4 ms·

It would be interesting to know the median commute time for those who say they will quit or not. For me it is just insane even thinking about going to go back t

It would be interesting to know the median commute time for those who say they will quit or not. For me it is just insane even thinking about going to go back to 2h commute each day. I don't even know why I considered that OK.

mrweasel 6y ago
I only have a 15 min drive to work, and while working from home makes a few things easier, like picking up my daughter from daycare, the benefits of the office easily compete with the 30 - 35 minute commute. I get better working conditions, better coffee, better lunch and I feel like I’m not alone during difficult tasks. Ideally I’d like to work from home one or two days week, and be at the office the remaining days.
- Xevi 6y ago
  I also have about 40 minutes of commute per day. However I get better working conditions, lunch, etc, when I work from home. Not to mention that it's much less stressful, and I can go lay down in my bed for a couple of minutes if I want to. I also do some chores during breaks, which saves me even more time at the end of the day.
  - mrweasel 6y ago
    Based on the comments about working from I read, either here on HN or on LinkedIn, it seems to me that people reluctance to return to the office is often based on two thing, well three in the case of the insane commutes some people have. But in general it's either because they work under poor conditions in their offices, or because they have a personality that's ill suited to modern open plan offices. There's nothing wrong in not wanting to return to an environment that's not right for your personality, or simply a poor environment for any office worker. Sadly I think that those companies who would care to address such issue are the same companies who already have employees wanting to return to their offices. Perhaps one thing we have learnt is that if you're a company who care very little about the work environment you provide, and don't feel like provide better facilities, then you can do away with the office and keep your employees happy that way.
ironman1478 6y ago
I really want to know this too. The traffic in the bay area is so awful and housing is so expensive that I imagine a lot of people are just brutalized by the commute, at least in the mountain view office (dunno what its like elsewhere). Even if you have access to the shuttle its still wasted time that a person will never get back and I think covid made that obvious to many people who might've just accepted the commute blindly (I did pre covid).
- rightbyte 6y ago
  > a lot of people are just brutalized by the commute Brutalized is the right wording... It was when I stopped to commute I realized how bad it was for me also.
ryandrake 6y ago
My Bay Area commute is 4+ hours daily, depending on traffic. I don't make nearly enough to be able to afford a $2M "starter home" on the Peninsula, and do not want to be packed into a tiny apartment in the faceless UglyCube#51 apartment complex. COVID-19 and remote work has been a huge quality of life improvement for me.
- andrewprock 6y ago
  Starter homes on the Peninsula are less than $1m. Maybe you are restricting yourself to high end Peninsula neighborhoods?

mrweasel 6y ago

I only have a 15 min drive to work, and while working from home makes a few things easier, like picking up my daughter from daycare, the benefits of the office easily compete with the 30 - 35 minute commute. I get better working conditions, better coffee, better lunch and I feel like I’m not alone during difficult tasks. Ideally I’d like to work from home one or two days week, and be at the office the remaining days.

Xevi 6y ago
I also have about 40 minutes of commute per day. However I get better working conditions, lunch, etc, when I work from home. Not to mention that it's much less stressful, and I can go lay down in my bed for a couple of minutes if I want to. I also do some chores during breaks, which saves me even more time at the end of the day.
- mrweasel 6y ago
  Based on the comments about working from I read, either here on HN or on LinkedIn, it seems to me that people reluctance to return to the office is often based on two thing, well three in the case of the insane commutes some people have. But in general it's either because they work under poor conditions in their offices, or because they have a personality that's ill suited to modern open plan offices. There's nothing wrong in not wanting to return to an environment that's not right for your personality, or simply a poor environment for any office worker. Sadly I think that those companies who would care to address such issue are the same companies who already have employees wanting to return to their offices. Perhaps one thing we have learnt is that if you're a company who care very little about the work environment you provide, and don't feel like provide better facilities, then you can do away with the office and keep your employees happy that way.

ironman1478 6y ago

I really want to know this too. The traffic in the bay area is so awful and housing is so expensive that I imagine a lot of people are just brutalized by the commute, at least in the mountain view office (dunno what its like elsewhere). Even if you have access to the shuttle its still wasted time that a person will never get back and I think covid made that obvious to many people who might've just accepted the commute blindly (I did pre covid).

rightbyte 6y ago
> a lot of people are just brutalized by the commute Brutalized is the right wording... It was when I stopped to commute I realized how bad it was for me also.

ryandrake 6y ago

My Bay Area commute is 4+ hours daily, depending on traffic. I don't make nearly enough to be able to afford a $2M "starter home" on the Peninsula, and do not want to be packed into a tiny apartment in the faceless UglyCube#51 apartment complex. COVID-19 and remote work has been a huge quality of life improvement for me.

andrewprock 6y ago
Starter homes on the Peninsula are less than $1m. Maybe you are restricting yourself to high end Peninsula neighborhoods?