Backend generalist. 10+ years coding professionally. Enjoys coming up with nuanced and thoughtful solutions to complex, thorny and ugly problems in old systems.
I'm hopeful that remote work sticks around as an option (though not a requirement). Acknowledging the many downsides of remote work 1, I find that I'm calmer, more productive, and generally happier without going into the office every day. I can collaborate just fine virtually (this was always something I assumed would be a blocker for doing my role remotely), and focus work is far easier. Overall, I think my team is about as productive as we were in person, though there was a definite learning curve getting there.
For me, the big lifestyle win would be having a greater variety of jobs to choose from that don't require me to be in a high cost of living area. I could move closer to family, or just somewhere a little calmer than my current home. This was an option before 2020 – remote was, of course, a thing before COVID-19 – but I never felt that there were enough remote roles to make me confident in being a remote-only worker. I'm a lot more confident in that now.
It's hard to imagine remote work going back to what it was (sort of the exception/a curiosity) after the pandemic. I think the bigger companies that have committed in public to embrace it will continue to do so, anyway – having multiple engineering offices, as these places do, is already a forcing function for some sort of remote DNA. I'm less sure about some of the smaller companies/startups I get emails from. Plenty of remote or mostly-remote startups exist and do fine, I guess, but plenty of others seem to rely on informal communication pathways to complete big initiatives; I think that kind of informal connection is easier to do in person.
Answering my own question:
I'm hopeful that remote work sticks around as an option (though not a requirement). Acknowledging the many downsides of remote work 1, I find that I'm calmer, more productive, and generally happier without going into the office every day. I can collaborate just fine virtually (this was always something I assumed would be a blocker for doing my role remotely), and focus work is far easier. Overall, I think my team is about as productive as we were in person, though there was a definite learning curve getting there.
For me, the big lifestyle win would be having a greater variety of jobs to choose from that don't require me to be in a high cost of living area. I could move closer to family, or just somewhere a little calmer than my current home. This was an option before 2020 – remote was, of course, a thing before COVID-19 – but I never felt that there were enough remote roles to make me confident in being a remote-only worker. I'm a lot more confident in that now.
It's hard to imagine remote work going back to what it was (sort of the exception/a curiosity) after the pandemic. I think the bigger companies that have committed in public to embrace it will continue to do so, anyway – having multiple engineering offices, as these places do, is already a forcing function for some sort of remote DNA. I'm less sure about some of the smaller companies/startups I get emails from. Plenty of remote or mostly-remote startups exist and do fine, I guess, but plenty of others seem to rely on informal communication pathways to complete big initiatives; I think that kind of informal connection is easier to do in person.
It's challenging for people with children, especially women. It's hard for people without a dedicated workspace, or with roommates. It may have a negative effect on people just starting in their careers that lasts for years. It can be profoundly isolating for people who thrive on social contact that they get at the office. Many people have trouble focusing and getting work done without the structure of an office. And so on. ↩