How Remote Work is Quietly Remaking Our Lives (vox.com) 67
From their ersatz offices in coffee shops, coworking spaces, and living rooms, a growing number of remote workers are quietly remaking the way we work and live. From a report: Take Eden Rehmet, who was able to parlay her wages working in trade services at a New York City commodities broker into buying a home and opening a small business upstate. Rob Osoria, a web developer, works remotely from Brooklyn half of the week to skip a commute to his Manhattan office. And interior designer Meg Lavalette gets the best of both worlds by living and doing the majority of her work in rural upstate New York, while traveling to New York City every other week to meet with clients. All of them told Recode that apart from a few downsides, they have improved the quality of their lives by working remotely and releasing their tether to specific places near their employers. While remote work has blurred some of the boundaries between their work lives and their personal lives, they say they're happier and often more productive than they'd been at traditional offices.
Depending on how you measure it, remote employees like these make up anywhere from 5.3 percent (those who typically work from home) to nearly two-thirds (who work remotely ever) of the US workforce, a number that has been rising since the advent of a reliable and robust home broadband connection earlier this decade. The changes remote work has introduced have happened so gradually you may not have noticed. But its growing popularity is remaking how we work, the tools we use to work, how we communicate at work, and even the hours we work. It's also connected to population shifts from big cities to less populated areas, and it's upending sectors of commercial real estate, both in terms of how spaces are designed and where they're located. What was once a rarity among a select set of workers is quickly becoming a defining feature of the future of work.
Depending on how you measure it, remote employees like these make up anywhere from 5.3 percent (those who typically work from home) to nearly two-thirds (who work remotely ever) of the US workforce, a number that has been rising since the advent of a reliable and robust home broadband connection earlier this decade. The changes remote work has introduced have happened so gradually you may not have noticed. But its growing popularity is remaking how we work, the tools we use to work, how we communicate at work, and even the hours we work. It's also connected to population shifts from big cities to less populated areas, and it's upending sectors of commercial real estate, both in terms of how spaces are designed and where they're located. What was once a rarity among a select set of workers is quickly becoming a defining feature of the future of work.
doing it right now (Score:2)
Ba-dum ching!
Actually, I am though ... while my wife recovers from surgery. Life changing indeed. Blessed to be able to do it.
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So... posting to slashdot from home... yikes!
I hope your wife makes a full recovery. Cheers!
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Modded down that she's well on the way to recovery?
Tough audience ...
Can confirm (Score:5, Insightful)
Started working for a company based 4 states away without any satellite offices locally, so obviously that leaves working remotely as the only option (unless I want to move to California....no thanks). The benefits are tremendous. Some I enjoy are:
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I estimate I save probably $6,000 a year working from home.
30 minutes of travel each way = 6 extra work weeks (Score:5, Informative)
30 minutes of travel each way is an hour a day. In 240 working days per year, that is the equivalent of 6 extra work weeks each year!
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Everyone keeps forgetting about the savings to the *employer*. Less floorspace, less parking spaces, less bathrooms, less air conditioning/heat, less trash / recycling, etc.
I suppose employers could require a dedicated room at your home for work (this would be ironic if that employer used cubicles).
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Also the benefits to the environment and travel congestion by removing remote workers from the commuter crowds.
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boxer shorts and t-shirts
Silk pajamas [wordpress.com]
Re:Can confirm (Score:5, Informative)
I'll throw in my anecdotes:
I've been 'remote working' for almost a decade now and I can't imagine ever going back. The current system is just so... inefficient.
The commute minutes add up to significant time. 10 minutes commute each way each day for 50 weeks is 5000 minutes, 83.3 hours. If I split that between work and myself we both get an extra work week to ourselves. My stress levels from commuting on gone.
I can interleave my personal household work with my actual work. Rather than twiddling thumbs making small talk waiting for the conference room to open up, I can unload the dishwasher. My 'compiling time' isn't spent paper tube fighting on office chairs but with my family any number of household tasks that need to get done.
I can time shift everything to save time. Being able to grocery shop at 10 am on a Tuesday saves a *ton* of time. There are no lines, no people, and the whole experience is better. Traffic there is less. I can go see matinee movies at 2 PM and work at 8PM. I can fit work into my life, not vice versa.
