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I'm done with this WFH BS, need to get out of my house, the kids (I love them but separation make the heart grow fonder). I want to see human beings, talk, make

• itsdrewmiller 5y ago
  Are you not allowed to return to your office at all? At our company the offices are open but no one is required to return.
  • uptownfunk 5y ago
    Yes that is the case with us as well.
  • A4ET8a8uTh0 5y ago
    That was going to be my question. At my company, if you wanna come in for more brown-nosing ( or networking, or collaboration, or whatever they wanna call it ), you absolutely can. You just let your boss know. The question is always whether the extroverts should dictate every aspect of company life.
    • astrea 5y ago
      > if you wanna come in for more brown-nosing ( or networking, or collaboration, or whatever they wanna call it ) I find this line of thinking, which is very prevalent on HN, to be incredibly toxic. As if a social creature seeking to be amongst others is something disdainful or pathetic.
      • ctoth 5y ago
        I think there's a significant difference between social creatures that are just craving socialization which we can trivially achieve outside of work and wanting to specifically hang out with your boss every day. If you can't see that difference I'm not sure how to communicate it to you though, but I don't think anyone is calling anyone pathetic for needing socialization.
      • wlesieutre 5y ago
        The apparent disdain for it is probably coming from frustration at being unnecessarily forced back into that environment where they'd rather not be, just like they used to be before COVID started. You don't see a lot of helpful (read: condescending) advice columns titled "Dear extroverts: how to be more quiet and introspective." The less social creatures among us that pretty often. Letting people work in the environment that they like sounds like a positive change for everybody.
        • tinus_hn 5y ago
          That’s fine but it turns to projection when you try to force everyone to behave the way you want to behave. It’s not a problem if someone else wants to stay home but it is if they want to force me to stay home. Letting people that want to, work in the office among other people sounds like just the same positive change.
      • adolph 5y ago
        Leans head in door, “Hey boss, headed downstairs for some coffee; want anything?” I’m just a other-seeking social creature!
        • legerdemain 5y ago
          Seriously, the number of people in this thread who desperately crave an IRL opportunity to kiss up to their boss is staggering.
          • adolph 5y ago
            There is tremendous dissonance in culture between the rewards of ingratiation and the opprobrium of it. At the same time it is difficult to balance the difference between brown-nosing and being a normal caring fellow human being who is grateful to others. The example I gave is over the top (in my mind), but I assume different workplace cultures have different norms.
          • deleted 5y ago
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      • A4ET8a8uTh0 5y ago
        I know that it may be difficult to accept, but not everyone has the same 'social' needs. Is there a good reason to force me to drive 20 miles so that we can talk? For some jobs.. sure. I am certain I can't be a butcher remote; not yet anyway. But if my job is done, my boss seems happy with the results, my basic question becomes, why can't I live AND work in my ideal habitat, which happens to limit the amount of people I directly interact with? I was gonna go the Christmas party until omicron showed up. That was the extent of my social needs. More to the point, do I really need to be where I do not want to be? How does that help anyone?
  • thehappypm 5y ago
    Google itself has this policy. My best friend works at their Cambridge office and he frequently goes in person.
    • dvirsky 5y ago
      I work at Google's Mountain View office and I've been coming in for the past 6 months, around 4 times a week. Not a lot of people do, maybe 5%? (I hear it varies in other offices). I find the separation of home and work productive to me, so even if it doesn't change my actual interactions with people, which are still in video calls almost entirely, it's just much easier for me to concentrate and be productive like that. Plus the commute gives me some time to clear my head, call friends, listen to audio books and podcasts, etc.
      • ghaff 5y ago
        I think we're similar. I know one person who goes in semi-regularly. It's good if you want the separation or just don't have a good working situation at home. It doesn't really help people who want the social environment of an office though as very few are going in.
