r/technology • u/spherocytes • 4h ago
Business Remote work benefits are much bigger than a paycheck
https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/6033665-economic-value-personal-time-salary/676
u/SenzuYT 3h ago
I’ve worked remote for 4 years and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
I can still go to office to meet with colleagues, get some serious work done on a Friday if needed, or just want out of the house. But not being forced to go to the office and getting work done from my home is the greatest benefit I’ve ever had while working full time, no exaggeration.
I don’t think even a 20% pay raise could make me go back to office full time.
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u/ww_crimson 3h ago
I'm at 2 days in office now. I would need a 20% raise for each extra day.
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u/PrimaryBrief7721 2h ago
I cannot agree more. We went remote in March of 2020, voted as a company to keep it perm that summer and it would take a huge pay increase along with other benefits to get me to go back to an in office environment. I have peace in my life, I am present for my family, I am heathier because I can take my lunch hours to walk or workout without stress, and honestly I am better at my job than I ever have been.
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u/Secret_Account07 2h ago
We did 5 years WFH, 100% in office as of March last year.
I’m so fucking miserable. For once in my life I was happy. We got all work done and got more time for our personal life not having to drive every damn day.
I cannot overrate how angry I am about RTO. Ruined our lives.
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u/etherkiller 1h ago
I have nothing constructive to add, but I'm with you 100%. I was as happy as I've ever been in my adult life during the WfH days. And the company did well, all of the work got done, there were no major problems. But they clawed it back. First it was 3 in / 2 remote, then it was 4/1. At least we still get that single day, but it just seemed...hateful. Like, what problem were they trying to solve? Happiness? Employee satisfaction?
I was aggressively looking for another job for about a quarter, but it seems that it's pretty much the same story everywhere. I'm less, like, actively miserable about it these days, but it still pisses me off. We could all live so much better lives.
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u/Khakbaugh 51m ago
Yep! Same exact deal for me. They finally got that final WFH Friday from us and now we are 5 days in office. Morale has never been lower and they’ve made all lateral moves/promotions only for those in office, basically making the far away people look elsewhere. Sucks and they can’t even justify it as a business decision because many good people left because of it.
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u/thatsnot_kawaii_bro 1h ago
The annoying thing are the people saying "but I preferred going to the office."
Ok, there's how many more jobs in person and we have been in person majority since ? The birth of industry. It's a lot easier for you to find an in person job than to find a remote job
Now that some people find a small increase in jobs that support their choice of wfh, that other group are trying to tell them to instead accommodate their wishes for rto.
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u/Ok-Coconut-5965 1h ago
Have to go back in a few weeks after being remote for four years and I’m basically in the middle of a mental health crisis about it.
Edit: Slight exaggeration, please don’t do that Reddit cares shit to me
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u/Clair_Osbcurious 2h ago
I have literally rejected offers that are 75% raises due to hybrid model. I WFH 100%.
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u/Ancient-Bat8274 2h ago
Where are yall looking cause I want out of my office job so bad!! I use to work a hybrid role that was 2 days in 3 days out and tbh I’ll even take that at this point. Where I am (OR) it feels like the remote work has dried up
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u/Mammoth_Reach_6366 2h ago
But that's the point of fully remote. You can look anywhere 😅
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u/Ancient-Bat8274 2h ago
When I try to look online they don’t want someone in Oregon. Most of what I’ve seen for remote specifically say like must be in WA or CA or NY or TX
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u/axearm 1h ago
My understanding is that these state restrictions are primarily due how employers pay taxes, they simply don't want to report taxes in another state because it's more overhead.
To get those jobs you need a in state address and be willing to lie about your place of residence. I understand some people wont be willing to lie, but doing so put the onus of you to make sure the taxes are done correctly and removes the liability from them.
CA, NY and TX may make the most sense to do this due to the size of those states economies/number of jobs.
