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Collaborative work done remotely is a skill that can be learned and improved. And yes, maybe some forms of collaborative work are inherently more difficult to

Collaborative work done remotely is a skill that can be learned and improved. And yes, maybe some forms of collaborative work are inherently more difficult to do remotely. But you are ignoring the massive impacts of commuting, being stuck in crappy office buildings and forced to live in an overwhelmingly expensive and chaotic city have on performance. Having spent 17 years as a remote product manager, my anecdata is that eliminating those factors from my life led to dramatically higher performance, and more importantly, a work/life balance that didn't have me quietly resenting my state of employment for the required in-person depredations.

koheripbal 4y ago
It's important to note the difference between... ...a young single employee living in the city who also dates and socializes in the city, and has a short commute to a nice office and has a social experience... VS ...a 20+ year veteran with 3 kids and a house in the suburbs with a 2.5hrs of commuting per day and a job that consists entirely of conference calls, emails, and presentations. Not everyone fits in these two groups, but they are illustrative. The first group of young employees NEED the socialization. It's an important part of generating company culture. It's also usually a low cost effort for them to commute. The second group has usually already baked in their system of organization and discipline and can more easily maintain productivity at home. Another dimension is how much socialization an employee needs to do their job. Someone in HR might need considerably more face time than a programmer.
- profwalkstr 4y ago
  > ...a young single employee living in the city who also dates and socializes in the city, and has a short commute to a nice office and has a social experience... > The first group of young employees NEED the socialization. It's an important part of generating company culture. It's also usually a low cost effort for them to commute. The young single employee will probably not afford to live in a big city and have a short commute.
  - koheripbal 4y ago
    Cities are PACKED with young single people. They (and the poor) are the only ones who didn't move out during the pandemic.

koheripbal 4y ago

It's important to note the difference between... ...a young single employee living in the city who also dates and socializes in the city, and has a short commute to a nice office and has a social experience... VS ...a 20+ year veteran with 3 kids and a house in the suburbs with a 2.5hrs of commuting per day and a job that consists entirely of conference calls, emails, and presentations. Not everyone fits in these two groups, but they are illustrative. The first group of young employees NEED the socialization. It's an important part of generating company culture. It's also usually a low cost effort for them to commute. The second group has usually already baked in their system of organization and discipline and can more easily maintain productivity at home. Another dimension is how much socialization an employee needs to do their job. Someone in HR might need considerably more face time than a programmer.

profwalkstr 4y ago
> ...a young single employee living in the city who also dates and socializes in the city, and has a short commute to a nice office and has a social experience... > The first group of young employees NEED the socialization. It's an important part of generating company culture. It's also usually a low cost effort for them to commute. The young single employee will probably not afford to live in a big city and have a short commute.
- koheripbal 4y ago
  Cities are PACKED with young single people. They (and the poor) are the only ones who didn't move out during the pandemic.