That said, I still need 'in office' time. Usually 3 days every month. Just bouncing ideas off of people, talking about what to do for the rest of the month, etc. It sort of 'resyncs' all of our work clocks. But 3 days is more than enough.
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I can time shift everything to save time.
Absolutely this... If you're stuck in an office and encounter a delay, you have nothing to do but wait it out... If you're at home you can do something else and return to the work later. Since home working i've regularly found myself doing other things during the daytime and shifting my work to the evening instead for various reasons.
If i was in an office i'd leave at the prescribed time and whatever work was delayed wouldn't happen until the following day.
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Careful what you wish for (Score:2, Insightful)
If your job can be done remotely, then it can be done by a smart person in Timbuktu working for $2 an hour.
Re:Careful what you wish for (Score:4, Insightful)
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Are you insulting Timbuktuians? $2 an hour is a relatively good wage there, by the way.
Re:Careful what you wish for (Score:4, Informative)
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Sure, if you're ok with getting what you pay for.
I've posted elsewhere otherwise I'd upvote this. This is why I'm looking for a job because my company is starting outsourcing work to India. And guess what, the first round of updates from them have completely f*ckd up the product. And guess who's fixing it? Me. I'm out at my first opportunity.
Re:Careful what you wish for (Score:5, Insightful)
If your job can be done remotely, then it can be done by a smart person in Timbuktu working for $2 an hour.
And if your job can't be done remotely, then it might be done by a robot before too long.
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If they make a robot that knows how to brown-nose.
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Not if your job requires a clearance.
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They tried that. There's a reason they came back.
1. Language barrier. Even if they know all the technical terms, I can throw anecdotes to get something to click for the other party.
2. Remote doesn't mean remote only. If things go sideways with our HIL benches I can be at the test labs in an hour. I don't need to do that *every* day if remote access is working.
3. Out of sync error. Most 'remote' workers only work business hours of their time zone. What should have been a 4 minute, language barrier free fix e
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Language barrier can be a problem, but then there are plenty of english speaking countries where you could hire remote workers.
Another advantage to remote workers across the world is having 24 hour coverage. If you have a client in the us who needs work doing out of hours it's much easier to find someone in the uk or australia to do it than find someone in the us willing to work unsociable hours and pay them extra for doing so.
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3. Out of sync error. Most 'remote' workers only work business hours of their time zone. What should have been a 4 minute, language barrier free fix ends up dragging out to a week because everything goes over e-mails and people 'get' to it tomorrow. ... and what bothers me are timezone constraints, as: I'm working out of synch. I like to work from roughly 12:00 to roughly 24:00 with a 3h break ... but people demand a +/- 2h time zone difference or something similar .. which is p
I was looking for remote jobs
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Working different hours can be a benefit, for instance to provide round the clock coverage and ability to perform tasks at times considered "off peak" for the business.
In fact, different working hours only tend to be a problem when you're talking about workers that are remote to you, but themselves are in an office environment. Because they have all the disadvantages of commuting to an office, they are only going to want to work during whatever their business hours are.
When you have true remote workers, it'
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It takes discipline...
Your employment contract will (for example) say you have to work 40 hours a week, so you stick to that, and have a timesheet system to account for it. I make sure that i average out to 40 hours/week, i just don't do a block of 8 hours/day 5 days a week - some days more, some days less or nothing. I still get my 8 hours of sleep per day, so that leaves 112 waking hours/week from which 40 hours of working time are taken. That leaves 72 hours over a week for me to do whatever i want.
If i
not really (Score:1)
I've been working remotely full time doing software development for 5 years... being remote allows me to live in the country, where I want, and have a much more affordable cost of living that allows me and other developers to compete with offshore prices, at least, with the kind that can credibly promise some level of quality. And fact is, our quality is higher, and legally, it's better to keep development in your own company (and for some types of systems, a requirement).
In the long run all remote work wi
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If your job can be done remotely, then it can be done by a smart person in Timbuktu working for $2 an hour.
The person in Timbuktu doesn't speak English, or if he does, not nearly well enough. He's in a completely different time zone which makes everything take a day longer, even a simple question. He's in a completely different culture, which means there are all sorts of little bits of business knowledge he doesn't have.