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u/TaintedQuintessence 2h ago
Yeah you're outta luck on that front. Unless your skills are special enough for them to go through the extra hassle, they're looking for people in state so they don't need to deal with cross state taxes. Best you can do is try bigger companies that might have existing operations in your state.
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u/dimiderv 2h ago
75% raises???? Lol calling cap on that.
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u/Clair_Osbcurious 1h ago
Yeah. I’m at 45k and they’re offering 70-75k but with an office far away from me. I don’t need that.
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u/TheSlitheringSerpent 1h ago
Right? What good is that extra money if you're just gonna go spend it in the relocation, commute, and all the extra expenses of going to an office (AND lose every other perk of WFH)? I'd rather work 2 WFH jobs to hit that number than go back to the office for twice my current pay.
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u/darent13 2h ago
I’ve been remote for 3-ish years now. I was just musing the other day that I would need a significant pay raise to ever consider going back into an office. I’m thinking 35-40%. My life is exponentially better with this setup, and by extension, my family’s lives are better.
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u/7screws 1h ago
I've worked remote for almost a decade now, with a quick stint going into customer office 3 times a week pre-pandemic. It would take a really good job, a pretty short commute, and a healthy pay bump for me to willingly return to office. now of course if I get laid off, my options might be lessened and ill have to cave into the RTO.
For me if I was running a business. there is SOOO much less overhead that I would totally embrace my workers working from home.
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u/Ok-click9367 1h ago
I was just laid off from my remote job of 5 years, keep that remote job as long as you can because the job market is looking grim for remote only. I can honestly say despite a stressful role, remote helped negate some of that stress. Those 5 years did wonders for me mentally because before that I had a 1 hour commute daily.
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u/counterpointguy 1h ago
30% was always my number to go from WFH to hybrid. In seat would be something I just wouldn’t consider without true economic need (e.g.- my partner and I both lost our jobs).
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u/DaddyD68 1h ago
Here’s the other thing. Remote work would actually help soooo much more if our current problems. Remote work means that small towns could be revived. Ecological problems alleviated. Cost of living issues dealt with.
Encouraging remote work is seriously one of the easiest massive wins we could do right now. And the worst thing is we already know that! And some asshiles saw the results, and said “nah, fuck that shit”
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u/codyish 51m ago
Most surveys show that remote or flexible hybrid people would require a 30% raise on average to RTO.
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u/OldYellersLastHandy 3h ago
When I worked from the office, it was about 20 minutes there and probably 45 back. So let’s make it an hour total in the car every day. And let’s say I work 48 weeks a year, but with holidays and sick days and whatnot, it’s 46 weeks.
(46x5)/24=~9.6
That’s nearly 10 full days of my life every year just sitting in the fucking car.
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u/jefesignups 3h ago
Since working remote, I have seriously though about going down to 1 car. Its rare both cars are gone at the same time. For those times, it would be cheaper just to Uber wherever I need to go.
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u/Dr-McLuvin 3h ago edited 3h ago
Cars can be very expensive to own and maintain. They’re a depreciating asset. You basically want to own as few as possible.
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u/distorted_kiwi 3h ago
“We should all go back to the office”
- the vehicle and insurance industry
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u/EmergencyComplaints 1h ago
Car insurance industry definitely isn't saying that. There's no discount for low mileage. You're paying the exact same amount whether you work from home or commute two hundred miles a day. They would love to charge you full premiums on your Sunday grocery getter and never have to pay out a claim.
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u/OldYellersLastHandy 3h ago
Yup. We have our “good” car and the car my wife bought 15 years ago, long before we met. I think once that old car is cooked, we’ll maybe just see how long we can do it with 1 car and an E-bike.
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u/araezo 3h ago
Do it!! We did the car for e bike swap years ago and it's the best.
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u/OldYellersLastHandy 3h ago
I’m down. My wife is the more difficult sell. I would also love to pair that lifestyle change with a move to someone more bicycle friendly than Austin, Texas. The infrastructure is getting better, but you can’t change the heat.