• doublerabbit 5y ago
  Same experience. You have the younger crowd who live with parents, have their own room in a apartment somewhere. Happy to jump on work and then jump instantly to discord and whatever. Like my friend below my apartment. Then you have the older crowd who have their own house, Kids, family pet or two. Have a spare room they can turn in to an office. And then theres me, a 32 year old who has a single bedroom apartment who likes separation from work and personal. Having my work laptop at home has been stressful because its always felt like I am at work. Having to use my personal space for work doesn't bode well. Luckly, my office is open and I can now go in everyday. Even when I am the only one in the office I feel more productive then being at home. WFH isn't for me.
  • iamjake648 5y ago
    At least at my office it's only the young people that are actually coming in to the office. It's cliché, but the subsidized snacks, ping pong, etc I think are bringing people back where as I haven't seen a single 'older' engineer back in the office yet.
    • bsder 5y ago
      Really? As an engineer, as much as I love my home setup, my lab at work is WAY better equipped. Consequently, I'm much more productive when bringing up a board at work where my office is optimized for software and is nice and clean, my lab is optimized for hardware and is goopy and dirty at times, and I have lots of space for both. But, then, we also don't believe in the "open office" idiocy, so we put people in their own spaces with a door they can close.
      • notpachet 5y ago
        Way to bury the lede there! I think if companies like Google were to say, "Hey, we're going to start requiring people to come back into the office, and we do mean office in a literal sense. Here's your own office" -- we'd be having a very different type of conversation.
  • ctoth 5y ago
• sharken 5y ago
  Same here, collaborating with remote workers doesn't establish a solid human connection. And without that it's just not the same thing, to a degree that doesn't make it worthwhile for me personally. So it's a solid no to working with remote workers if it can be avoided.
  • f1yght 5y ago
    100% agree with you. It feels like it's super easy to lose the purpose in your work along with any personal connection. I love the flexibility of being able to be home if necessary but I don't believe it leads to the most effective teams.
  • ghaff 5y ago
    Work for a company of any size with multiple offices and it's pretty much impossible to avoid. On a given day pre-pandemic I'd typically be on calls with people in at least 4 different offices plus some remote. Of course, it's easier to have everyone on a floor or two of a building with a small company.
• ctoth 5y ago
  So go to the bar and do this? What does this have to do with the office?
  • legerdemain 5y ago
    Because bars are shit for socializing? No one here goes to bars alone, and the music is too loud to hear anyone talk anyway.
    • Teknoman117 5y ago
      Someone finally said it. I've never had the experience of talking to some random new people at a bar if I went alone. The only times I actually got to socialize with new people was joining a pub-crawl meetup.
      • throaway46546 5y ago
        I have had lots of interesting conversations with random people at bars, but I have noticed that generally it is only older people who are comfortable with it. The last time I tried talking to someone my own age they just looked at me like I was crazy and then turned away from me without even responding.
      • disgruntledphd2 5y ago
        Move to Ireland? This is incredibly normal there. No London UK also works for this.
    • dont__panic 5y ago
      Try breweries. I spend a lot of time hanging out at breweries with great beer, great food trucks, plenty of outdoor space, and either no music or relatively quiet music. People often have dogs, which are a pretty great conversation starter, too.
      • legerdemain 5y ago
        You live so close to a brewery that a trip to it doesn't count as a long commute? Edit: I just checked the three breweries closest to me on Google maps... They just look like restaurant dining rooms? I don't know if people are comfortable with someone at another table talking to them in a restaurant.
• aaomidi 5y ago
  Find a life outside of work.
  • oweiler 5y ago
    Especially with kids this is easier said than done.
  • cbdumas 5y ago
    This is first of all so condescending and second of all so defeatist. Isn't it possible to have a life outside of work and still want to leave your house and see people IRL for the 8+ hours per day you spend working? Just because I have friends and hobbies doesn't mean I have to love working from home.
    • aaomidi 5y ago
      [flagged]
      • easytiger 5y ago
        I've worked both models for decades. If you think it's possible to efficiently replicate in person collaboration electronically I'm afraid I'm going to have to question your motives. > The proponents of in office work are people who have been so fucked by capitalism that they're unable to actually find life & joy outside that they want everyone else to live so miserably. Aside from the obvious childish assault on evil capitalism how does this make sense? Getting something done presumably still requires a level of commitment, concentration and effort. If you aren't wealthy and have a family it's I likely you can create your own space to do so for a start. Furthermore some people are different to you and have different needs and situations; different demands and different response to stimuli. How do you know what is best for them?
