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I'm also burnt out on WFH. At this point, I'd appreciate an workplace to go in to. But I'd also appreciate that workplace giving me my own office with a door t

I'm also burnt out on WFH. At this point, I'd appreciate an workplace to go in to. But I'd also appreciate that workplace giving me my own office with a door that closes. I've had that only once in my career and it was bliss.

db48x 4y ago
If you work from home, can’t you acquire an office with a door that closes? Perhaps by building an extension on your house, or a workshop in the yard, or renting an office over a restaurant a mile from home (you know the ones that are usually rented by local lawyers, insurance agents, etc)?
- michaelchisari 4y ago
  Of course, but renting a solo office somewhere else is still isolating and lacking the social interaction I'm missing.
  - db48x 4y ago
    Find like–minded individuals in your neighborhood and meet for lunch occasionally. It doesn’t have to be expensive; just take sandwiches to the park or whatever. You don’t need an office to get social interaction.
    - michaelchisari 4y ago
      I've done remote work off and on (mostly on) for 15 years now. I don't see the appeal of doing the legwork myself when I can just go into an office and see people I already have a connection with. Especially since it seems I'll be able to command a premium for being on-site at some point if everyone insists on being remote.
- elric 4y ago
  Who's going to pay for this? My employer? I doubt it. Me? Hell no. On a less grumpy note: I'd love to have an actual home office, worthy of the name, but real estate is very expensive, I can barely afford a home, but I definitely can't afford a big enough home for a home office.
  - dijit 4y ago
    That's a shame, home space is much cheaper than office space. (based on Malmo, Sweden office real-estate prices). Co-working desks are as much as 50% of rent in a normal area of the city. For example an apartment of 82sqm (269sqf) in Malmo might be 9000 SEK ($900~) per month, a co-working desk might be 4,200 SEK ($420~)[0]. But an apartment for 13,200 SEK ($1.3k) would likely be 100-120sqm (328-392sqf) in size. Meaning a dedicated room in your home of 18-38sqm (59-124sqf) can be the same price as a single desk in a co-working space. Paying 1.5x the rent for an apartment would give a lot more space than just a desk. [0]: https://www.gamehabitat.se/devhub/ https://www.gamehabitat.se/devhub/ *EDIT*: just realised a fixed desk is actually more than 4,200SEK
    - elric 4y ago
      I'm not sure I'm understanding your point. You're saying you're willing to pay an additional ~400EUR/month so you can work for home? Or are you saying $employer should fork out the cash? That's 10% of my net pay, and I'm very well compensated by Belgian standards. No employer is going to give anyone a 10% net raise just so they can work from home. It's much cheaper for $employer to invest in more office space. 100eur in office space gets you 100eur of office space, whereas every 100eur in net wages costs an employer roughly 250eur (wages+taxes+etc).
  - db48x 4y ago
    They don’t generally pay people extra to commute either, but certainly do whichever is cheaper for you. The one time I had a long commute I was paying upwards of $200 a month for the train. Gas, maintenance, repairs, depreciation and so on for a car would have been even more. Add in the drudgery of the daily commute and the cost to me was not small.

db48x 4y ago

If you work from home, can’t you acquire an office with a door that closes? Perhaps by building an extension on your house, or a workshop in the yard, or renting an office over a restaurant a mile from home (you know the ones that are usually rented by local lawyers, insurance agents, etc)?

michaelchisari 4y ago
Of course, but renting a solo office somewhere else is still isolating and lacking the social interaction I'm missing.
- db48x 4y ago
  Find like–minded individuals in your neighborhood and meet for lunch occasionally. It doesn’t have to be expensive; just take sandwiches to the park or whatever. You don’t need an office to get social interaction.
  - michaelchisari 4y ago
    I've done remote work off and on (mostly on) for 15 years now. I don't see the appeal of doing the legwork myself when I can just go into an office and see people I already have a connection with. Especially since it seems I'll be able to command a premium for being on-site at some point if everyone insists on being remote.
elric 4y ago
Who's going to pay for this? My employer? I doubt it. Me? Hell no. On a less grumpy note: I'd love to have an actual home office, worthy of the name, but real estate is very expensive, I can barely afford a home, but I definitely can't afford a big enough home for a home office.
- dijit 4y ago
  That's a shame, home space is much cheaper than office space. (based on Malmo, Sweden office real-estate prices). Co-working desks are as much as 50% of rent in a normal area of the city. For example an apartment of 82sqm (269sqf) in Malmo might be 9000 SEK ($900~) per month, a co-working desk might be 4,200 SEK ($420~)[0]. But an apartment for 13,200 SEK ($1.3k) would likely be 100-120sqm (328-392sqf) in size. Meaning a dedicated room in your home of 18-38sqm (59-124sqf) can be the same price as a single desk in a co-working space. Paying 1.5x the rent for an apartment would give a lot more space than just a desk. [0]: https://www.gamehabitat.se/devhub/ https://www.gamehabitat.se/devhub/ *EDIT*: just realised a fixed desk is actually more than 4,200SEK
  - elric 4y ago
    I'm not sure I'm understanding your point. You're saying you're willing to pay an additional ~400EUR/month so you can work for home? Or are you saying $employer should fork out the cash? That's 10% of my net pay, and I'm very well compensated by Belgian standards. No employer is going to give anyone a 10% net raise just so they can work from home. It's much cheaper for $employer to invest in more office space. 100eur in office space gets you 100eur of office space, whereas every 100eur in net wages costs an employer roughly 250eur (wages+taxes+etc).
- db48x 4y ago
  They don’t generally pay people extra to commute either, but certainly do whichever is cheaper for you. The one time I had a long commute I was paying upwards of $200 a month for the train. Gas, maintenance, repairs, depreciation and so on for a car would have been even more. Add in the drudgery of the daily commute and the cost to me was not small.