I really think the best of the bay area/silicon valley are behind it... I just don't see how it could ever return due to a multitude of reasons. Cost of living and WFH being the main ones. I still think its "the place" for start ups in some cases but I certainly see the benefit to doing any greenfield stuff there declining every day.
I think NYC has been one of the only US cities with "staying power" over the decades.
No idea which way it will turn out, but I’ve been assuming the opposite for startups actually — startups that don’t have an office and recruit more widely could more easily keep costs down early on in their life.. but yea much more fast paced startups that want to grow super fast would likely want to have people all together in one place to try to instill a sense of urgency in the workers probably..
I tried to build a product remotely with someone in a slightly different timezone.
It just didn't have the same feel as sitting next to each other. Fewer ideas generated. Problems take longer to fix. Motivation is lower. Async communication just doesn't always work.
I think you missed the IMHO. We were never again going back to 9 to 5 office work. That is over and done with. Just like people started using skyscrapers to maximize use of space. Same is happening with internet, we no longer care to be colocated.
Yeah I think hybrid is kind of inefficient. Unless it's a significant portion in person, you lose most of the benefits of being in person (e.g. it needs to be highly connected for it to feel connected).
I guess the "efficiency" gains of remote (more focus time for individuals? less distractions?) are more continuous/less thresholded OTOH because they're more related to individuals than the collective.
But basically the top reason (if true) means you kind of need to be all in on the in-person or you're kind of all out efficiency-wise. Very small companies I guess can go either way and be OK (though, people need to be extra passionate about their project and coworkers to be motivated without that in-person connectedness).
Big companies I think just don't work at all in the remote world. Everyone loses meaning. No one wants to do those big audacious or really challenging/messy things with no meaning (I mean, people will still do a lot of small things to get their paycheck). This may sound bad but...I am absolutely not going to do a giant, messy, complex refactor for a bunch of zoom heads who I can only talk to through some awkward hand-raising-button-disconnected-digital-cubicle social dynamics.
It's just inhuman the world we were encouraged to be a part of. And we talk as if it's "normal"... Anyways, yeah efficiency! Yes, it's just inefficient for big companies. And eventually we'll realize this. I hope.
Yeah I shouldn't speak for everyone... but I think for one, having a sense of mission contributes to meaning. And for two, having a sense of tribe (e.g. deep collaborators, partners in crime, healthy rivals) contributes to meaning. Both of which are much easier to have in person.
There's another important aspect too which is this sense of lifelong friendship that you may be building. People you know in person, you may feel that they're a "real friend" that you can meet up with in person in the future as well, regardless of what happens with your job. That's important too. I mean a "real friend" you can call or zoom with and it's still good. But it's hard to build a "real friendship" starting from zoom, don't you think? Not impossible, but much harder/rarer (actually phone calls or writing emails is perhaps easier than zoom).
If the housing cools off it will be okay by me, I’ll buy. The weather and outdoor opportunities and other offerings of the bay mean it’s not going to ever be a Detroit repeat
Yeah basically. The western halves of wa, or, BC, and most of western/coastal northern ca are all quite temperate. Rarely below freezing in the winter (unless at altitude) and not generally too hot in summer (above 85F). Of course it can “feel” colder with precipitation
14 comments
[ 0.15 ms ] story [ 80.2 ms ] threadI think NYC has been one of the only US cities with "staying power" over the decades.
It just didn't have the same feel as sitting next to each other. Fewer ideas generated. Problems take longer to fix. Motivation is lower. Async communication just doesn't always work.
I predict a movement to return to office for these reasons:
1. After a few years, people will miss the "tribe" feeling. It can be very lonely to do remote work full-time.
2. In-person companies may start to outcompete remote or hybrid companies.
3. Highly paid western tech jobs are at risk of being outsourced to countries where top talent make 1/10th the amount.
I guess the "efficiency" gains of remote (more focus time for individuals? less distractions?) are more continuous/less thresholded OTOH because they're more related to individuals than the collective.
But basically the top reason (if true) means you kind of need to be all in on the in-person or you're kind of all out efficiency-wise. Very small companies I guess can go either way and be OK (though, people need to be extra passionate about their project and coworkers to be motivated without that in-person connectedness).
Big companies I think just don't work at all in the remote world. Everyone loses meaning. No one wants to do those big audacious or really challenging/messy things with no meaning (I mean, people will still do a lot of small things to get their paycheck). This may sound bad but...I am absolutely not going to do a giant, messy, complex refactor for a bunch of zoom heads who I can only talk to through some awkward hand-raising-button-disconnected-digital-cubicle social dynamics.
It's just inhuman the world we were encouraged to be a part of. And we talk as if it's "normal"... Anyways, yeah efficiency! Yes, it's just inefficient for big companies. And eventually we'll realize this. I hope.
citation needed.
Yeah I shouldn't speak for everyone... but I think for one, having a sense of mission contributes to meaning. And for two, having a sense of tribe (e.g. deep collaborators, partners in crime, healthy rivals) contributes to meaning. Both of which are much easier to have in person.
There's another important aspect too which is this sense of lifelong friendship that you may be building. People you know in person, you may feel that they're a "real friend" that you can meet up with in person in the future as well, regardless of what happens with your job. That's important too. I mean a "real friend" you can call or zoom with and it's still good. But it's hard to build a "real friendship" starting from zoom, don't you think? Not impossible, but much harder/rarer (actually phone calls or writing emails is perhaps easier than zoom).