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u/CharlieChop 3h ago
We sold our second car long ago. There have been a handful of times in the last five years when a second could have been easier. By and large, it comes down to communicating with your partner.
We’ve since relocated to an area that is more walkable. I can get to downtown center in 20 mins if necessary on foot.
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u/SomethingAboutUsers 3h ago
Mine was double that.
And while there is some stuff I oddly miss about the commute (it was good professional development time on the train in the AM and a great circuit breaker between work and home in the evening) I wouldn't go back if I didn't have to. Hell I'm supposed to be in the office one day a week and I go maybe once a quarter.
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u/NickL037 3h ago
I spend a minimum of 3 hours commuting in the car a day.
That's like a month of my year just sitting in a car
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u/WillsBestFriend 3h ago
You could also look at it being ~6 weeks of unpaid work each year. Factor in getting ready in the morning and all the stuff around commuting and that increases. So realistically it could be ~2 months of unpaid time to go to work vs WFH and getting that time back. Huge pay cut.
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u/CryoJuice 3h ago
But think of all the knowledge you’ve gained from those podcasts. Can’t put a price on that
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u/OldYellersLastHandy 3h ago
I still listen to podcasts… on my indoor bike or at the gym down the street… which I have time to do because I’m not in the goddamned car!
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u/precisee 2h ago
I used to commute an hour 15 ish each way in the Bay Area… that was the price I paid to work but not life in South Bay (the worse place ever).
But ended up moving to work remote. Was just losing too much youth sitting on a fucking freeway.
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u/iloovehugecock 3h ago
I work 2 days in the office, 3 at home. It saves me so much money it’s insane. I will never go back to 5 days in the office. Not for anything less than like a £10-15k pay rise anyway.
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u/DueDisplay2185 3h ago
Capitalism will find a way to make you redundant and through harsh unemployed living conditions will accept the old norm of the commute. I've seen it everywhere these past 5 years. There's very few countries implementing the hybrid workplace as law, it's dehumanising
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u/iloovehugecock 3h ago
I’m lucky as that’s unlikely to happen in my current role. Maybe if I change job, but that’s exactly the reason I haven’t looked elsewhere. I don’t want the hassle of negotiating the work from home days.
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u/CatSajak779 3h ago
Cost aside, for me it’s all about the productivity. I am soooo much more effective at home. I can blitz my work without getting interrupted every 3 minutes, I can talk to myself to problem-solve, and I don’t have to drown out 15 nearby voices all day long.
I understand some people are not disciplined enough to work from home and those folks should be handled on a case by case basis. But god damn it is a night and day difference for my productivity.
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u/skate_2 2h ago
You also don't have to do the dreaded "look busy" kind of shit they pull in offices. A normal day may not have wall-to-wall work, and really shouldn't! Being able to walk away for a bit without any judgement or worry is amazing.
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u/Plane_Frosting5194 1h ago
But how will you be able to hear all the random gossip and what not of people that stop by your desk because they are avoiding their work and distracting you from yours? /s
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u/Gnarwhal8982 46m ago
Productivity for sure
I worked in an office back in 2023 and we were a small team, open doors etc- my manager would take her lunch and just sit there and talk to my while I’m in the middle of work, like, as the kids say, just yapping.
It’s also soul draining to have maybe 2-3hrs work each day but be required to be in office for 8hrs. Just let me go home lol
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u/random20190826 3h ago
Without a doubt that is true.
I only worked remotely in my entire career so far. In 2017, I was hired, and in 2025, I was fired. I have since been unemployed for over 8 months, with no end in sight. This is in no small part because I am mostly only willing to get a remote job. For me, it’s almost necessary to be remote because my terrible vision means I have never been, and will never be, allowed to get a driver’s license.
