3 ms·

I definitely hope so.

by Kiro 4y ago

ls15 4y ago
Why?
- Kiro 4y ago
  Many reasons but to give you one that I haven't seen mentioned before: After going permanently mixed remote our company has reduced the office space. This means that we now have flex seating. It sucks and I really miss having my own desk. My point is that even if I can choose it's just not as nice as before so I certainly hope some companies will revert. Remote work is simply not for me and I want to work at a company that doesn't have these drawbacks. I want to come into work, have my desk and know who I will meet there every day.
  - ls15 4y ago
    I think there are mainly two camps of people. Those who prefer remote and those who prefer onsite. Both perspectives are perfectly valid. Ideally, companies would put more focus on what their employees actually want instead of just creating policies. Work life would be easier if there were teams of remote enthusiasts and teams of onsite enthusiasts (and maybe teams of mixed mode enthusiasts), rather than teams where about 50% don't like the current mode.
    - Kiro 4y ago
      I fully agree with that. Some companies should go fully remote, some mixed and some onsite. It would however need to evolve over time with employees moving to the type of company they want once things have settled down after the remote chock of the pandemic. I just hope that there will be companies that are fully onsite and proud of it. Now they are getting shamed for it even when there are people like me who wants to a work at such a company.
burlesona 4y ago
I expect you'll get downvoted by the vocal cohort on HN that hates working in-person, but FWIW I agree with you. 9/12 years of my career have been remote, and increasingly it's difficult to even find a job that has an office. But the time I was in the same building with the whole team I was working with were the most productive and enjoyable years of my career. I really wish I could get that back.
- TameAntelope 4y ago
  As someone who has been WFH for ~5 years now, I 100% agree. I very much miss being in an office, WFH is not nearly as fun as it's made out to be, especially when my "from office" years were still very flexible, no "butts in chairs" attitude, just "here's a place to get work done and talk to your coworkers", which IMO is how you should treat any adult with a digital job. The key is "and talk to your coworkers" though. Video calls just don't do it for me.
- koliber 4y ago
  I have been working exclusively remotely for over a decade as well. I also occasionally reminisce about working from the office. There were some really great aspects of it. At the same time, there are lots of great things about working from home Recently I tried to see how those tradeoffs stack up against each other. I had an insight. A lot of what I missed about working from the office had nothing to do with working from the office. It had a lot to do with me being younger, without so many family commitments, and a lot of free time and flexibility. Concretely, in my 20's and early 30's, I would have preferred working from an office. But later on, I vastly prefer working from home. The tradeoffs get weighed differently depending on what stage in life I am at.
- jokethrowaway 4y ago
  I worked remote for 12/16 (the 4 years being somewhere in the middle). Working from the office was surely fun. Jokes, ping pong, lunches, going to the gym, coffee breaks, beers, useless meetings, company parties. Most of my time in the office wasn't productive but I was sure happier about the company. Working remote it's easier not to give a crap about your employer. Still, at least you have time to get stuff done without anyone bothering you and then have some extra free time.

I definitely hope so.

by Kiro 4y ago

I definitely hope so.

ls15 4y ago

Why?

Kiro 4y ago
Many reasons but to give you one that I haven't seen mentioned before: After going permanently mixed remote our company has reduced the office space. This means that we now have flex seating. It sucks and I really miss having my own desk. My point is that even if I can choose it's just not as nice as before so I certainly hope some companies will revert. Remote work is simply not for me and I want to work at a company that doesn't have these drawbacks. I want to come into work, have my desk and know who I will meet there every day.
- ls15 4y ago
  I think there are mainly two camps of people. Those who prefer remote and those who prefer onsite. Both perspectives are perfectly valid. Ideally, companies would put more focus on what their employees actually want instead of just creating policies. Work life would be easier if there were teams of remote enthusiasts and teams of onsite enthusiasts (and maybe teams of mixed mode enthusiasts), rather than teams where about 50% don't like the current mode.
  - Kiro 4y ago
    I fully agree with that. Some companies should go fully remote, some mixed and some onsite. It would however need to evolve over time with employees moving to the type of company they want once things have settled down after the remote chock of the pandemic. I just hope that there will be companies that are fully onsite and proud of it. Now they are getting shamed for it even when there are people like me who wants to a work at such a company.

burlesona 4y ago

I expect you'll get downvoted by the vocal cohort on HN that hates working in-person, but FWIW I agree with you. 9/12 years of my career have been remote, and increasingly it's difficult to even find a job that has an office. But the time I was in the same building with the whole team I was working with were the most productive and enjoyable years of my career. I really wish I could get that back.

TameAntelope 4y ago
As someone who has been WFH for ~5 years now, I 100% agree. I very much miss being in an office, WFH is not nearly as fun as it's made out to be, especially when my "from office" years were still very flexible, no "butts in chairs" attitude, just "here's a place to get work done and talk to your coworkers", which IMO is how you should treat any adult with a digital job. The key is "and talk to your coworkers" though. Video calls just don't do it for me.
koliber 4y ago
I have been working exclusively remotely for over a decade as well. I also occasionally reminisce about working from the office. There were some really great aspects of it. At the same time, there are lots of great things about working from home Recently I tried to see how those tradeoffs stack up against each other. I had an insight. A lot of what I missed about working from the office had nothing to do with working from the office. It had a lot to do with me being younger, without so many family commitments, and a lot of free time and flexibility. Concretely, in my 20's and early 30's, I would have preferred working from an office. But later on, I vastly prefer working from home. The tradeoffs get weighed differently depending on what stage in life I am at.
jokethrowaway 4y ago
I worked remote for 12/16 (the 4 years being somewhere in the middle). Working from the office was surely fun. Jokes, ping pong, lunches, going to the gym, coffee breaks, beers, useless meetings, company parties. Most of my time in the office wasn't productive but I was sure happier about the company. Working remote it's easier not to give a crap about your employer. Still, at least you have time to get stuff done without anyone bothering you and then have some extra free time.