Frankly, a 2021 opinion piece doesn’t tell you anything about the state of remote work. So much has changed in the last three years. CEOs and companies have adapted, and in my anecdotal experience, lots of employees as well. Notably those who were once bullish on full remote, would like to see some form of hybrid setup if it makes sense.
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>those who were once bullish on full remote, would like to see some form of hybrid setup if it makes sense.
interesting, so many of my peers are full on the remote train. I guess it depends on the age of the workers? I know for sure I haven't heard any one of my coworkers > 35 ever preferring hybrid to WFH.
My peers (similar age bracket) are the same. That’s not to say there aren’t downsides to remote work; of course there are. But on balance I don’t know anyone who would willingly go back to in-office or even hybrid.
We're a fully remote company that offers a pretty good office in a fashionable part of town for those who want it.
It's almost always deserted. Some people go some days, mostly to socialize.
So I don't trust those who claim people prefer returning to the office.
I also see news of companies forcing employees to return and laying off those who won't. Doesn't seem to me people prefer the office...
Count me as anecdotal evidence in the 35+ bucket of those who went from full remote to hybrid and highly prefers hybrid (after a decade of full remote).
Having a thriving office has been a breath of fresh air for when I want to see people. The key is it being optional and up to employees to decide what's best for them.
I am starting to think that part of the issue is 'one size fits all' approach that we centered our society around. I genuinely hate hybrid. I would rather have either full remote or full office, because hybrid messes with my routine and sleep pattern.
Unfortunately, employees choosing their preferred mode means more headaches for employers ( they want to track it somehow ).
I know what I prefer. I know what is possible. As humans, we do not agree on what is the 'right' way. And in US, employers used to hold all the cards ( which is part of the reason they are praying for a recession ).
> The key is it being optional and up to employees to decide what's best for them.
Agree.
My issue is not about remote, hybrid or onsite, but more about some management mandating one way of working for everyone.
The problem is that that doesn't really work. The people working in the office don't get the benefit of in person social connection if others aren't coming in, too. Either you have people coming (win for the office people, loss for the remote) or you have people working from home (the reverse). Leaving it up to everyone to work it out on their own doesn't really solve the problem.
That being said, working it out "per team" is generally reasonable. I've had hybrid stints, and I always coordinated with my team so that we all came in on the same day. Then we could do the social thing together at the office.
There is always a fraction of people who will chose to go to the office. That's enough to have social connection. These persons do not have to be on your own team.
The last 10 years or so I have been working on teams splitted in 3 to 5 different countries, and now in 3 different continents. In that case you are effectively working remotely even when your are working in a company's office.
Can't say I agree with that. Seeing "anyone" is not the same as seeing the people you're close to (work closely with, know well). It certainly doesn't bring me the same mental benefit.
It is not the same but having teams split in different timezones has other benefits and it is often desirable to work that way. One example: on teams handling operationnal roles having teammates in different timezones being primary responders avoid being on call outside of your office hours.
From what I've heard, the key differentiator is the plan/concept, whatever you wanna call it, that went into the hybrid setup. If it's just an office where everyone can come in whenver, you will face all the - almost cliché - problems: people being stuck in virtual meetings while being in the office, only 20% of your team being in the office on every given day, etc. etc
So if you have a manager that really manages your in-office experience, hybrid is seen as preferred by my peers.
How big is your peer group? Which region? How is it applicable as a general case?
The best setup is that my organization builds an office that is a 10-15 minute walk from my existing home and I come in whenever I want. And whenever I decide to come in, everyone else does too. Until that happens I guess I'll just have to settle with fully remote.
I don't much see the value of going to the office on a whim unless I know other people will be there, and that they'll be interested in collaborating on something in person. When I do go to the office, I'm largely working remotely with people not in the office. For me, it's been that way since I got my first dev job in 2014.
Sorry, not trying to be mean but the company should build(or rent/buy) an office for you to use part time?
The point is this is essentially what upper management is doing. They aren’t going to wave a wand and have a national housing crisis fixed and high cost of living areas be suddenly more affordable to mid level developers. Moreover certain cultural changes, like mothers staying in the workforce, mean it is going to get more difficult and more expensive to get workers back to long commutes.
The poster is creating a purposefully difficult situation to indicate the lack of interest they have with returning to office. In other words, they’d only return to office in a fantasy world
I should have better hinted at my psuedo-sarcasm. I do find meaningful in-person interaction and collaboration are valuable for personal, professional, and mental reasons. However, the real beneficial interactions seem to happen only infrequently, and when they do I don't think that what we have to give up for the slight chance to realize those moments to happen a small percentage of the time are worth the squeeze (work/life balance, commute times, etc.). Hybrid situations in my experience only end up providing the worst of both worlds as everyone isn't in-person at the same time.
And everyone else decides to come in on the days they do. But hey, they said the “best” (fantasy) case so let them dream! That would be my best case too!
I've been "bullish" on it for more than a decade, and worked as a developer full remote since 2019, with roughly one or two office days per month at most when employers have insisted on it.
The company I work for now is fully remote and has been since it started. We have two to three meetups per year. Project leaders and CEO do roughly as many trips to customers and prospects per year.
When we hire and bring in consultants this is one deciding factor, that people are willing and able to work remotely.
To me, if I were to demand that someone spends time on a commute, then I'd also want to pay for this time. I much prefer that they don't commute and I instead get work out of it, and that they have a short distance between work and family or hobbies.
> Notably those who were once bullish on full remote, would like to see some form of hybrid setup if it makes sense.
Within my social group I don't know anyone that agrees with this that isnt working a job that already could not be remote so this never affected them.
Personally, I like the idea of Hybrid but I don't need it by any means. I do it at my current job because we have an office but if we did not have one I would not miss it.
I go in one day a week, but that was also my choice. I was not told I had to do it, if I wanted to stop going in I am still classified as a remote employee.
The fact is, I am more productive at home than in the office. I have less distractions talking to coworkers, I am comfortable in my space, I am less incentivized to want to leave because I need account for the trip home.
When I WFH I will hop on later in the day to check in on something, I am online more hours, and just the week by week output is higher.
Sure I have the distractions of home stuff, but again more hours. If I need to take a break I can go play a game for a few minutes and feel far more refreshed than I would in the office. I don't feel drained by the end of the day.
There is value in being seen by colleagues, but that is something that can be addressed virtually and there are full remote companies that find solutions to this.
Side Note: My cat deciding to come and sit on my lap while working is a pretty good motivator to get some work done.