I've actually enjoyed working from home for the most part over the past 5-6 months. My only main issue is that I tend to work MORE from home as you don't have the normal water cooler interruptions or group BS sessions about football or sports or... this or that. I'm hoping I don't ever have to go back to the office.
Worked from home for a few years in the old days but wasn't really disciplined to be very productive. Now I am.
Working from home since ~6.5 months => I liked it a lot at the beginning (I wore pants on one day since 1.March, otherwise shorts all the time until today) but now I wish that I could go back to the office: I really miss being able to talk from time to time with somebody "real", having lunch in the canteen, seeing something different than my own walls, etc... :P
I wonder how skewed these discussions are on HackerNews. All the surveys from big companies show that an overwhelming percentage of people would love a mix of WFH and going to office in the future.
I really think HN is just super introverted or many were stuck in some toxic office culture.
I've always liked my coworkers in the various places I worked and being in their physical presence at work is a pro for me, not a liability.
I changed jobs 6 weeks ago. Left one job, took 4 weeks off then went back to the same bedroom with a different laptop to start the new job. It's not easy, everyone is really helpful but there is no substitute for real human contact and bonding.
I like my coworkers and I miss seeing them. At least I have my girlfriend living with me, but seeing and talking to only one person most days is not enough for a healthy, fulfilling life. I've only had limited contact with friends due to the pandemic. They eliminated my desk at the office, to save space and thus money, so now I just have to make the best of a bad situation.
Did anybody ever (have to) discuss "responsibility/accountability" about getting back to work in an office?
Meaning: if my boss would tell me "come back to work at the office" and I would reply "nah, I'm scared that I might get infected" but then my boss would basically in/directly force me to, wouldn't my boss/company become responsible/accountable for me getting ill (if I and maybe some of my colleagues would then get ill)?
I admit that it might then become a quite complex situation (e.g. demonstrate through tracing that the spread occurred inthe office, what were the consequences, etc...), but probably a boss/company should think twice about pushing its employees to go back to the office, or not?
Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing a bill to allow employers to kill off employees that way without consequences.[1] See "SEC. 122. LIABILITY; SAFE HARBOR".[2]
The company can never force you into it. I'm guessing in most cases where the employer forces the issue they'll send an email telling you that "the offices are now open and you are expected to return to working at the office starting on date X" without telling you anything else. No "or else" and when people push the issue they'll be reminded that they work 'at will' and are welcome to leave at any time. lol.
I don’t think the employer is accountable for infectious diseases that are transmitted in the workplace, given that a minimum safety standard is meet. I have, for example, not heard of any liability concerns with teachers returning to the classroom.
Yes. We're allowed to work from home until the office is free of all temporary safeguards. So until they're fine having people elbow-to-elbow with no masks and no shields and no protection, I'm allowed to keep working-from-home, and I probably will. Restrictions won't be lifted until November anywhere in the world, probably won't be until January in Montreal.
I'm one of those who probably cannot be convinced to go back to the office. Why would I want to go back to losing an hour and a half a day to commuting? What problem does this solve for me? I find most aspects of my job are actually easier when working remotely - in particular, being able to get people to leave me the hell alone for those two or three hour blocks of concentration. I used to have to go hide at the office in order to work without someone asking me a question every fifteen minutes.
When I was in the Bay Area, I was commuting 2-2.5 hours a day from Lafayette to the city, on BART, for almost 10 years. I moved to San Diego and the commute was still an hour+ most days (20 minutes there, 45+ minutes back).
Every time I think, well would be nice to go back into the office, I think about all the wasted time just getting to one and I am disabused of the notion rather quickly.
I work in a hospital. 90% of the administrative staff is still here, in our offices. Those of us who didn't get laid off never left.
Sure, we get asked if we 'have any symptoms', have our temperatures are taken at the front desk, and we're required to wear a mask going in/out of the building...but other than that, it's business as usual.
The office my wife works in, they won't let anyone come back. They can work from home, which is fine-but she's tired of being cooped up. She had to sneak in on a weekend to get some devices for testing.
They are considering opening back up in the fall, and would be requiring everyone to wear a mask the entire time they are in the building.
We're going out to eat in restaurants again, we're all still going grocery shopping (where I've never see anyone cleaning anything), malls are open, so what's the big deal with going back to work?
> We're going out to eat in restaurants again, we're all still going grocery shopping (where I've never see anyone cleaning anything), malls are open, so what's the big deal with going back to work?
You're exposing yourself to those places for very brief periods of time. Why should I equate feeling safe walking into a building with open doors and windows for less than 20 minutes, to sitting in a closed office with HVAC running all day for 8+ hours?
Moreso, why should I feel obligated to go back to the office because your wife is tired of being cooped up?
