Rise of remote work

[DoggyDaddy]

Am I the only one who wants a strict demarcation between my work life and home life and to keep my work life out of the home as much as possible?

My "work life" begins when I turn on my work computer, and ends when I shut it off. All the demarcation with none of the commuting.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Am I the only one who wants a strict demarcation between my work life and home life and to keep my work life out of the home as much as possible?

Nope. A number of years ago when my employer decided to give us all cell phones, they told us to treat it as if it were our own. (That is feel free to use it for personal use). Uhh…no. I knew where this could lead. And it did.

 

[gregkl]

Am I the only one who wants a strict demarcation between my work life and home life and to keep my work life out of the home as much as possible?

Well, I wouldn't mind going to the law office where the bourbon flows freely and the admins all look like those in Boston Legal!

 

[HoughMade]

Well, I wouldn't mind going to the law office where the bourbon flows freely and the admins all look like those in Boston Legal!

But what about a tea totaler.....who's office....let's just say.....is in the Region?

 

[gregkl]

But what about a tea totaler.....who's office....let's just say.....is in the Region?

How are the admins?

 

[HoughMade]

How are the admins?

It's the Region.

What do you think 3 packs a day and piles of perogies do to our ladies up here?

 

[gregkl]

It's the Region.

I'm not familiar with that term, counsel.

 

[gregkl]

It's the Region.

What do you think 3 packs a day and piles of perogies do to our ladies up here?

Ah, doh! Now I get it. Man, I am slow sometimes.

I am in the office every day, by choice, no booze and no admins at all.

 

[wtburnette]

My "work life" begins when I turn on my work computer, and ends when I shut it off. All the demarcation with none of the commuting.

Yep, same here. Turn on the laptop, login to work and I'm working. I'll occasionally take a break and do dishes, or some other task for a few minutes, then back to work. Take a longer break to get to appointments, mow lawn etc. Back to the laptop to finish out the work day. Work day ends when I feel everything is caught up and ready for the next day and I've done the tasks and meetings scheduled for the day. I usually start my day at 5:30 and end around 2:30 or 3:00, unless a meeting pushes me later. When I'm done the laptop gets shut down and I have no way of knowing anything about work until the next day when I log back in.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Yep, same here. Turn on the laptop, login to work and I'm working. I'll occasionally take a break and do dishes, or some other task for a few minutes, then back to work. Take a longer break to get to appointments, mow lawn etc. Back to the laptop to finish out the work day. Work day ends when I feel everything is caught up and ready for the next day and I've done the tasks and meetings scheduled for the day. I usually start my day at 5:30 and end around 2:30 or 3:00, unless a meeting pushes me later. When I'm done the laptop gets shut down and I have no way of knowing anything about work until the next day when I log back in.

I'm usually logged in by 04:30 (unofficially), start work at 06:00 (officially), and sign out at 16:00, with an hour for lunch. If I have an appointment (like tomorrow) I take leave time since I'll likely be gone for a couple of hours.

 

[Ingomike]

Is that wrong in any way?

Guess the only opinion that counts on this question is what does the entity that writes the check think? That said, if one is salaried only and the company is good with it, all good. If the company believes you are working set hours and you don’t work those hours I don’t feel good about it. If one is paid by the hour it is wrong.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

It's the Region.

What do you think 3 packs a day and piles of perogies do to our ladies up here?

I'm picturing Selma from Night Court...

 

[KLB]

Am I the only one who wants a strict demarcation between my work life and home life and to keep my work life out of the home as much as possible?

That ship sailed for me 28 years ago. I've been on call most of the years since then.

 

[wtburnette]

Guess the only opinion that counts on this question is what does the entity that writes the check think? That said, if one is salaried only and the company is good with it, all good. If the company believes you are working set hours and you don’t work those hours I don’t feel good about it. If one is paid by the hour it is wrong.