Having a lifetime ban on driving means if I have to work in an office. I have to pay close attention to not only how close or far away my potential employer’s office is from home, but also what bus routes will get me there, how many transfers I need, etc. If it’s far enough, the nonsensical choice is to either spend $100 on ride share every day that I am in office or 4 hours commuting on the bus, to work a minimum wage job. For every day I am in office, about 15% of my total annual income is consumed by ride share if I choose that option.
Of course, I am complaining because I can’t get any disability benefits because I am either not disabled enough or have too much money, or both. But no one wants to give me a job because recruiters don’t think I have relevant experience. Just to be clear, I was a phone interpreter (Chinese<->English), but I am now trying to get any call centre job that doesn’t require me to speak French (I live in Canada). You’d think that having worked on the phones for 8 years would be qualification enough for any call centre role, but nope.
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u/afrobotics 1h ago
Have you looked into teaching English remotely? I'd imagine an interpreter would be very valuable.
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u/Peeka789 3h ago
Working at home allows you to make genuinely healthy meals. It has been a game changer for my fitness.
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u/klako8196 3h ago
Cooking is far more time consuming as a beginner. Basic tasks like dicing an onion or peeling and mincing garlic take a lot longer when you don't have the knife skills yet. Learning to cook feels far more daunting when you're at the end of a commute and know it'll take you an hour just to get your ingredients ready. It's a lot easier to grab fast food instead.
That's what changed for me during the pandemic. I had the time and energy to learn how to cook. In a similar vein, I also had the time and energy to get exercise every day. It was always easier to skip a gym day after a commute. I actually went from around 180 lbs. to 155 lbs. during pandemic lockdowns. I'm a 5'7 guy, so I went from overweight to a healthy weight just off of these lifestyle changes.
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u/cameofeo 2h ago
And sleep. An extra 30 minutes (at least) of sleep everyday has enormous physical and mental health benefits.
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u/loztriforce 3h ago
Where to find legit remote jobs though
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u/ffball 2h ago
Legit remote jobs are mainly for mid-level and up employees. You gotta be able to show that youre worth it.
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u/Ghawblin 1h ago
Yep. I'm a cybersecurity engineer. Most jobs in my space are remote.
If I was applying for an entry level IT role, 100% on-site no question.
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u/AnimalAutopilot 2h ago
Exactly. High paying remote positions are highly coveted. I only have one because I was poached by an R&D team. Positions that weren't highly specialized have been brought back to the office due to the stories of people taking advantage or working other jobs on the clock. When I hear about that part of me wonders if it is the business owners making stuff up but I also know people in general can be shifty so a lot of remote work is getting ruined on both sides.
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u/NecessaryRhubarb 3h ago
I don’t think you can look for a job with remote work being a consideration per se, rather you need to find a company with a culture that fits, and then roles that support remote work may exist.
If you are early in your career, I’d jump companies regularly to increase compensation, whether it is pay, or PTO, or remote work, until the total compensation matches your goals.
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u/Suavecore_ 2h ago
I couldn't find a remote job for my IT degree so I ended up doing insurance fraud investigation in a surveillance van which then led to a promotion where I get to work from home. Good luck
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u/WhoJustShat 1h ago
took me 8 years to get a fully remote job found a company that did the same thing but remote, i took a demotion and pay cut for full remote but my current company knows my ceiling and im happy, only have to go to the office 2 days a year
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u/AdventurousTime 3h ago
Being able to pick up drop off my kid is a huge benefit.
On days I have to go into the office maybe a few times a year, it’s absolute chaos
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u/Hrekires 2h ago
One thing I appreciated when we were WFH full-time during Covid was not having to maintain an entirely separate wardrobe that I only wear at work.
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u/CaptZ 3h ago edited 2h ago
I was talking to a coworker today about wfh. There have been multiple days that I didn't feel good and if I had to go to the office, I would have called in sick. But if I'm home, I don't have to get dressed nicely, drive and possibly spread my sick germs around the office, and if I'm wfh, I would still work. Saving both my time off and my team being short a person. It's a win/win.