I'm fine with clingy extroverts going to the office if they need to socialize that badly. I'd rather not be demanded to make a return just because.
You need 113 sq feet per employee to maintain 6 foot distancing guidelines. Y'all in your offices have at least that much. Folks in cubicles and open offices do not. The restaurants and grocery stores are supposed to make sure that they have 6 feet in between customers, and of course, customers are allowed to leave if the guidelines don't look like they can be followed.
That sounds odd. I work at a hospital and if you're not patient facing or need some sort of specialized equipment then you're at home, likely through the end of the year if not longer.
Running into a store for 10 minutes is very different from spending 8 hours in an enclosed space.
It seems like these requirements will lead to layoffs; as some companies will find it easier/faster to get rid of staff than to change their modus operandi.
Not to mention that with so many people laid off, Management easily can think, "We'll just hire new people. It's a buyer's market." ...Though I'm not sure it actually _is_.
Before March I never truly questioned if commuting by bus 2-3 hours a day was really worth it. (By car it's only a 30 minute drive to work but I don't drive and I have no desire to, and the bus lines here are really dumb. I just used the time to sleep.) Now that I have that time to spend with my family they'll have to open up an office near me or arrange for a taxi to pick me up and drop me off every day if they ever want me coming regularly into the office again.
Last I was there I picked up all my things so I don't even have any designated physical space there anymore, and I love it.
We've been back since May, no changes other than face-coverings required while in the general building (but not always at your own desk). AFAIAC we locked down too early in my neck of the woods, the infection rate is only going upward at this point, but another "lock-down" isn't going to happen.
I don't want to back to the office has nothing to do with covid. After all I never stop going to the gym, restaurant all these time, albeit secretly. Its that I prefer to work from home. My job doesn't require anything thing that can only be provided in the office anyway.
[+] [-] sicnus|5 years ago|reply
Worked from home for a few years in the old days but wasn't really disciplined to be very productive. Now I am.
[+] [-] zepearl|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Cookingboy|5 years ago|reply
I really think HN is just super introverted or many were stuck in some toxic office culture.
I've always liked my coworkers in the various places I worked and being in their physical presence at work is a pro for me, not a liability.
[+] [-] postalrat|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mywacaday|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bootlooped|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zepearl|5 years ago|reply
Meaning: if my boss would tell me "come back to work at the office" and I would reply "nah, I'm scared that I might get infected" but then my boss would basically in/directly force me to, wouldn't my boss/company become responsible/accountable for me getting ill (if I and maybe some of my colleagues would then get ill)?
I admit that it might then become a quite complex situation (e.g. demonstrate through tracing that the spread occurred inthe office, what were the consequences, etc...), but probably a boss/company should think twice about pushing its employees to go back to the office, or not?
[+] [-] Animats|5 years ago|reply
So get back to work and die for the Man!
[1] https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-07-29/covid-empl... [2] https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/s4317/BILLS-116s4317is.pd...
[+] [-] WWLink|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nip180|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] freeone3000|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] beat|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] agrippanux|5 years ago|reply
Every time I think, well would be nice to go back into the office, I think about all the wasted time just getting to one and I am disabused of the notion rather quickly.
[+] [-] scatters|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bluedino|5 years ago|reply
Sure, we get asked if we 'have any symptoms', have our temperatures are taken at the front desk, and we're required to wear a mask going in/out of the building...but other than that, it's business as usual.
The office my wife works in, they won't let anyone come back. They can work from home, which is fine-but she's tired of being cooped up. She had to sneak in on a weekend to get some devices for testing.
They are considering opening back up in the fall, and would be requiring everyone to wear a mask the entire time they are in the building.
We're going out to eat in restaurants again, we're all still going grocery shopping (where I've never see anyone cleaning anything), malls are open, so what's the big deal with going back to work?
[+] [-] WWLink|5 years ago|reply
You're exposing yourself to those places for very brief periods of time. Why should I equate feeling safe walking into a building with open doors and windows for less than 20 minutes, to sitting in a closed office with HVAC running all day for 8+ hours?
Moreso, why should I feel obligated to go back to the office because your wife is tired of being cooped up?
I'm fine with clingy extroverts going to the office if they need to socialize that badly. I'd rather not be demanded to make a return just because.
[+] [-] flerchin|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] noelsusman|5 years ago|reply
Running into a store for 10 minutes is very different from spending 8 hours in an enclosed space.
[+] [-] hehsjsbb|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mikelward|5 years ago|reply
Where I am (Bay Area), restaurants are outdoor only.
[+] [-] nickff|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ohjeez|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] notyourday|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lillesvin|5 years ago|reply
Last I was there I picked up all my things so I don't even have any designated physical space there anymore, and I love it.
[+] [-] nonamenoslogan|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ohjeez|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] matz1|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|5 years ago|reply
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