Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 28

Thread: ? For Those Who Can Work Remotely?

  1. #1
    Senior Member gimmethesimplelife's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    6,686

    ? For Those Who Can Work Remotely?

    What is your take on working remotely? Is this something you wish to continue? Or do favor a hybrid model or in office full time as before the pandemic?

    I am a front end supervisor in a grocery store - my job cannot realistically go remote. So I find this topic intriguing - workers placing themselves first for once. Which leads me to ask - what are your reasons for your stance? Rob

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    SoCal
    Posts
    9,656
    I prefer to work remotely or to go in only a 1-2 days a week.

    Reasons, it's a 10 mile commute each way which is really a short commute in the scheme of things, but which of course in reality means it's a 40 minute commute each way much of the time (although traffic is still not back to pre-pandemic, so there are times it's 25 minutes and bam, but it was never that way pre-pandemic). All that driving drains me of energy, makes me extremely tired. No, public transportation would definitely not be faster, I don't know about less exhausting, but it would be 2 hours commuting 10 miles each way at least.

    I work better remotely. I can concentrate better. I've never liked offices. Always found them profoundly alienating. But I'd prefer if I even got a cubicle at the office for a little privacy, I don't though, just a desk. It makes it hard not to be distracted A LOT.

    It's not a social job, all that work socializing, yea that was sometimes very little. I don't think work is by and large the place to make friends, at all. But also my job itself isn't enhanced by socializing. A couple days a week would be enough for small talk, 5 days a week to ask "how was your weekend" and commute 40 minutes each way, and ask the boss a question in person instead of remotely, hmm ....

    I save gas, I save wear and tear on the car, I'm able to fit in small errands, I save the world (well not really, but it feels good to use less gas).
    Trees don't grow on money

  3. #3
    Senior Member jp1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    San Francisco
    Posts
    9,802
    I’ve been working remote for 2 1/2 years. So much less wasted time. I miss some of the things that came with working in an office like the LGBTQ ERG. They, and a few of the other ERGs did lots of interesting and fun events. But it had nothing to do with my actual work so I’m fine with not having one anymore. I’m hoping to work remote for the next nine years until I retire.

  4. #4
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Vermont
    Posts
    14,637
    I've worked remotely since 2008. I love it. it's not right for every job function, but for those who can do it, why not? I find the time spent getting ready for work, driving to work, acclimating to work to be a true time suck. I get up in my robe and get right to work. When I'm ready for a break, I get dressed and grab a quick breakfast. Then back to work.

    I was talking to one of my neighbors/friends up here who works for a Vermont industry and she originally didn't like the idea of remote working and now she is resisting the 3 days she'll have to go into the office in 2022. A big factor is the gas! She probably spends 250 in gas to commute to work, so there's a "raise" right there!

    With the increased comfort with Zoom/Teams/Webex calls, there is no reason many jobs can't stay remote after COVID. Maybe in-person touch-bases every couple of weeks or every month would be right for some companies, but in general, I'm all for working from home.
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
    www.silententry.wordpress.com

  5. #5
    Senior Member herbgeek's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    New England
    Posts
    2,718
    I retired before covid, but I worked full time from home for the 3 years prior to retiring, and in the office 2 days a week for the 2 years before that. I loved not spending 2 hours a day in the car, and having to do all the ironing on Sunday, and plan lunches and dinners on one of the two days I had off each week. The one factor I had been concerned about is that if you aren't in the office, people can forget about you, but I worked in a place where it was normal to work from home at least a few days a week. We had the technology set up for this, and I managed teams that were spread over many time zones (so we would never all be in one space regardless). It was more about results, than face time, so I prospered.
    Last edited by herbgeek; 10-8-21 at 5:12am.

  6. #6
    Senior Member bae's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Offshore
    Posts
    11,477
    I have been doing most of my consulting/contracting work from-home for 20+ years now.

    It is my preferred method of operating - I am more efficient, I can stay in-the-zone more, I don't waste time commuting, and so on. Plus I don't particularly like offices, or people in offices. Or enjoy wearing pants.

  7. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    4,769
    Quote Originally Posted by bae View Post
    Or enjoy wearing pants.
    A kilt then......

    My business isn't one that can be remotely done. However my sibling that works for one of the most hated government groups, went from managing an office, to a more specialized function. In his function, the people doing it are all over the country.

  8. #8
    Senior Member JaneV2.0's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    15,489
    A friend's husband was hired by a company whose employees work entirely from home. They may have a home office, but he's never been there, and it's been at least a year. If I were younger, I would only take a job without an office environment.

  9. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    5,037
    I also worked from home and only went out on assignment or to the office as needed. It worked very well.

    I have to admit now though that not all work from home businesses do well. I HATE being on the phone waiting for a remote person to answer and then if they do not know the answer to wait for them to find someone else remote... that can help them. Anything that has to be done by phone these days seems to take 4x as long. I'm afraid things won't go back after the pandemic and we will be stuck with this.... Calling a financial institution routes you to the main branch which then routes you to a local branch.... all wait time. There are many instances like this.

  10. #10
    Senior Member jp1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    San Francisco
    Posts
    9,802
    Quote Originally Posted by frugal-one View Post
    I also worked from home and only went out on assignment or to the office as needed. It worked very well.

    I have to admit now though that not all work from home businesses do well. I HATE being on the phone waiting for a remote person to answer and then if they do not know the answer to wait for them to find someone else remote... that can help them. Anything that has to be done by phone these days seems to take 4x as long. I'm afraid things won't go back after the pandemic and we will be stuck with this.... Calling a financial institution routes you to the main branch which then routes you to a local branch.... all wait time. There are many instances like this.
    There are surely systems that automate that by having queues for the different levels/types of support which then automatically send the call to someone who is available that has the ability to handle that type of situation instead of the employee having to find someone who happens to be available and capable. Over time I expect that companies who went full, or at least majority, remote on such short notice 18 months ago will purchase these systems and that problem will become a lot less frequent.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •