bad managers, plain and simple. The biggest reason to not work in the office is that it's easier to avoid these bottom-of-the-barrel, butts-in-seats leaders. With them out of the way, you're free to tune your output in such a way that keeps your employer happy while also freeing up your life.
          • brandmeyer 6y ago
            Its not about "hours worked." Its about available throughput. If you're under-loaded, then a good manager can shift the balance around the team. Maybe someone else is over-loaded. If the whole team is under-loaded, then maybe the team can deliver more features. Maybe its a good time to pay down some of last year's technical debt. Maybe its a good time to take a bet on a higher-risk research project.
            • aeronaute 6y ago
              If I spend 4 hours working and the result is enough throughput to make my team and manager happy, then that's what I'm going to do and I'll do everything in my power to keep it that way. Everyone's happy, what's wrong with that?
            • whateveracct 6y ago
  • wlll 6y ago
    To be fair, I'm also happier now than I've ever been in work too. It turns out that I produce much better work at a faster rate when I'm happier.