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I see several comments saying more companies should be hiring remote workers, building their culture to support it, and why aren't they doing it? It's interest

I see several comments saying more companies should be hiring remote workers, building their culture to support it, and why aren't they doing it? It's interesting to see the numbers in this article. What's remarkable is that, even after two years of flattish compensation, technology professionals are willing to sacrifice $7,800 on average to work from home The article speaks as if this is a huge amount, but as a chunk of total salary, it's probably 5-15% for most tech jobs. So the question for employers is, is it worth an extra 5-15% in salary to have your team work together in person? In many cases it is.

Vivtek 16y ago
That's not a huge amount. Say you have a mere half-hour commute = 1 hour a day x 250 working days a year, your $7800 turns into $31.20 an hour for the most boring work you'll ever do - even a truck driver usually gets to see different scenery from day to day. And that's if you manage to live a mere half-hour from work, which in any major city is seriously unlikely. If you're good at tech, why would you take a second job as an automobile driver for chump change?
- orangecat 16y ago
  Exactly. One of the few clear-cut results of happiness studies is that commuting really, really sucks. I can understand why telecommuting might not work for some companies, but there's rarely an excuse for not offering flexible hours, so you can at least dodge rush hour by coming in earlier or later.
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- ddlatham 16y ago
  I agree, but the comment was turning the table around and looking at it from the employer's perspective. If enough employees continue to be willing to commute for a mere 5-15% more in salary, then employers will continue to, quite rationally, pay them to do so.
chc 16y ago
It's also worth keeping in mind that if you commute 20 miles to work and get 25 mpg, that's more than $1600 per year on gas, so the cut is not quite as big as it looks (though it is still there).
- drblast 16y ago
  And if you have a family you might get by owning a single car instead of two. I used to live within walking distance of work and we had one car for two years. That's a huge savings.
  - akmiller 16y ago
    On top of that you usually can cut out quite a bit on child care costs. I left a job I had for 5 years that allowed me to telecommute for contracting where I was expected to be in the office but made about 160% of what my full time salary was. After about a year of that I returned to my previous job and much lower salary to get the benefit of telecommuting once again. With a family, the benefits of telecommuting (at least to me) are just far to valuable.
    - andrewcooke 16y ago
      Heck, you can even move to a different country where the cost of living is lower :o) [Posted from Santiago, Chile....]
      - clueless123 16y ago
        Heck, you can even move to a different country where the cost of living is lower :o) [Posted from Lima, Peru....]
        lurchpop 16y ago
        Heck, you can even move to a different country where the cost of living is lower :o) [Posted from Monterrey, Mexico....]
draebek 16y ago
Depending where you're trying to bring developers to, I think you might have to offer even more than that. Maybe if your business is in the Valley, Portland, Seattle, NYC, Chicago, you can find developers willing to come in to the office for a $10k/yr premium over telecommuting positions. But in some less popular parts of the USA talent is much thinner on the ground, and I think you might have to offer even higher compensation to get your pick of the best local people and/or to get people to relocate to your second tier city. (And of course relocating your company to the Bay Area is going to cost "a lot," to put it mildly.)

Vivtek 16y ago

That's not a huge amount. Say you have a mere half-hour commute = 1 hour a day x 250 working days a year, your $7800 turns into $31.20 an hour for the most boring work you'll ever do - even a truck driver usually gets to see different scenery from day to day. And that's if you manage to live a mere half-hour from work, which in any major city is seriously unlikely. If you're good at tech, why would you take a second job as an automobile driver for chump change?

orangecat 16y ago
Exactly. One of the few clear-cut results of happiness studies is that commuting really, really sucks. I can understand why telecommuting might not work for some companies, but there's rarely an excuse for not offering flexible hours, so you can at least dodge rush hour by coming in earlier or later.
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ddlatham 16y ago
I agree, but the comment was turning the table around and looking at it from the employer's perspective. If enough employees continue to be willing to commute for a mere 5-15% more in salary, then employers will continue to, quite rationally, pay them to do so.

chc 16y ago

It's also worth keeping in mind that if you commute 20 miles to work and get 25 mpg, that's more than $1600 per year on gas, so the cut is not quite as big as it looks (though it is still there).

drblast 16y ago
And if you have a family you might get by owning a single car instead of two. I used to live within walking distance of work and we had one car for two years. That's a huge savings.
- akmiller 16y ago
  On top of that you usually can cut out quite a bit on child care costs. I left a job I had for 5 years that allowed me to telecommute for contracting where I was expected to be in the office but made about 160% of what my full time salary was. After about a year of that I returned to my previous job and much lower salary to get the benefit of telecommuting once again. With a family, the benefits of telecommuting (at least to me) are just far to valuable.
  - andrewcooke 16y ago
    Heck, you can even move to a different country where the cost of living is lower :o) [Posted from Santiago, Chile....]
    - clueless123 16y ago
      Heck, you can even move to a different country where the cost of living is lower :o) [Posted from Lima, Peru....]
      - lurchpop 16y ago
        Heck, you can even move to a different country where the cost of living is lower :o) [Posted from Monterrey, Mexico....]

draebek 16y ago

Depending where you're trying to bring developers to, I think you might have to offer even more than that. Maybe if your business is in the Valley, Portland, Seattle, NYC, Chicago, you can find developers willing to come in to the office for a $10k/yr premium over telecommuting positions. But in some less popular parts of the USA talent is much thinner on the ground, and I think you might have to offer even higher compensation to get your pick of the best local people and/or to get people to relocate to your second tier city. (And of course relocating your company to the Bay Area is going to cost "a lot," to put it mildly.)