11 ms·

Remote vs office is just smoke and mirrors. A company with a good product will thrive no matter the policy. Making a big deal of returning your cattle to the fa

Remote vs office is just smoke and mirrors. A company with a good product will thrive no matter the policy. Making a big deal of returning your cattle to the farm is just to soothe investors when you have a subpar product

mathgeek 3y ago
I like to compare it to releasing films in theaters vs streaming. The former has a large industry that has relied on it for decades, as well a subset of consumers that love it. The latter is more convenient for other consumers, as well as being embraced by some companies. Shareholders naturally want to take advantage of whichever is more profitable, which often is a mixture of the two.
- nytesky 3y ago
  That is an interesting comparison, since streaming is bankrupting all the media companies and will likely change movie studios for the worst.
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    Streaming is not bankrupting media companies, the fact that there are numerous other ways to spend your time viewing content from numerous other content makers is changing the market for media companies. Had media companies maintained their exclusivity on people’s screen time, then they would be in an even better position. But the supply of content exploded, from video games to YouTube to TikTok and Instagram and even forums like this one. More supply relative to demand means lower prices.
    - ghaff 3y ago
      It's probably also true that streaming almost certainly aligns to different types, quantity, and production values of content overall. And there are always ongoing demographic and public fashion trends going on as well. I agree with your point about competition. On the other hand, mindless channel surfing has mostly been replaced at the same time. People do it to some degree with streaming and even channels setup for the purpose--but it's a less natural fit.
    - sandworm101 3y ago
      And lower prices almost universally means lower profits for manufacturers. As prices fall, factories increase production and efficiency as they chase a diminishing profit margin. They are running flat out right until that margin disappears and everything suddenly stops. The frantic rate of tv/film production today, the insane production costs for a marginal return, fits that pattern.
mlinhares 3y ago
I wish I could upvote this more, the cattle back to the farm is on point, exactly what a lot of these execs think but are afraid to say out loud.
lightedman 3y ago
"Remote vs office is just smoke and mirrors. A company with a good product will thrive no matter the policy." Try doing manufacturing work entirely remotely. Good product doesn't move when you can't actually make it.
credit_guy 3y ago
> A company with a good product will thrive no matter the policy A different way to say it is "If you found a gold mine, you can afford to do things others can't". 99% of companies don't sit on gold mines like Nvidia.
- moffkalast 3y ago
  Maybe they would be able to afford more if they didn't spend so much of the budget on renting out offices, eh? Remote work has gotta be leagues cheaper, even if you own the building you still don't even have to pay people their commute fees.
  - cj 3y ago
    The biggest cost savings from remote work comes from lower talent cost (read: 20-50% lower salaries) because instead of hiring exclusively in a few cities, you can now stop hiring in expensive cities and hire everywhere else.
    - jmye 3y ago
      Wait till they realize there are high-quality devs in SE Asia, South America and India. That remote job can be done by anyone, anywhere. Literally. Some industries may have regulatory protection, but I don’t think it’ll be long before others start mass-outsourcing the kinds of jobs people thought were safe.
      - deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
      - xtracto 3y ago
        Some already realized that. For USA companies, the problem with Asia, India, and even East Europe is timezones. I used to work at a US company that had offices here in Mexico and had a GREAT QA team in India (despite the hatred they get here in HN, Indian techies are GOOD! ) . The TZ problem is what ended up fracturing the relationship between the teams . Us/Mexico teams synergy was just great, while Indians were generally disconnected. But yeah, US and Canada companies that turn to LatAm do get an "unfair advantage". I'm slowly but steadily trying to help this happen. Sorry?
knodi 3y ago
i think it comes down to bad management.

mathgeek 3y ago

I like to compare it to releasing films in theaters vs streaming. The former has a large industry that has relied on it for decades, as well a subset of consumers that love it. The latter is more convenient for other consumers, as well as being embraced by some companies. Shareholders naturally want to take advantage of whichever is more profitable, which often is a mixture of the two.

nytesky 3y ago
That is an interesting comparison, since streaming is bankrupting all the media companies and will likely change movie studios for the worst.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  Streaming is not bankrupting media companies, the fact that there are numerous other ways to spend your time viewing content from numerous other content makers is changing the market for media companies. Had media companies maintained their exclusivity on people’s screen time, then they would be in an even better position. But the supply of content exploded, from video games to YouTube to TikTok and Instagram and even forums like this one. More supply relative to demand means lower prices.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    It's probably also true that streaming almost certainly aligns to different types, quantity, and production values of content overall. And there are always ongoing demographic and public fashion trends going on as well. I agree with your point about competition. On the other hand, mindless channel surfing has mostly been replaced at the same time. People do it to some degree with streaming and even channels setup for the purpose--but it's a less natural fit.
  - sandworm101 3y ago
    And lower prices almost universally means lower profits for manufacturers. As prices fall, factories increase production and efficiency as they chase a diminishing profit margin. They are running flat out right until that margin disappears and everything suddenly stops. The frantic rate of tv/film production today, the insane production costs for a marginal return, fits that pattern.

mlinhares 3y ago

I wish I could upvote this more, the cattle back to the farm is on point, exactly what a lot of these execs think but are afraid to say out loud.

lightedman 3y ago

"Remote vs office is just smoke and mirrors. A company with a good product will thrive no matter the policy." Try doing manufacturing work entirely remotely. Good product doesn't move when you can't actually make it.

credit_guy 3y ago

> A company with a good product will thrive no matter the policy A different way to say it is "If you found a gold mine, you can afford to do things others can't". 99% of companies don't sit on gold mines like Nvidia.

moffkalast 3y ago
Maybe they would be able to afford more if they didn't spend so much of the budget on renting out offices, eh? Remote work has gotta be leagues cheaper, even if you own the building you still don't even have to pay people their commute fees.
- cj 3y ago
  The biggest cost savings from remote work comes from lower talent cost (read: 20-50% lower salaries) because instead of hiring exclusively in a few cities, you can now stop hiring in expensive cities and hire everywhere else.
  - jmye 3y ago
    Wait till they realize there are high-quality devs in SE Asia, South America and India. That remote job can be done by anyone, anywhere. Literally. Some industries may have regulatory protection, but I don’t think it’ll be long before others start mass-outsourcing the kinds of jobs people thought were safe.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - xtracto 3y ago
      Some already realized that. For USA companies, the problem with Asia, India, and even East Europe is timezones. I used to work at a US company that had offices here in Mexico and had a GREAT QA team in India (despite the hatred they get here in HN, Indian techies are GOOD! ) . The TZ problem is what ended up fracturing the relationship between the teams . Us/Mexico teams synergy was just great, while Indians were generally disconnected. But yeah, US and Canada companies that turn to LatAm do get an "unfair advantage". I'm slowly but steadily trying to help this happen. Sorry?

knodi 3y ago

i think it comes down to bad management.