      • jvolkman 5y ago
        > The proponents of in office work are people who have been so fucked by capitalism that they're unable to actually find life & joy outside that they want everyone else to live so miserably. Quite the generalization. I just enjoy working with my coworkers in-person, in an environment separated from the distractions at my own home.
• gremloni 5y ago
  Maybe if you were actualized you wouldn’t depend on acting on things you’re ordered to do to achieve socialization and would actually love spending time with your family like I do. I’m so mad at you and I think you’re a shell of a human being with no intrinsic motivation.
  • uptownfunk 5y ago
    I love my family and love spending time with them, but I need a break sometimes, I'm human, take a chill pill That's also not even the main reason I want to be back to work, didn't mean it to come off that way, it's really more the dehumanized nature of slack, text, email, (even a single camera angle of zoom calls).. we're humans, we need to be human, even at work. We're not all a CLI. Speaking of which, slack needs to kill the "ack" emoji..
  • thunderbong 5y ago
    I don't think personal attacks are warranted.
• sg47 5y ago
  If you don't have a long commute, don't have to work in an open office with a lot of people, it might be nice to go back. In my case, mandatory return to work means I'm commuting 6 hours a week at least and increasing my chances of getting covid.
• thunderbong 5y ago
  Agreed. Although I do enjoy not having to commute. As for the suggestions - Get a social life - For one, I'm not too keen to do that. Going to a bar is not really an option. I don't quite link to have a drink just for the heck of it. And beyond a certain age, I really don't feel like socializing as I used to do while younger. Have a hobby - Well, most of my hobbies are not social hobbies. I enjoy software and tinkering around with hardware, but that's about it. I do like going for rides, hikes and treks but that's because I enjoy the solitude. I think there is a particular aspect of social interaction that gets fulfilled at work. Talking about some small things, not for too long. Meeting people face to face whom you've enjoyed working with. Sharing work related anecdotes. These have a special place which don't quite get fulfilled elsewhere. And all the while having a clear line which doesn't get crossed is a relief and one which we take for granted.
• emaginniss 5y ago
  That's cool. You do you. As long as you're ok with those of us who don't want to come in being there, then everyone is happy.
  • uptownfunk 5y ago
    Yes totally optional, I don't think it would be nice to force people back in.
• mupuff1234 5y ago
  Maybe try a co-working space?
• brandonmenc 5y ago
  I'm sorry, but it's very hard for me to sympathize with people citing a need to get away from their kids as a reason why I should be forced to commute for two hours a day.
  • uptownfunk 5y ago
    All I was saying is I want to go back. I don't agree that forcing everyone to go back in is the right approach.
    • brandonmenc 5y ago
      I know. I wan't necessarily commenting directly to you, but this reason has been cited by a ton of people who don't mind having forced office days.
• nja 5y ago
  Most of the responses here seem to be focused around "your social fulfillment should be _completely_ separate from work". I've found this attitude to be very limiting. I don't know any of my current coworkers well at all -- they're all just 2D heads on screens and avatars in text chat. This definitely affects my work, compared to the _very same company_ pre-pandemic. Maybe for some people, the ability to work with others doesn't depend at all on being friendly with those people, but I personally find that important. Being able to grab ad-hoc lunch with coworkers -- including a walk to/from wherever, eating in a common space, talking about things other than work -- really helped strengthen the culture and the relationships between folks. Ditto Friday beers after work -- or going out after. Some coworkers can be coworkers _and_ friends. Maybe this is different for folks with families (those who generally didn't hang out after work even pre-pandemic -- no judgment there), but for some of us more social single folks, I'm surprised at the vitriol here from people who don't seem to understand us at all. Isn't there some middle ground here? I definitely don't miss being _forced_ to go to work (sick coworkers spreading flu around the office, loud talkers interrupting focus time, etc) but on the flip side why are people so happy to be _forced_ to never interact with people?
  • deleted 5y ago
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