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If you work at one of these companies and are frustrated by the decision to return to the office, I encourage you to seriously consider leaving to pursue a remo
by bmat 5y ago
If you work at one of these companies and are frustrated by the decision to return to the office, I encourage you to seriously consider leaving to pursue a remote-first career. Not only to send a message, but also because there are many great remote opportunities out there right now.
Ironically I had this battle with Google pre-COVID back in 2019. I was worn down by my commute and itching for a change of environment, but I liked my team and my project. I figured I’d push for full remote since the sell seemed obvious: either I stop working for you and you get zero value from me, or you let me work remotely and you continue to get value from me (more value, I argued). I put forth a list of concessions to address their concerns (I’ll commit to stable online hours, I’ll create a virtual desk in the form of an always-on voice or video call, I’ll forfeit remote if my performance rating is anything below “exceeds expectations”). After weeks of back and forth meetings, the final response was: we can’t give you full remote because then everyone will want it. How about 3 days in 2 days out?
I left a month later, did some traveling, then started working as a remote freelancer. Despite no free food, no benefits, no in-office massages, I have zero regrets. It’s been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for my overall well-being. And most recently I took a full-time position at a fully remote company (as in no offices at all) with better comp and benefits than what I had at Google.
The more we actually leave to pursue remote, the more these opportunities will arise.
- lukevp 5y agoDM me if your company is hiring! I’m happy where I’m at (I left my previous workplace for the same reasons as you mentioned, and now work fully-remotely), but I’m always open to new opportunities. My current company is not fully-remote; my team is, but others are hybrid.
- bmat 5y agoSent you an email!
- bradlys 5y ago> And most recently I took a full-time position at a fully remote company (as in no offices at all) with better comp and benefits than what I had at Google. Really? What company pays more than Google and is full remote like that? I’m not saying that they don’t exist but the $400k bar is hard for most remote companies to swallow.
- hellisothers 5y agoDropbox is fully remote and has FAANG like pay.
- bmat 5y agoI don't want to call out the company without their blessing, but they're a unicorn with $100M+ raised so that certainly helps them be competitive.
- bradlys 5y agoHow are you getting paid more than Google if they're a private company? Are they paying $400k liquid? Monopoly money stocks cannot be factored in as real liquid comp unless you can actually liquidate it. If this is a known company to IPO in a year or something then maybe you can make an argument but... I don't think they're comparable, IMO.
- bmat 5y agoYes, liquid comp (salary+bonus) exceeds my total Google comp (salary+bonus+equity). I should qualify this by saying I left Google as an L4 SWE and I'm starting at this company as an engineering manager, so that factors in. But FWIW I got an offer for a tech lead position at another all-remote company, and it matched my Google total comp with just salary+bonus as well.
- edem 5y agoCan you DM me too? I'm just curious about the company.