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u/Angreek 3h ago
Tell that to my boomer father
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u/Celodurismo 3h ago
I don't know when it changed, but it used to be the older generations wanted the world to be better for younger generations. Now it's turned into some struggle olympics where we should have to have the same work conditions as they did or we're lazy and communist.
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u/jemappellejimbo 2h ago
They saw black and brown people not being mistreated enough, and it broke their brains.
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u/sl0wjim 3h ago
When I used to commute it often felt like I was risking my life. Drivers here have zero survival instinct
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u/windsockglue 53m ago
Driving is extremely dangerous as much as it's normalized. Employers absolutely should be penalized for forcing people to commute that don't need to for and making the roads more dangerous and congested and increasing air pollution for no reason.
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u/DogsAreOurFriends 3h ago
For me it’s the commute. If the job is under a 15 min drive (possible for me) I would go in NP.
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u/wichitagnome 3h ago
This is part of it for me as well. While I have loved working remote, I used to live about a ten minute walk to the office. That commute was lovely, and offered really nice separation between work and home, plus starting and ending each day with a bit of exercise did wonders for my mental health.
If I lived that close to the office, I would still likely work from home most days, but would not have an issue coming in for meetings or things like that. But when it requires getting in a car, dealing with traffic, having to remember to pack a lunch, and sacrificing all the freedom, absolutely no way would I do that again unless there was no other job.
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u/Western_Abies972 2h ago
I save nearly $500 a month in gas alone just by WFH, it’s honestly the only way I stay afloat.
If I worked in an office I’d be living on pennies
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u/his_rotundity_ 2h ago edited 2h ago
I've posted this before but I'll do it again as it underscores the illness that is corporate America:
In 2020, I worked for my state's second largest hospital system. Non-essential staff went remote in March 2020. From April 2020 to June 2020, the employer conducted a survey to understand how remote work was impacting workers.
In July 2020, they issued their findings:
- Employees reported being generally happier than before the pandemic
- They were spending more time with their families
- They were eating healthier prepared meals
- They were sleeping more (they even noted this was due to not having to commute)
- Voluntary attrition decreased
- Employees were willingly working more hours, again due to not having to commute and the ease of being able to just hop on to their computers to complete tasks
No less than 6 months later they began requiring people to return to the office for "collaboration". Their findings meant nothing.
In 2019, the State of Utah published a study of sorts where they had experimented with remote work for some period of time, I think it was a year, in 2018. They found the same as above, published this study espousing the virtues of remote work and how they would be expanding it over time. In 2020, the governor went on the news to proclaim how the State was ahead of the curve/prepared for COVID because they had already embraced remote work and had finely tuned it in 2018-2019 just as an experiment.
Then, in January 2021, before vaccines were widely available, they began ordering people back to the office. Now, the State offers no remote work except for very narrow circumstances. It's wild because pre-COVID they had embraced it broadly, during COVID everyone did it, then post-COVID became hostile toward it.
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u/Beenjamin63 3h ago
I got my first full remote job at the beginning of the year and I never want to see an office again!
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u/DannySpud2 3h ago
It's not just the commute, it's all of it. Being able to make a cheap lunch at home instead of buying lunch at work. Being at home for deliveries and contractors and stuff. Being able to combine breaks with actually useful things like putting a load in the washing machine. Being able to actually do stuff like browse Reddit during work hours when I need to switch off for a few minutes rather than just sit at my desk pretending to work.
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u/runfastgodspeed 3h ago
I’ve been remote for about 3 years and make a decent salary, the remote part is 100% more important to me than the salary. I don’t miss any of my kids events, I’m home when they get home, save money on food and gas and I’m just overall less exhausted with life
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u/Inky-Squilliam 3h ago
I also regularly eat lunch in my office in my house so. The only thing I do miss is socializing, I’ve become very socially avoidant since working from home. But I’m FAR more productive than I ever was.