Oh no, wouldn't be this way if it were hourly. Salaried position. Manager is fully aware and her boss doesn't care as long as the work is done and we're getting good feedback from the teams we work with, which is true. We're one of the only InfoSec teams that has an actual work product and it's boosted our team's reputation within the company nicely. We're doing well enough we're hiring another couple analysts before the end of the year. Hospital is happy, management is happy and I as the employee is happy...

 

[Ingomike]

Oh no, wouldn't be this way if it were hourly. Salaried position. Manager is fully aware and her boss doesn't care as long as the work is done and we're getting good feedback from the teams we work with, which is true. We're one of the only InfoSec teams that has an actual work product and it's boosted our team's reputation within the company nicely. We're doing well enough we're hiring another couple analysts before the end of the year. Hospital is happy, management is happy and I as the employee is happy...

I know of a few hourly folks playing the work 32-33 hours and claim 40 hours.

 

[510picker]

Am I the only one who wants a strict demarcation between my work life and home life and to keep my work life out of the home as much as possible?

I had concerns with this when “work from home” was discussed before the pandemic. Those concerns are gone after working from home since March of 2020. As other have said, my day starts when I log on and ends when I log off. I am now more willing to work a few extra hours when needed because I don’t commute two hours a day. I definitely feel more productive at home.

 

[KLB]

I am now more willing to work a few extra hours when needed because I don’t commute two hours a day.

This is one of the reasons why my management is happy to allow me to never step foot in the office again. When I was there, I left at 3. Chicago traffic gets exponentially worse as the afternoon goes on. I would get home 4:15-5:00. That meant no meetings for me after 3. When I am home, I have no issue with a meeting at that time.

 

[wtburnette]

I know of a few hourly folks playing the work 32-33 hours and claim 40 hours.

I was never one that would do that. When I was hourly I only put down the actual hours worked. On the flipside, I detest companies that expect their hourly employees to work more than 40 hours, but not report it. Anthem was that way when I worked there. They would *cough cough* say that you only had to work your 40 hours, but if you did and didn't put in extra time (no OT pay allowed BTW, so you couldn't actually record that time) you weren't eligible for advancement.

 

[eldirector]

I'll address some of the "business side" of things as well, as my entire team is also remote.

#1: productivity is at least equal, if not higher, than when we had physical offices. No foosball, no water cooler, no chit-chat in the lobby, and no commute. When folks work, they tend to work. I am sure there are exceptions, but I don't hire those folks....

#2: Availability as actually UP, as most team members have adjusted work schedules away from the standard "9 to 5" to align with business needs. My technical staff tends to start a bit earlier, to overlap with their counterparts in our India and Europe teams. My folks in India start really late, to overlap with us in the US, and with Europe and LAC. My Project Managers tend to start a bit later, and run a bit later, to better overlap with our operational teams and with our Customers. Customers still tend to start pretty late (no earlier than 9AM EDT) and we have a few on the west coast.

#3: Payroll expenses are level, or even down, while I am actually fully staffed for the first time in years. As I can recruit nationwide, and sometimes internationally, I can find OUTSTANDING people for very competitive rates. Competitive for both me AND them. I don't have to pay East/West coast premiums, but I can beat the average for Midwest/South/BFE pretty easily.

#3b: yes, folks are worried about "getting replaced" by cheaper workers. Quite the motivation. Conversely, the "international" workers are worried about being replaced by someone in the US with more education/skills/etc... Also quite the motivation. *I* am more worried my good folks will get poached, as workers are MUCH more mobile in today's market. Quite the motivation for *ME* to create the bet possible work environment.

#4: Work/life balance has been figured out by most folks by now. Most have a dedicated workspace, and can "leave the office" when done for the day. If you are sitting at the dining room table in your PJs, you are doing it wrong.

I completely agree that many jobs are NOT cut out for remote work, and many workers are not either. But some are, and as an employer, I'd be a fool not to capitalize on it when I can.

 

[bwframe]

GM delays return-to-work plans to 2023

General Motors Co on Tuesday said it will not mandate workers return to offices before 2023 after it had told them on Friday that they would be expected to work three days on-campus each week later this year.

www.reuters.com