[auslegung]

I’m of two minds. I work remotely but miss the benefits of the office.

On one hand, I am getting paid over 2x what local companies would pay me, the convenience and flexibility are wonderful WFH, I get to spend more time with my family, etc.

On the other hand, I miss all the things you listed. Plus I’m an advocate of eXtreme Programming, which means pair programming all the time. Pair programming with people who have very different schedules, time zones, etc is difficult.

So for now I’m working from home and trying to recreate some of the things you’ve listed. I work from a friend’s house regularly. I get lunch with former coworkers once a week. I’m active in our local tech community and we have meetups once a month, local conferences, etc. I work from a coffee shop sometimes just to have a change of scenery. It isn’t perfect, but it’s better for me

[organsnyder]

This is my experience exactly. I live in an area with a small tech employer base (almost all consultancies or non-tech corporations) and a tradition of worker-hostile compensation and benefits. I'm able to make twice as much working remote, with unlimited PTO (and a culture that makes it work) and other benefits not available from local employers.

Frequent video collaboration with colleagues gets me 75% of the way to replicating the benefits of working in the office, and we also meet in person a few times per year. It's not perfect, but it's preferable to the alternatives. And it's nice to be present and available for my spouse and kids.

I've toyed with the idea of setting up another desk in the room next to my office for friends (or perhaps strangers) to come in and co-work if they want an occasional change of scenery. It is nice to work in the presence of other workers at times, even if they don't work for the same company.