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Every job done on a computer can be done remotely.
And there are probably more.
As I'm like you a high skilled software developer: no one in Timbuktu will do your or my job for $2.
Nor is the likelihood that they have the education or experience like you an me very high.
So no, there are no third world or second world countries where people are living with lets say 20 years of Java experience. Or 30 years C++ etc. p.p. who are threatening your job.
If only employers would see the light (Score:3)
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What's terrible is California, where seemingly no IT company is willing to let their techs work remotely (for the most part from most I've found). IN CALIFORNIA. Where we're so concerned with overpopulation, pollution, horrible traffic, etc. All IT employers I've worked for out here want you in the office. For god knows what reason, even if there's absolutely no reason for you to be there. They do it so they can watch you like a hawk I guess, which is disgusting. I miss my work-at-home job.
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Some places might do it because they want to watch you, but I think more subscribe to this Agile collaboration fantasy. They think that by stuffing everyone in a room together and forcing them to interact is going to make things more efficient or generate some billion dollar idea. Personally, I disagree with this...it just makes people miserable after an hour or more driving, or more indentured in CA (buying the $3M house instead of the $1M one to save 3 hours of driving every day.)
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Agile or not agile has not much to do with commuting or not.
It is a simple fact that people working close together are more efficient. Obviously each individual would prefer to not commute, especially if the distance is big or the circumstances are bad.
Obviously if the people are good enough they also can work efficient together in a remote environment.
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Unions. You can't easily organize a workplace if you can't 'reach out' to the workers.
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Here are a few that won't turn you down:
https://github.com/remoteintec... [github.com]
I'd love this, could see why others wouldn't (Score:2)
I live far enough away from NYC that commuting is a pain (about 1.5 hours each way on the train.) Because of this, I work locally, about a 30 minute drive from home. I'd love the opportunity to work remotely. I hate the forced interaction with work colleagues, and am definitely not a fan of the open-office concept where everyone's sitting around a table staring at each other in a noisy environment. The opportunity to be in a comfortable isolated environment, doing potentially more interesting work than I'm
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The ones who struggle with it are the ones that don't have the discipline for it, or who don't have a productive space for it. Some people have chaotic home environments, relentless distractions, and no space for a home office.
Re: I'd love this, could see why others wouldn't (Score:2)
The water cooler and side conversations are a lot more enjoyable even when Karen is telling the story about how she got a free Dunkin coffee by telling at the manger again.
Everything else is great. The downside to most work from home is they want to pay a lot less. And have you buy your own equipment.
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The downside to most work from home is they want to pay a lot less. And have you buy your own equipment.
I've found it to be less, but not a lot less, maybe 10% to 20% at most. But you know what? It's worth it to me.
I save a shitload of money on gas, parking, wear and tear on my car, etc. I never have to get up and drive in the snow or rain or sit in traffic. I can take a nap if I feel like it. I don't risk getting into an accident or having some uninsured dickhead hitting my car twice a day. I don't catch colds from sick people coming into work. I don't have to get involved in office politics or drama.
Those a
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I loved working remotely years ago.
Then I had kids. They don't understand "Daddy can't play right now, he's working".
In about 5 more years, I could probably be productive at home again.
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That said, I wonder what happens if more people work remotely...there'll be an underclass of people who actually need to be present for their jobs. That can't be good for society either...I can just see a "DevOps priesthood" forming that gets all the benefits of working remotely, while relegating on-site people to peon status.
Maybe it'll be the opposite...maybe only the Elite priesthood will be allowed to come into the building, lest the peons sully it with their boots. Working in the office (or being allowed to work in the office) may become a sign of rank or prestige.
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I've always set up home office since the 80s... and as of the 00s everything was sorted out well enough to do it, except heavy data transfers... and even that's pretty decent now except there are some huge VM and things like that which can take hours to get, but the needs rare. I've been working fully remote for 5 years. Everything is in place EXCEPT! I miss having a shared White Board.
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Remaking *Our* lives? (Score:2)
Sounds more like it's remaking the lives of a privileged few (5.3% of workers), while it's more residual Taylorism for the rest of us.