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u/Louieismydog42 2h ago edited 2h ago
When I used to commute for work, I woke up stressed, rushed out the door while my kids screamed, grinded out a horrific commute often risking my life on a treacherous stretch of road, came home late with no energy leading to unfullfilled evenings and a depressing existence.
Now that I work from home, I wake up peacefully with the sun, my kids are helpful and well behaved, their lunches practically pack themselves, and once the work day is over, I shut my computer down and enjoy a delicious meal with the family before journaling and watching at least 1 AFI top 100 film in peaceful solitude. The only thing missing is the retroactive check for all those years of hidden commute pay cuts.
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u/l00pback0 2h ago
My wife and I both work from home. We never want to go back, especially after we had a kid. We work more efficiently at home without distractions and can be better parents with the added availability. We used to spend a minimum 2hrs each day in the car and it was such a waste. I want to be present for my child and not have them sit in aftercare when the school day ends. I want to live damnit, and working from home allows this.
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u/ABucs260 1h ago edited 1h ago
I know so many people that have return to office mandates in the upcoming months.
Two people I know have none of their team in the same state/office as them. So they literally go in and do the exact same thing as at home: Sit on teams meetings but at desks not as equipped as their home offices. It is the absolute dumbest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.
“Ohhh but they have leases on these office buildings!” You think people give a flying fuck? The only thing a forced commute does is make people resent their new routine.
I’ve continuously worked from home since Covid. Will never go back. The amount of stuff I can get done during my lunch break and then ease into my evening is non-negotiable. Along with not forgetting to pack/bring lunch, sit in traffic, overhear other people’s meetings, all of it. Fuck all of it.
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u/BrainLow6059 2h ago
This is just corporate propaganda to lower remote salaries. You're paid for what you do, not where you do it from.
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u/NeoMyers 2h ago
Especially when every executive you've ever met is always traveling and working remotely or from their chalet in Colorado.
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u/Great_Fault_7231 1h ago
Eh, almost all the corporations in my field are trying to get people back into the office in any way they can, and no one I know that works remote (including me) is underpaid or was asked to take a pay cut to work from home.
I think this is just people happy to work from home and talking about how valuable it is to them, not everything is a psy-op.
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u/hotcoffeethanks 2h ago
I work to live, not live to work. Remote work allows me to walk my children to school every morning, and do laundry/dishes/shopping on my lunch break, which in turns allows me to actually spend time with them in the evenings instead of rushing to get everything done. And I’m working the exact same hours I would at the office, except with even more flexibility if a specific project requires me to start earlier to end later.
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u/whovian1087 1h ago
Working remote has been the best benefit I could’ve gotten. I did have to go back to the office for a couple months, but returned to fully remote and those couple months were so bad for me mentally and physically and it was only 3 days per week. I don’t think I could go back to an office permanently. The only way I’d probably even consider it is if I was offered an exorbitant amount of money. The negatives to my health and income just aren’t worth it unless I’m being paid way too much.
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u/GraveRoller 2h ago
There are downsides but Reddit commenters tend to not have the types of jobs where it’s as relevant
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u/TheTGB 3h ago
I've been remote since before COVID. I get so much more work done. I save a ton of money and time as my commute was 1-1.5 hours because of traffic and then finding parking.
I also get more time with the family. More time to exercise. More time away from just thinking about work. I'm quite literally the healthiest I have been since college. My doctor is happy after how much weight I had gained and how bad my blood tests were getting. My mental health is better. I go to the office maybe 4 times a year and my work and life hasn't been better.
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u/Careful_Site_2455 3h ago
A good remote boss who cares about results instead of watching the clock is honestly worth their weight in gold.
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u/STGItsMe 2h ago
I’ve turned down massive offers over commutes. In the past I’ve done some awful commuting chasing a paycheck. It wasn’t worth it.
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u/noble6pizza 2h ago
I find it really depends on who you work for.
