Ask HN: Do you feel/fear that you're more disposable as a remote employee? - the_wheel
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natchiketa
Years ago when I was a remote employee, I definitely did become marginalized.
Projects I took on and completed were often assumed to have been done by an on
site employee. People on calls sometimes spoke of me as if there was no chance
I was on the call. The CEO even talked about getting me to train my
replacement, apparently assuming I wasn't part of the call concerning the
department of which I was the lead.

I've found that the issue with being a remote employee is the employee part.
My experience has been that trusting your job security to an employer is just
not as safe as it used to be. Nowadays as a freelancer who works on mostly
long-term contracts, it's possible that some of my clients wouldn't think much
of replacing me, but if they do decide to stop using me, I can grab another
contract. My office doesn't change. My machine is still my machine, i.e.
they're often the more replaceable one.

However, and as others point out here, this only works if you have lots of
experience in something highly in demand.

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tboyd47
Absolutely, yes.

My experience is that remote work is the exception, not the norm. The only way
to get stability as a remote employee is to have an exclusive skill or some
other advantage over the other employees, eg. "I'm the only remote employee,
but I'm the only one who is a proven data science whiz," "The company cannot
find enough locals who know Scala," etc. And even then, your stability is
still contingent on this supply/demand imbalance.

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taway_1212
Yep. On the other hand, solid sofware engineers are never really disposable -
it takes probably 6-12 months on average for SE to ramp-up to full
productivity on a team. Even after that period, he/she will grow still, having
more influence on the design, the process etc. It's not a smart move to ditch
such highly performing remote worker for a fresh local one.

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rabidonrails
The key to not being disposable as a remote employee is mastering
communication, availability, and execution. That doesn't mean that you need to
constantly be available, but rather that you need to be available and
communicative with your team and, of course, getting your work done on time.

If you do those three things well, then you are no more disposable then any
other employee.

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bryan11
Exactly. Perception is key. Communication determines how you are perceived.

When remote, the communication tools are different. Instead of walking over to
talk to others, you're likely using chat, voice, or video calls. The meetings
include shared screens with conference calls. After a meeting, you may chat or
call someone for a private discussion. Those private discussions are likely
how you build social bonds and get to know others personally. They can also
make it clear you're available to help.

In the office or remote, your communication style builds a perception of how
involved you are in projects, what you can contribute, and whether you're
viewed as a needed or disposable.

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partisan
I've only worked for small organizations remotely, but I did have the
experience of working for a satellite office (~25 people) of a large company
(~6000) and we felt very alienated. They did value our work, however. I think
if you are working on something that brings value then you are valuable. If
you aren't doing that then you don't have a lot of leverage.

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kayman
Proximity is always valued over remote.

There is something human about being able to see the person who is doing some
work for you. To be able to say hello without agenda. Ask how it's going.

Yes you can do it with Slack and Skype but nothing beats walking over to
someone.

In large companies, working remote made me feel disposable. Small companies,
if you can get stuff done, you feel valuable while being autonomous.

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mswen
Given how much work and communication about work is technologically enabled
today there shouldn't be a higher risk of being treated as disposable, but
despite working remote for many years for a larger corporation it did feel
like I might have gone on the chopping block somewhat sooner when the
recession hit. Though in the end it might not have mattered because the
recently appointed president of the company took the recession as an
opportunity to replace most of the founding leadership team of our business
unit with people of his own choosing.

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leetbulb
Nah...we're all remote :)

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Zelmor
Same here, not a person in the office.

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hillz
Yes, a little. A big issue is that people forget you're around, and so forget
to include you, which makes you more disposable.

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bewe42
Yes, absolutely, unless you work for a company where everyone is remote

