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But man, I miss people. For me, working from home gives me more time to spend with family and friends, so that's been the tradeoff and it has mostly worked. I

But man, I miss people. For me, working from home gives me more time to spend with family and friends, so that's been the tradeoff and it has mostly worked. I also get more exercise/sunlight. Even if it's just a walk with the dogs during lunch, or mowing the lawn. Although, it's doubly tough when things aren't good at home. Because during those times, the office provided some solace. But overall it's been positive. Have you gotten at least some kind of positive tradeoff in terms of more friends+family time, exercise, etc?

ketzo 5y ago
Yeah, my work-life balance has been great as a result, and I've been able to spend a lot of time with friends and my partner. So that's something I'm actually very grateful for. But at some point I realized that I really missed work people! I got into software engineering because I love talking about engineering with other really smart engineers. Took me a while to realize that was what was missing.
- JohnBooty 5y ago
  I've worked at a few companies remotely. One company was absolutely abysmal. No video chat ever. None. Never saw my coworkers' faces. Who can work like that? Obviously they can, but man that sucked. Second company was a bit better, but not great. Avoided collaboration and/or video chat pretty strongly but not entirely. Which was weird because when we did do it, everybody was very chatty and they were also good working sessions. Current company has been great. Strong collaborative culture but they also respect if somebody just needs to focus solo. I would say that overall this company scratches like, maybe, 80% of my itch as far as being immersed with other engineers (in terms of actual collaborative work, and random tech talk bullshit) is concerned.
playcache 5y ago
I think this is the key aspect. For people with families at home, WFH is a godsend. I have two small children and am an avid runner on my local trails. WFH has meant I can get up around 7am and go running with my dog through the countryside, to then return, have a shower and walk with my young son to his school to drop him off. I can do all that and be showered and ready to start work in my home office by 9am. Any companies not offering remote now that instead want me to commute to an office and lose all of that personal time, are an immediate rejection. On the other hand, young professionals who have moved into a city and our just developing their career, they want to be among peers, socializing , learning and building a network.

ketzo 5y ago

Yeah, my work-life balance has been great as a result, and I've been able to spend a lot of time with friends and my partner. So that's something I'm actually very grateful for. But at some point I realized that I really missed work people! I got into software engineering because I love talking about engineering with other really smart engineers. Took me a while to realize that was what was missing.

JohnBooty 5y ago
I've worked at a few companies remotely. One company was absolutely abysmal. No video chat ever. None. Never saw my coworkers' faces. Who can work like that? Obviously they can, but man that sucked. Second company was a bit better, but not great. Avoided collaboration and/or video chat pretty strongly but not entirely. Which was weird because when we did do it, everybody was very chatty and they were also good working sessions. Current company has been great. Strong collaborative culture but they also respect if somebody just needs to focus solo. I would say that overall this company scratches like, maybe, 80% of my itch as far as being immersed with other engineers (in terms of actual collaborative work, and random tech talk bullshit) is concerned.

playcache 5y ago

I think this is the key aspect. For people with families at home, WFH is a godsend. I have two small children and am an avid runner on my local trails. WFH has meant I can get up around 7am and go running with my dog through the countryside, to then return, have a shower and walk with my young son to his school to drop him off. I can do all that and be showered and ready to start work in my home office by 9am. Any companies not offering remote now that instead want me to commute to an office and lose all of that personal time, are an immediate rejection. On the other hand, young professionals who have moved into a city and our just developing their career, they want to be among peers, socializing , learning and building a network.