<story><title>Amazon tells employees to return to office five days a week</title><url>https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/16/amazon-jassy-tells-employees-to-return-to-office-five-days-a-week.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>netsharc</author><text>Sheesh, why should it be unpopular. It&amp;#x27;s called having a preference&amp;#x2F;choice. Companies telling everyone to be in the office 5 days a week 9-5 (or whatever) is removing that choice. Some like you may not mind, but for others it might be hell...</text></item><item><author>kwanbix</author><text>I know this might be an &amp;quot;unpopular opinion,&amp;quot; but after working fully remote for three years, I found myself feeling really down. I felt like a prisoner in my own home. So, three months ago, I started a new job with an office that’s 45 minutes away, and I’ve been going in every day—and I couldn&amp;#x27;t be happier! I do have the option to work from home all days if I want, but honestly, I prefer going to the office. Now, I get to see people, move around more, and when I’m at home, it truly feels different from being at work. It’s been a game-changer for me.</text></item><item><author>mrweasel</author><text>&amp;gt; Eliminating 2 hours a day of driving and train rides left me with more energy I can expend on my work!&lt;p&gt;Companies forget this. I have had coworkers quit because they couldn&amp;#x27;t deal with transport. One got stressed out of his mind because our office was close to motorway which frequently has accidents and if that happened he might not be able to pick up the kids on time. Others had to leave clients hanging because they had to leave, &amp;quot;daycare closes at 16:30 and it&amp;#x27;s now 16:00&amp;quot;. Working from home it was much more frequent that clients in the late afternoon would get &amp;quot;Sure, give me ten minutes to pick up the kids and we&amp;#x27;ll finish this today&amp;quot;.</text></item><item><author>ryukoposting</author><text>As a firmware engineer, my job demands more &amp;quot;in-office-y&amp;quot; stuff than most other engineers on HN. I have specialized equipment. Hardware. I need to interface with manufacturing. So on.&lt;p&gt;Guess what? I&amp;#x27;m going on 1 year fully remote, and I&amp;#x27;m doing great! Turns out, all that fancy equipment can be brought home with you. We deal with a contract manufacturer, and emailing them from home is no harder than emailing them from the office. Instead of being stuck in a concrete jungle, I can go test the product out in a more realistic environment in the park across from my home. It&amp;#x27;s made me happier, healthier AND more productive. Eliminating 2 hours a day of driving and train rides left me with more energy I can expend on my work! Who&amp;#x27;da thunk it?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>consteval</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s unpopular because the positions aren&amp;#x27;t on equal footing. In order to achieve the in-office scenario you HAVE to force people into the office. Because the office itself has no value - it&amp;#x27;s a building. The value is the people there.&lt;p&gt;That&amp;#x27;s not the case with WFH setups. WFH scenarios do not care where people are. They could be in the office, in a stairwell, or on the beach.&lt;p&gt;So one position is inherently one of control, and the other is one of freedom. Maybe that&amp;#x27;s controversial to say, but to me it&amp;#x27;s plainly true.</text></comment>
<story><title>Amazon tells employees to return to office five days a week</title><url>https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/16/amazon-jassy-tells-employees-to-return-to-office-five-days-a-week.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>netsharc</author><text>Sheesh, why should it be unpopular. It&amp;#x27;s called having a preference&amp;#x2F;choice. Companies telling everyone to be in the office 5 days a week 9-5 (or whatever) is removing that choice. Some like you may not mind, but for others it might be hell...</text></item><item><author>kwanbix</author><text>I know this might be an &amp;quot;unpopular opinion,&amp;quot; but after working fully remote for three years, I found myself feeling really down. I felt like a prisoner in my own home. So, three months ago, I started a new job with an office that’s 45 minutes away, and I’ve been going in every day—and I couldn&amp;#x27;t be happier! I do have the option to work from home all days if I want, but honestly, I prefer going to the office. Now, I get to see people, move around more, and when I’m at home, it truly feels different from being at work. It’s been a game-changer for me.</text></item><item><author>mrweasel</author><text>&amp;gt; Eliminating 2 hours a day of driving and train rides left me with more energy I can expend on my work!&lt;p&gt;Companies forget this. I have had coworkers quit because they couldn&amp;#x27;t deal with transport. One got stressed out of his mind because our office was close to motorway which frequently has accidents and if that happened he might not be able to pick up the kids on time. Others had to leave clients hanging because they had to leave, &amp;quot;daycare closes at 16:30 and it&amp;#x27;s now 16:00&amp;quot;. Working from home it was much more frequent that clients in the late afternoon would get &amp;quot;Sure, give me ten minutes to pick up the kids and we&amp;#x27;ll finish this today&amp;quot;.</text></item><item><author>ryukoposting</author><text>As a firmware engineer, my job demands more &amp;quot;in-office-y&amp;quot; stuff than most other engineers on HN. I have specialized equipment. Hardware. I need to interface with manufacturing. So on.&lt;p&gt;Guess what? I&amp;#x27;m going on 1 year fully remote, and I&amp;#x27;m doing great! Turns out, all that fancy equipment can be brought home with you. We deal with a contract manufacturer, and emailing them from home is no harder than emailing them from the office. Instead of being stuck in a concrete jungle, I can go test the product out in a more realistic environment in the park across from my home. It&amp;#x27;s made me happier, healthier AND more productive. Eliminating 2 hours a day of driving and train rides left me with more energy I can expend on my work! Who&amp;#x27;da thunk it?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>treis</author><text>Because it&amp;#x27;s really hard for a company to do both.  Even if it&amp;#x27;s a remote first and the office is just a place to do zoom calls.  Human nature will divide it into two camps with social bonds being stronger within the remote&amp;#x2F;on office groups than across.&lt;p&gt;Speaking as someone who would have to be dragged back to an office, it&amp;#x27;s obvious that the in office group would win out.  Bonds are weaker in the remote group and your type A ladder climbers will be overrepresented in the in office group.&lt;p&gt;So hybrid office is probably going to lead to all in office.  Especially in these difficult economic times as workforces stagnate or shrink in these companies.</text></comment>