[emc3]

In-office work needs to be compensated differently than WFH. They will try to decrease WFH compensation initially, like the loss of benefits threat in the article, but the number of potential employers is higher for WFH workers, giving them leverage.

[mech422]

I've been WFH for 20 years now...

It gets easier all the time, the pay gets better, and I actually have a much better setup at home then I've ever had in an office (Granted, I've had 20 years to set it up...)

I'm not concerned about 'losing out' in any capacity going forward, especially now when its become so common.

[throwawayboise]

Where do you find work? Is it all for one client or are you more of a consultant/contractor?

[not_jd_salinger]

In tech there have always been a relatively large number of remote friendly companies. I worked for the better part of a decade fully remote, in full time, reasonably well paying positions at a wide range of companies. I only returned to an office a bit before pandemic broke out and don't have any intention of returning to an office full time now.

After the pandemic there was an even larger number of companies that are at the very least remote friendly. Most < 1000 employee tech companies I know are never planning on returning to an office full time. I also believe a fairly large number of the major tech companies are also planning to be fully remote friendly going into the future.

Pre-pandemic getting a fully remote job didn't take too much work find, and now nearly all companies I've talked to in the last few months are willing to support remote roles.

[autarch]

I've been working remote since 2002. I've done both full time and contracting. I've been full time only since 2011 at two different employers.

There are _enough_ employers that will allow fully remote employees that it's not hard to find jobs, and it's only gotten easier in the time I've been doing it.

[mech422]

I'm currently a full time employee at a contract firm. Befor e that, I was full time with an international firm and before that I was full time with a local CDN provider. that goes back about 10 years...

[nullc]

> In-office work needs to be compensated differently than WFH.

Do you mean pay you more because the office no longer needs to provide space and power for you, but you provide it for yourself? ... and because you can be called 'in' faster without the 45 minute commute?

:P

[tpxl]

No joke - yes. If my company gets big enough to need employees, I plan to compensate them for home offices.

[the-pigeon]

> In-office work needs to be compensated differently than WFH.

Why?

A company hires an employee because they think they can make more profit than that employee costs them.

My expenses have nothing to do with the equation except when the company wants to be cheap and figures out they can up their profit margin per employee by lowering salaries due to low competition for employees.

[throwawayboise]

Your expenses also do not determine your value to the company. It's simple supply and demand.

If you require $250/hr but a smart person in say Brasil will do the same work, to the same standards, for $100/hr, what is the rationale for the company to keep paying you? You might complain that the Brasilian is leaving money on the table but that's not in your control.

[antonvs]

> You might complain that the Brasilian is leaving money on the table

He's not though. He's undercutting someone else to get the business. Race to the bottom is one of the most fun features of capitalism!

[qchris]

For one, I'd argue that working from home probably requires additional pay over working in the office. I'm sure some people have a "spare" bedroom that they can convert into an office, but there's a lot of people, including almost all the tech-oriented professionals under 30 that I know, that don't even have their own one bedroom apartment, let alone are able to pay for a second bedroom just in case. Working at the kitchen table all day around roommates (or partners, or children if you're a parent, or maybe even disruptive pets) is not exactly a recipe for deep work productivity.

If workers are also now expected to provision their own work space (space, desk, chairs, monitors, etc.), then the compensation model around those jobs also needs to be adjusted to account for that.

[rufus_foreman]

>> If workers are also now expected to provision their own work space (space, desk, chairs, monitors, etc.), then the compensation model around those jobs also needs to be adjusted to account for that

I've been working from home for 5 years. Standing desk, Aeron chair, dual ultra wide monitors, it goes on and on.

It all adds up to about 1% of my compensation over those years.

I spend whatever it takes to have a great working environment, if I see something that will incrementally improve the 8 hours a day I spend working I immediately buy it. As far as my income goes it amounts to a rounding error.

>> there's a lot of people, including almost all the tech-oriented professionals under 30 that I know

That's called selection bias.

You have chosen to live in a location with expensive real estate. Good for you. Other people made different choices. I have rooms in my house I haven't been in for months.

[qchris]

I'm sorry, I think we definitely have a "pot meet kettle" situation here. You're (pretty patronizingly) describing noting selection bias, then basing things on your own situation.

The median income for mechanical engineers in the US is around $88k, with many (especially early-career) people making meaningfully less than that. I'm glad your income is high enough that thousands of dollars in equipment, and far more importantly, extra space in your living quarters, is a blip. I really am. But statistically, your situation is not representational of the hundreds of thousands of other workers.

[walshemj]

And a lot of property now needs expanding or is no longer attractive to buyers.

the other question is should employers pay a share of your property tax contribute to a sinking fund for repairs

[ghaff]

Companies will make offers. Prospective employees will negotiate based on conditions and salary. For some, working from home reduces costs (raises hand). No commute and no real incremental costs; I have a dedicated office and have never had free food offered in an office. For others it's a big cost.

If someone wants to live in a dense urban core and a company is 100% remote, that may not be a good deal.

[thrower123]

Yeah, I'd want to be paid at least 25% more, since by requiring me to commute to the office, you are taking two hours a day from me that's of no use to either of us.

[ed25519FUUU]

Compensation changes are hidden in “cost of living” adjustments.

[throwawayboise]

Inflation is already here. Miserly COLAs are not going to cut it for the next few years.