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I'm a proponent for returning to the office. Working from home has never appealed to me from a number of perspectives (mixing work and life just seems tiring,

I'm a proponent for returning to the office. Working from home has never appealed to me from a number of perspectives (mixing work and life just seems tiring, lack of resources, serendipity, space, distractions, lack of evaluation metrics, etc). I think working at the office creates a sense of community and a focus on team over the individual. Which I think is the opposite of working at home; notwithstanding all the tools we have gained in the last few years that try to bridge that. As well, self-management is not the strongest skill set among young engineers, many need management, coaching, evaluation based not only on work quality but also interpersonal and team commitments. Working at home also risks your work being considered non-core or worthy of outsourcing or automation. The risk that you won't align well with company goals and vision is real and slowly (if not almost immediately) being considered less important to the team and the company itself. I do think there is a place for working at home where efforts to operationalize exist but most firms don't have the capability or insight to do this. I think Apple has an entrenched culture of working together in the office. And while this may have worked over the last few months (year?) I'm sure they don't see this as a long term strategy. Nor do we have an insight at the structural issues that working at home may have cost the firm over this time. (not to mention the cost of build that UFO) My vote is go back to the office. Or resign yourself to consultant, and make the risk you are taking clearly part of your strategy to monetize your work. I think this approach to use their union (?) to push operational methods is incorrect and they are certainly pissing off people do this.

MattGaiser 5y ago
> lack of evaluation metrics What office specific metrics are there, at least in tech?
- ngc248 5y ago
  Exactly, at least in WFH, the primary thing which would be evaluated is the work done. I think in the office its your exposure and image which matters more which add in to your evaluation, mostly benefiting extroverts.
Buttons840 5y ago
Many, including myself, have an opposite view on nearly every point. I have more energy at home. Interacting with family during lunch break is better than interacting with co-workers. Of course, this does mean I spend less time with co-workers, but they still get the majority of my waking hours, so hopefully that's enough. I have more resources at home, I have more space at home, I have fewer distractions at home. I am more professional and focused more on the team at home, rather than focused on office politics. Collaboration tools are great, and if there were another developer like me, and we worked 30 feet apart, we would collaborate remotely with the tools rather than walking 30 feet. I also want to know what evaluation metrics require being in an office? Any good ones? I guess working remote the only way to evaluate is to look at the work done and the quality of that work. Sounds pretty good.

MattGaiser 5y ago

> lack of evaluation metrics What office specific metrics are there, at least in tech?

ngc248 5y ago
Exactly, at least in WFH, the primary thing which would be evaluated is the work done. I think in the office its your exposure and image which matters more which add in to your evaluation, mostly benefiting extroverts.

Buttons840 5y ago

Many, including myself, have an opposite view on nearly every point. I have more energy at home. Interacting with family during lunch break is better than interacting with co-workers. Of course, this does mean I spend less time with co-workers, but they still get the majority of my waking hours, so hopefully that's enough. I have more resources at home, I have more space at home, I have fewer distractions at home. I am more professional and focused more on the team at home, rather than focused on office politics. Collaboration tools are great, and if there were another developer like me, and we worked 30 feet apart, we would collaborate remotely with the tools rather than walking 30 feet. I also want to know what evaluation metrics require being in an office? Any good ones? I guess working remote the only way to evaluate is to look at the work done and the quality of that work. Sounds pretty good.