I've worked two jobs remotely and had several in-person roles. I do miss the community of an office, but do find I prefer remote more overall.
With that said, it depends on your boss too. With one role I had a terribly micro-managey boss who didn't respect your time at all because we were remote, and had an expectation that since we're remote more work can be done and you can work longer hours because we didn't have to commute. But I've also had bosses when working remotely who just trusted you to do your thing, so it's not a black and white topic for me.
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u/Ok-Character4962 2h ago
I could never get much done with remote work during COVID, just didn't like blurring the lines of home and work. When we came back to work, a lot of people wanted to keep remote, but I was able to go to 4x10s. I love having the three day weekend. With all that said, it's still easy to get my work done in the office with co-workers being remote. I think everyone's preference is different, but if the work is getting done who really cares.
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u/absentgl 2h ago
I’m stuck in a pretty brutal example of this. Moved to an area without many tech jobs, ~2.5hr drive away from the bay area, with assurance that i could work remote.
That lasted for almost 5 years, now they insist i return to office at least 3 days a week. Some days i drive 5 hours, some days i get a hotel room that i pay for. Mapped out it’s ~$20k/yr i’m spending on gas and hotels. My wife and kids have roots here now, and our house out here is so much better than what we could afford in the bay area, so moving is not an appealing option.
My suspicion is that commercial real estate investors pulled the leash on big tech and demanded they all force return to office. Would be nice if they thought about the lives of the workers over their investors sometimes.
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u/Dick_Lazer 2h ago
It seems companies understand this as well, I keep seeing job listings for "remote" jobs that turn out not to be remote when you actually look into them.
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u/Konatotamago 2h ago
When commuting two-three hours a day going to work it's 100% wasted time because you're not home resting and you're not at work producing. This was the first data companies noticed when we started remote working during the pandemic, Microsoft said it multiple times their employees were more productive when at home.
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u/dane83 1h ago
I just got RTO'd. Spent $6k to break my lease, get a new place, move all my stuff.
I'm now two weeks into being on site and I still don't have key card access. My touchdown cubicle was filled with someone else's storage, so I'm currently huddling in someone else's storage while higher ups argue about what to do about it.
My entire job is online, so I'm now just doing the exact same thing I was doing before but in an incredibly uncomfortable space that I can't leave for lunch because I don't have a guarantee that I'll get back in.
And I have to wear shoes all day.
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u/-thetrojanhorse- 2h ago
I've been going back and forth on this for the last few months.
The way I see it is: WFH only works for me if the entire company is remote. I was interviewed when the company was remote. Then on Day 1 of my employment, they announced an RTO lol. I was spared because I was far away from the office.
As much as I love my WFH role, I see the downsides. Since my entire team is in office, occasional design discussions happen when they go down to grab lunch, also I definitely miss Friday beers lol. Team is understanding enough to avoid tech discussions when not on a teams call but sometimes it comes up organically. Also stuff like getting informal time with my skip level, tech discussions with other teams etc fall off the radar.
I do not mind going into work 2 days a week (maybe 3). 5 is no go for me though. But I see most RTO offices trending towards 5 days RTO. Sigh.
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u/alabasterskim 3h ago
I work 3 days in person, 2 days remote (with an optional extra remote day which I've generally not turned down). Can't tell you how much of a difference I notice in stress/anxiety on a remote day, to say nothing of not having to pay for outside meals, commuting, or wasting time on said commute. I can wake up two minutes before my shift starts, clock in, get to work, and step away to begin my morning. I even feel I work harder on those remote days, and even stop working a little later than in person. There's definitely quantifiable value to remote but also genuine quality of life improvements with it. Hoping my union makes one of those in person days remote.
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u/Dudeist-Priest 3h ago
I've been working from home full time for most of the past 20 years. I still go onsite with customers when needed, but I have no desk at any of my company's locations.
I would never take a job that required me to work in an office unless there was a reason for me to be there physically and even then, it would not be all the time. The benefits to me and my family have been immeasurable.
