[ashtonkem]

Just moved from CA to ID. I'd say that the experience has been great, but with some caveats that don't really apply to you.

A lot of the celebration you'll see about remote work is going to come from those who couldn't afford space in places like SF & LA who are now thrilled that they can afford a house somewhere cheaper. I am personally included in this category, as houses in ID are much cheaper than CA. It's really hard to overstate how much of an impact space has on one's quality of life, but that might not be strictly relevant to you since you're effectively stuck in place either way.

Second, I'm pretty senior. There is a pretty big difference between starting your career out remote and settling into remote work once you're already established. It seems like starting out remote would be a bit tougher early on in your career, but I've only experienced being remote while managing.

On the whole, I personally love working remote, and have no intention to stop. This is actually pretty surprising to me, since I had a terrible experience with a prior remote job, as the job was both bad (for reasons unrelated to remote) and I was the only remote worker. Coming to enjoy remote work over the length of the pandemic was a surprise to me.

My only piece of advice: don't be the only remote person. Try to at least get onto a team that is 100% remote together, so that you won't end up being isolated.

[wernercd]

> Coming to enjoy remote over pandemic

I enjoy remote but I miss the office. I think I'm part of the majority that would love 2 days in, 3 days out of the office (or some mix close to that).

I can definitely see a single remote worker of a bunch is a recipe for a bad experience as you are just out of the loop and in a company that probably hasn't or won't adopt the things needed for it to be successful.

[Gene_Parmesan]

Also someone who misses the office, although my ratio is more like 4 in, 1 out.

I think society is seeing an explosion currently in people who have never had the opportunity to work remotely, and who are now doing so for the first time. I feel like many of these people are maybe not thinking about how they will feel if their job is still remote 5 years from now.

Work is where a huge amount of social interaction occurs for adults, and we have now almost nullified that. To some people, that's like a gift from the heavens. But I can't help but feel that after a number of years of this, people will start to miss things they never thought they would. Running into people in the halls, group lunches with coworkers, sticking around after a meeting to catch up with such-and-such. These sort of spontaneous, unplanned interactions are what add variety to a life that can otherwise slide into monotony. Besides this, rates of self-reported loneliness among American adults have been skyrocketing the past decade or so, due to effects of the internet and social media. I don't see how removing the main remaining source of our in-person socialization is going to improve our collective psychologies.

I think like open office plans, we are going to see a lot of companies adopt this for cost reasons, and in five years we are going to see pushback as studies come out showing how collectively damaging forced remote work can be. It's fine if you are someone who chooses the lifestyle, but I think forcing it on people is going to end poorly.

But maybe that's just my preference speaking.

[wernercd]

I'd be find with 4 out/1 in... or even 3 in/2 out - I'm pretty happy where I work and I enjoy like in the office... but I also enjoy it at home.

> Social interact has been nullified

That's why I'd prefer more than 1 day in the office. Its about a year out and I already miss my podcasts, the walk from parking to the office and meetings around the table.

I think managers want people in the office (generally) because that's easier to manage (traditionally). So once vaccines become The Norm, it'll be a move back towards that. I think that companies that have done remote can't go back 100% in office though (with exceptions) and won't stay 100% remote (again, with exceptions).

I don't see my company staying 100% remote but we have done real well with remote (and a switch to agile/scrum, coincidentally, at the same time).

[ashtonkem]

You do you, but I’ve never understood this. Semi-remote arrangements seem to me like the worst of both worlds; you have to live close enough to the office for a reasonable commute 1-2x a week, and you’ve got to pay for enough space to work from home. Since you’re staying within commuting range, you probably won’t be able to get the really cheap housing.

I’d rather live in a small apartment and close to the office, or full remote and leverage different housing prices.

[wernercd]

"You do you" that's part of it... I live on a family farm so I can't "move to the city" and I can't bring the jobs to me - so I have a long commute for a good wage. It's a tradeoff. ("cheap housing" isn't an issue - we own the land... but at an "extreme" commuting range)

So for me, partial remote is perfect... I get "social interactions" that remote can't replace... while losing a large chunk of commute (hours a day).

If I wasn't "tied to the land", I'd move to the job in a heartbeat.

[jleyank]

One has to be comfortable with the social environment where one lives. ID, if you mean Idaho, is more idiosyncratic than other places and was an acquired taste not everybody developed. YMMV

[ashtonkem]

Ok? That’s kind of obvious right? “Don’t work remote somewhere you hate”.

I’m not recommending they move to Idaho like I did.