[mikebenfield]

> Working at an office sucks because of some combination of {long commute, open office plan, team not being there}

Working at an office sucks because it is a massive constraint on where you can live, even if you can tolerate a long commute. If you live with a partner who also has a career your options are even more constrained. I find it miraculous such a situation works out for anyone.

[paulddraper]

And yet for millions of people and many years, it has worked out.

There are tradeoffs, sure. But there are a lot of jobs in a lot of fields in a lot of places.

The venn overlap is not tiny.

[whoknowsidont]

>it has worked out.

Hardly. This is actually kind of insanely tone-deaf statement to make. People have uprooted their lives, spent lots of their wealth in expensive real-estate markets due to artificial demand, given up time with their families, etc etc.

Saying it's "worked out" is a really bland dismissal of the entire conversation.

[ghaff]

What alternative do you have even for many highly-paid professional jobs like doctors?

[zerbinxx]

Doctors are somewhat unique in the fact that they can live and practice in a wide variety of places. Anywhere there’s a hospital, you will have them. Where they will choose to work/for how much is a much wider decision matrix than it is for many white collar organizations which would have no reason to exist (physically) in a small town of 20,000 people. Such a town would require at least a single hospital employing many medical professionals, depending on how far it is from other forms of medical care.

[ghaff]

Doctors are just one example and there are many reasons why a doctor may choose to practice in, say, the Boston area than in some 20,000 person town in North Dakota--though you're right than, in many cases, medical professionals have a pretty wide choice in where they live and work depending upon how choosy they are.

But a ton of STEM jobs do require access to labs and other facilities or may have requirements related to security clearances etc. A lot of skilled people can't just work from home and many others travel a lot even if they don't regularly come into an office.

[paulddraper]

What was artificial about demand?

[spondylosaurus]

In the context of the modern American nuclear family, the concept of both adults working is relatively new. The traditional arrangement was one breadwinner, one homemaker, and ~2.5 kids.

Which is still common these days, but not to the point of exclusivity: I work remotely, but my partner works hybrid.

[antisthenes]

Trends happen a lot faster and make people miserable than you can definitively say "it's working out".