Work From Home (WFH) Thread

[kehlis]

Quote: Originally Posted by Majingir

I meant it more in a sense to be able to restrict companies from hiring most if not all employees from other locations/countries, which makes it more of a challenge to getting a job for anyone living locally.

What makes a job “locally”?

My specific job doesn’t have an office anywhere. My company as a whole has offices throughout the country. What defines local in that instance?

[Majingir]

Quote: Originally Posted by kehlis

What makes a job “locally”? My specific job doesn’t have an office anywhere. My company as a whole has offices throughout the country. What defines local in that instance?

If you dont, that's different.

I meant it more like a place with an actual office.

The company with offices everywhere can employ whoever, but if your office is just located in the 1 location, it makes more sense that the employees can get to it.

[SuperBowlNachos]

I went up to my wife's office for the first time since covid started. Man it was depressing, and her office is brand new and very modern/nice. She has a ton of desk space, but she is still around people all day and they don't have tall cubicle walls. Modern open floor plans. She prefers it, but I was having anxiety just being up there on a Friday afternoon, lmao... I've been WFH my entire professional career so I am very spoiled, but I can't imagine having to hold in farts all the time, or just have people up in your business all the time.

[KG]

Quote: Originally Posted by SuperBowlNachos

I went up to my wife's office for the first time since covid started. Man it was depressing, and her office is brand new and very modern/nice. She has a ton of desk space, but she is still around people all day and they don't have tall cubicle walls. Modern open floor plans. She prefers it, but I was having anxiety just being up there on a Friday afternoon, lmao... I've been WFH my entire professional career so I am very spoiled, but I can't imagine having to hold in farts all the time, or just have people up in your business all the time.

My job has one of those open work environments which is useful in more creative fields where there are a lot of collaborations but my job is basically niche silos unless you're a manager. I hate it because there's always noise and commotion.

I was pretty much full-time remote before the pandemic. I loved the peace & quiet it offered. My kids would be at school, my wife at work and I could just relax and get stuff down. Once the pandemic hit everyone was at home nearly 24/7 and I really missed my "ME" time even if it was company time.


Part of the reason here in DC (where the gov't dominates the job landscape) why they are making people go back in is to stimulate the local economy since so many businesses rely on the work population to survive but that begs the question of "Is it my responsibility to make sure these businesses thrive?".

I personally think NO but to each their own.

[Majingir]

Follow up from my "grind my gears" post last week about WFH (post was about having to be in person for work that was supposed to be done at home)..

Getting the opportunity to do so is great. I think 5 days a week might be a bit much depending on the job, as you don't feel a real connection to the company/employees you're working with, but a mix is nice.

My next few weeks are lined up where I have a great mix of it, and no more than 2 or 3 days in a row being in person.

Work is work, but doing some of it at home is a nice break. A change of scenery and schedule makes you more productive and the week flies by way faster since it feels almost like a break in between actual in person work.

Is my TV gonna be on? Yes.
Am I waking up late? Yes.
Am I gonna be working the entire 8 hours? No
Will I get everything done that I need to get done in just as good if not better quality than if I was in person? Yes

In the end, isn't that last point all that matters?

[pietasterp]

My informal tally of opinions is that a hybrid arrangement is the one that most people feel is a reasonable balance. Some # of days/week in the office - depending on what type of company you work for, how large it is, etc. - is useful and can be stimulating in its own way. But a hard 5 days/week makes less and less sense I think, if it ever even did (again, depending on your line of work, how big the company is, structure of your job, etc.).

I think the only real consensus is that different jobs and setups have different 'ideal' work arrangements. I think there is now broad acknowledgement that what works for one company does not necessarily work for another.

Genius insight, I know. I'll see myself out...

[Jolly Roger]

What I find intriguing is the freedom of mobility remote work gives you. I'm moving out West early next year but will continue working my current job. I considered doing a little excursion to the UK for a few months and realized that would actually be possible. There are some people who just travel around the world while they work remotely.

It does create some inequality between people who have remote jobs and those who don't, but if the latter really want a remote job they could get one. Just depends on if it's something you really want.

[KSUowls]

I personally find the push to get people back in the office (as headlined by a few CEOs) is just insane. It's been said many times here already, but I am more convinced of this than ever after 2 & 1/2 years now of WFH. There is no reason for me to ever step foot in an office again. My job, my career as a financial analyst, can be done with 100% efficiency at home, and I have lost virtually nothing by not seeing my colleagues every day. I will admit that some form of a hybrid system would completely eliminate any remaining deficiencies in the WFH setup, but most hybrid situations that I have come across in talking with recruiters is like 3-4 days a week in the office when 1 day a week, or even 1 day a month would honestly be sufficient in a lot of cases. This obviously isn't the case for every discipline, but I would imagine that it's the case for most cost center/support style roles.

The downside to all of this I remember was mentioned earlier in this thread. Since it's been proven that many companies don't need people in a physical office, they are now looking to see if they need domestic workers at all. There have been some departments that were offshored over the last year that I honestly did not believe would get that treatment. To a degree I can understand it, as they are not as customer facing, but they still provide some critical support that there is now a time & language barrier to (they speak english, but it is a second language). It's probably only a matter of time before they decide that a position like mine, which is still a support role, but more customer (internal) facing, is worth losing some of the direct efficiencies to save on salary.