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Not all is golden (Score:3, Interesting)
Yes, they have technically "releas(ed) their tether to specific places near their employers" but they've also lost the clear wall between work and life.
I'm fortunate in that I'm able to work whenever I like from home at only perhaps a 10% efficiency penalty just because I'm working over a VPN and our office is only 80/10 which means working remotely I'm essentially capped at 10mb/s. My wife, in fact, much prefers working from home. Sitting on the couch, doing her bookkeeping while some inane show scrolls by on Netflix in the background.
I don't. I go to work whenever I can to focus ON WORK. No distractions. No dog to let out. No laundry to do. No dishes sitting waiting to be done. And when I'm home, I do those things, and NOT WORK (as much as possible).
I've been working like this close to 30 years now and I'm ever more insistent that wall between work and life be larger, not smaller.
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It's the other way round for me. The office is full of distractions (open office with chatty colleagues), and when I'm home I can finally concentrate. My desk is in my hobby room, so you'd think I'd be tempted to build scale models instead of writing code, but that hasn't been an issue.
At the end of the work day, I close my work laptop, and that's the end of anything work-related. That's the one thing I consider essential: have separate computers for work and private.
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I'm honestly the other way around - I get more done at home, even with all the side-jobs I get done. I'm also quite happy to avoid work during the evenings (even if I'm using my laptop for something else).
However, being able to "work remotely" doesn't mean you have to do it from home. You could do it from a workspace at the end of the street if you wanted. If you think of whatever you used to spend to commute, spending a few quid/bucks to rent a room in an office block still leaves you way better off financ
Hell yeah (Score:5, Funny)
I'm currently working 100% remote and I love it. There are so many advantages, and not just for me, but also for the people who don't work remote.
See that guy right in front of you, fucking up your commute? That's not me. (You're welcome.) I'm at home drinking coffee, not blocking you from getting over into the lane you need. Think of all the good things that come from having one less vehicle on the road, and multiply that by "many".
Also, you know that one coworker who's always leaving a mess in the office kitchen? Yeah, that's also not me. I'm happily making a mess in my own kitchen and you don't have to deal with it at all.
I could go on, but you get my point. Even my manager agreed and said, "Yeah, it's better for everyone when you're not in the office."
Hey, wait a minute...
The Taxman and the Convenience vs. Necessity Rule (Score:2)
Re: The Taxman and the Convenience vs. Necessity R (Score:2)
I gotta say, unless youâ(TM)ve supported getting rid of citizenship-based taxation, then my response is kinda like âoetough shitâ.
As an American living abroad for 13 years, Iâ(TM)ve had the pleasure to keep paying taxes to Uncle Sam while I also my country of residence. Unfortunately, most domestic Americans I speak to think thatâ(TM)s right and proper...
But yeah, whining mode off, I empathize with the pain of that article.
Not here, not anymore... (Score:2)
Not always for the better. (Score:4, Interesting)
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You can easily do these things in ways having nothing to do with a daily commute. Red herring.
I miss interacting with coworkers and commuters. Working from home has been REALLY isolating.
Socialising is not the primary purpose of a job. Making money is. If you feel the need to socialise, join a Meetup group, walk down to your local pub, or volunteer.
I find various 'collaboration' tools frustratingly limited and time wasting compared to just walking over and talking to people. Now everything is done via phone or skype, and I have no physical access to people's machines if they are having an issue I can't recreate.
There are a lot of great remote-assistance tools out there. How much research have you performed to find one?
Lunch variety has dropped. I can cook my own, which I do, but nothing beats access to a dozen lunch trucks with their price and variety
Unless you
Working from home is not all sweentness and light (Score:2)
For most of us in this forum, working from home likely makes sense. Tons of benefits and works for anyone who is a self-starter, disciplined and dedicated, able to be productive with little (or no) outside influence, and comfortable with long periods of little social interaction. A few points to ponder:
Outside influences play a huge role in working from home success. Local management that hates the policy may actively obstruct and sabotage your work. Just as bad: local management may decide
80% more likely to get fired (Score:1)
I don't know if that's true or not, but at my age as a developer (38) I'd rather not roll the dice on it.