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> 2 days a week If you would be forced to relocate to meet this mandate, I completely understand resigning, and I would likely do the same. But I feel a bit o

> 2 days a week If you would be forced to relocate to meet this mandate, I completely understand resigning, and I would likely do the same. But I feel a bit out of place among my peers because assuming I lived within reasonable commuting distance from the office ... I personally wouldn't mind this. Not the commuting/scheduling inconvenience it would mean for me or others, but working in person a couple days a week, for me, makes my personal experience of work more enjoyable overall. I prefer that it be voluntary/opt-in though, obviously. Hopefully the equilibrium we'll eventually reach is some set of companies for those that prefer full remote, and another set for those that prefer hybrid. The real pain is caused by companies switching modalities with mandates.

Roark66 3y ago
>But I feel a bit out of place among my peers because assuming I lived within reasonable commuting distance from the office. But what is a reasonable commuting distance? Is it half an hour by car in medium traffic that turns to one hour one way in heavy traffic? Is it 15min combined walking and riding a train? There is a huge span of possibilities here. When I used to live in a city I had a combined 15 min walking/riding a train/underground commute. I actually enjoyed it and my work. I enjoyed that I could get good coffee or eat breakfast in a cafe on my way to work. I didn't mind the 10min on public transport. But I also knew I could never afford to buy a nice property without a huge mortgage. I couldn't move out to the country if I wanted or I'd waste my life commuting at least 2h every day. When comparing wfh with the office people often focus on all the time they get back in their life not having to commute. For me being able to live where I want is a much bigger deal. Also the fact what matters are actual results of my work not how busy and hardworking I can myself look like in the office. I'm definitely not a fan of all the video/voice meetings that happen. It's such a collosal waste of time 90% of the time, but I'll take virtual meetings any day over actual in person meetings. Anyone who came up with an idea of a daily "stand up" as a way to "update what we're working on" as opposed to just sharing blockers must have been an evil genius.
catchnear4321 3y ago
what two days a week? without planning and coordination, you are likely to sit alone in an office on a zoom call, because you came to the office on a day that no one you are interacting with came to the office. unless it is about the office, but, wework didn’t go so hot.
- redhale 3y ago
  Yes, I think teams would have to do some level of coordination for it to make sense. Driving into the office just to be on Zoom all day is obviously the worst of both worlds.
NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
My start date at work is 2 months into the lockdowns, 2020. I would not have a job if it weren't for the pandemic. When the recruiter contacted me and we were doing the initial negotiations, I was told about the prospective work site, and I understood it to be a few miles away and an easy commute. But I also had reason to suspect that it was all the way across town, with a very difficult 3+ hour commute. The recruiter assured me that she'd work it out for the former, but that turned out not to be true. Except when the lockdowns hit, we all moved to virtual spaces, and so the physical location was taken completely out of consideration, and I was able to easily WFH for the next 6 months in the contract. I found out later, that the commute home would have been actually impossible, because I wouldn't have finished until 10pm, and the buses stopped running before then. Later, I was to be "rehired" for another role that is 100% remote. Now, my employer had satellite offices around these United States, and one of them really close by to me. I asked twice for a tour, but nobody was willing to oblige me. Earlier this year, employer closed all offices except two. So now for me and all my coworkers, there is literally noplace to RTO to. It's absolute bliss, I tell you, without that sword of Damocles.

Roark66 3y ago

>But I feel a bit out of place among my peers because assuming I lived within reasonable commuting distance from the office. But what is a reasonable commuting distance? Is it half an hour by car in medium traffic that turns to one hour one way in heavy traffic? Is it 15min combined walking and riding a train? There is a huge span of possibilities here. When I used to live in a city I had a combined 15 min walking/riding a train/underground commute. I actually enjoyed it and my work. I enjoyed that I could get good coffee or eat breakfast in a cafe on my way to work. I didn't mind the 10min on public transport. But I also knew I could never afford to buy a nice property without a huge mortgage. I couldn't move out to the country if I wanted or I'd waste my life commuting at least 2h every day. When comparing wfh with the office people often focus on all the time they get back in their life not having to commute. For me being able to live where I want is a much bigger deal. Also the fact what matters are actual results of my work not how busy and hardworking I can myself look like in the office. I'm definitely not a fan of all the video/voice meetings that happen. It's such a collosal waste of time 90% of the time, but I'll take virtual meetings any day over actual in person meetings. Anyone who came up with an idea of a daily "stand up" as a way to "update what we're working on" as opposed to just sharing blockers must have been an evil genius.

catchnear4321 3y ago

what two days a week? without planning and coordination, you are likely to sit alone in an office on a zoom call, because you came to the office on a day that no one you are interacting with came to the office. unless it is about the office, but, wework didn’t go so hot.

redhale 3y ago
Yes, I think teams would have to do some level of coordination for it to make sense. Driving into the office just to be on Zoom all day is obviously the worst of both worlds.

NoZebra120vClip 3y ago

My start date at work is 2 months into the lockdowns, 2020. I would not have a job if it weren't for the pandemic. When the recruiter contacted me and we were doing the initial negotiations, I was told about the prospective work site, and I understood it to be a few miles away and an easy commute. But I also had reason to suspect that it was all the way across town, with a very difficult 3+ hour commute. The recruiter assured me that she'd work it out for the former, but that turned out not to be true. Except when the lockdowns hit, we all moved to virtual spaces, and so the physical location was taken completely out of consideration, and I was able to easily WFH for the next 6 months in the contract. I found out later, that the commute home would have been actually impossible, because I wouldn't have finished until 10pm, and the buses stopped running before then. Later, I was to be "rehired" for another role that is 100% remote. Now, my employer had satellite offices around these United States, and one of them really close by to me. I asked twice for a tour, but nobody was willing to oblige me. Earlier this year, employer closed all offices except two. So now for me and all my coworkers, there is literally noplace to RTO to. It's absolute bliss, I tell you, without that sword of Damocles.