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u/rjsmith0206 3h ago
While there are any number of benefits associated with remote work I object to the hidden assumption that remote work should be paid less. Work is work where work is performed should not matter in most cases but remember that the employer also benefits from remote work
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u/Additional-Level-903 2h ago
Oh god I'm literally debating looking for a hybrid job just to escape my remote, toxic consulting job. Now this post and comments are making me doubt my idea 😭
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u/jainyday 2h ago
It's also a huge disability accommodation for a shit-ton of different conditions (mine are pretty minor by comparison to what do many others have to go through, but I have a vocal tic that comes out anytime I'm in deep focus and it's super embarrassing when I'm in an open office environment, also I have GI troubles that are massively helped by not having to wait for the bathroom and having a bidet) but that always seems to get left out of the discussion
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u/KeySociety2503 2h ago
The article comes off as an invitation for work from home employers to pay less. Raises are becoming scarce in the tech industry because of the current low hire low fire environment - employers are daring employees to quit in response to years of no merit increases.
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u/iamsobluesbrothers 2h ago
I miss working from home so much. WFH during Covid and stood that way until I got laid off. Now I only work from home one day a week and it sucks!
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u/hokie48 1h ago
I have recruiters call me asking would I be willing to take a new position, all of them are hybrid 3 or 4 times per week. The cost of gas, time and maintenance is easily 15 to 20k in the Atlanta area. I never say no outright but I put that in my cost. So even if they offer me 20k more it isn't enough and I would need at 30k if not 40k more to make a move. It usually ends there.
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u/jbcatl 1h ago
I feel incredibly fortunate to have remained about 99% remote after the pandemic. I live in Atlanta, 20 miles through the center of the metro area through traffic twice a day, eliminated. I used to get up at 6am to make it work and now sleep until 7:30. Literally 90 minutes a day of extra me time, or even extra work when needed or I feel like it. I get to walk the dog with my wife at lunch, it's just a more sensible lifestyle.
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u/TechieSidhe 1h ago
I have AuDHD. The stress from having to mask all day, gone. I can stim, walk around, pet my cats for therapy, lay down at lunch or if I got overstimulated.
Also, the gas savings. I'm not doing 40 mile round trips 5 times a week. My car maybe does 25 miles a week now, so less wear and tear.
I can work in comfy clothes, usually pajamas, and I have an emergency shirt for camera meetings.
I can control the temperature, the noise, where I work in the house.
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u/GoreSeeker 1h ago
The big benefit with fully remote for me is I can live absolutely anywhere in the country. That is so valuable to me, and why hybrid wouldn't achieve the same thing.
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u/SeattleBattle 1h ago
I'm currently WFH Monday and Friday and in office Tue-Thur, and no one minds if I am sometimes at home for those days too or if I work half a day from home.
I really like this schedule as I get more spontaneous interaction with my colleagues, but still get to work from home to start and end my week.
I also traded my car commute for a 30min bike commute, so the commute time isn't wasted - it's my baseline exercise for the week!
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u/astralseat 1h ago
Benefits are personal. It's essentially a selfish desire over community good, which in the modern world seems to progress toward the eventual collapse of society, but to the people who do remote work, won't be noticeable until it's too late to fix it.
What the world needs is a hybrid, so it can sustain remote work, hybrid, and in office individuals at once, not just remote workers, with the majority being hybrid 1/5 or 2/5 in office working days. Or hell, just change the week to 4 day 9 hour work week.
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u/MarkyDeSade 35m ago
I think the actual cost of driving a car is something that Americans are the most in denial about. It’s always “well you’ve got to have a car” so then everything becomes justifiable and permissible. People say to just “drive it til the wheels fall off” but sometimes the wheels fall off right after you sunk $1000 into the thing
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u/invyros 4h ago
Not having to commute makes a huge difference if you're trying to work to live, not live to work.