
More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs - hunglee2
https://qz.com/952961/remote-work-more-americans-now-work-full-time-from-home-than-walk-and-bike-to-their-jobs/
======
jonheller
I consider myself, without doubt, to be an introvert. I hate parties with a
passion, and am perfectly happy in my own head compared to even hanging out
with a good friend.

But I hated working at home. The isolation was terrible, not to mention the
challenges of working on project teams (even with Slack etc). I felt lonely
and less motivated.

It is funny though, because my wife is the opposite of me on the social scale.
She loves groups of people and social interaction. And yet she's fine working
at home. Part of this I think is because she very much goes into her own world
when working with how focused she becomes, so she doesn't even notice the
isolation.

~~~
CydeWeys
I'm with you in regards to how my mind responds to working from home (not
well).

Humans evolved as social animals. Everything we've always done has been in
groups. When you are growing up, you spend most of your waking time in the
company of other people (school). The ones who don't, who are homeschooled
alone, turn out "weird". Until the modern advent of telecommunications,
working has meant being physically collocated with other people. Spending most
of your waking hours alone at home is an unusual thing to do; we're not
adapted for it, and it's tough.

100% telecommuting doesn't work for _a lot_ of people, maybe even the majority
of people. It definitely doesn't work for me. Coworking spaces are one
solution, but I only have a short commute anyway, so I'm just going to go into
the real office.

~~~
bphogan
You talk about how your mind works, but then make generalizations based on
that, even saying "it doesn't work for a lot of people". You're generalizing
and stereotyping based on your own feelings and thoughts about how humans
work. I especially take issue with your assertion that people turn out "weird"
in relation to homeschooling.

I'm an introvert. I wasn't home schooled. But extroverts think I'm weird
because like the OP, I don't enjoy social events with people who aren;'t my
friends, I don't enjoy large groups, and after a long day of work I just want
to be home with my family or alone in silence to recharge. There are lots of
people like me. The "weird" you see? Probably just different than what you're
used to.

The approach should be that if you want to work remotely, you should. And if
it doesn't work for you, then you should go to an office. We shouldn't force
whole groups of humans to do things they are uncomfortable doing. You
shouldn't be forced to isolate yourself if that doesn't work, but you
shouldn't force me into sitting in an office when I could do the exact same
job remotely and be more secure and comfortable.

And neither one of us should call the other "weird" for feeling that way.

~~~
CydeWeys
Humans being social animals isn't just some generalization based on "how my
mind works", it's a basic fact of our species. Yes, there are some outliers
(i.e. hermits and recluses), but the vast majority of people benefit from
daily social contact. This is how we evolved as a species and it's how we are
to this day. There are plenty of scientific studies showing what happens to
socially isolated people: They get more stressed out, anxious, and have lower
life expectancies.

~~~
bphogan
> the vast majority of people benefit from daily social contact.

This I can buy. However, you can have daily social contact. Significant
others, friends, family, church, meetups, social outings, etc.

Homeschooled kids have social contact daily. So do people who work remote.
Don't conflate hermits with remote workers.

The reason I personally can't stand to be in an office? The people who think
that the office is where you get your social fix for the day.

------
dkarl
It's interesting to see that the average earnings of people who bike to work
are increasing so much faster than the other groups. There's a stereotype that
people who bike for transportation are just rich spoiled white liberals. I
have no idea where it came from, and I'm pretty sure that historically it has
been the opposite of the truth, but it's used as a political weapon by people
on both ends of the political spectrum to argue against investments in bike-
friendly infrastructure. People on the right stereotype cycling as a snotty
badge of childless affluence and liberal virtue. On the left there's obviously
a lot of support for bike infrastructure, but there are also public transit
zealots who paint bike infrastructure as a perk that white gentrifiers award
themselves, basically using the logic that public transit = diverse and good,
cycling = rich and white and bad, therefore it's regressive to spend scarce
alternative transit money on cycling.

The common thread on left and right is the assumption that biking as
transportation is an activity of the affluent and educated. I've always
wondered if a social stereotype that is so widely held across different groups
in society can avoid becoming true. Maybe the rise of the average of wages of
people who bike to work shows the stereotype taking effect by inducing more
and more well-off people to see biking to work as an appropriate activity for
someone like them.

~~~
galdosdi
Motorists (and many pedestrians) just hate cyclists and look for any excuse to
marginalize them.

If they go too slow, they're slowing down traffic, if they go too fast they're
a menace. If they're spandex clad, they're hated for their wealth, and if
they're toting delivery food they're hated for their poverty. There's no
winning.

Despite cycling being the obvious fastest and cheapest way to get around in a
dense urban area...

Despite the fact that so-called cycling "infrastructure" (painting lines on
streets that have to be repainted periodically anyway) costs basically
nothing...

Despite the fact that every person on a bike is a person not using up space in
a crowded train, bus, or car lane, despite the fact that adding bike lanes
makes the streets safer motorists and pedestrians more than it does for
cyclists...

Cyclists are literally risking their lives to make your journey better, and
yet you hate them for it, because they confuse you.

I don't really understand it, but I wish I could.

~~~
atemerev
I'll be happy to explain! Indeed, both as a driver and a pedestrian, I am
usually not particularly happy with cyclists.

Cyclists are the most vulnerable agents on the road. More than pedestrians
(even a light touch or sudden appearance is enough to tip the bike). At the
same time, they are usually the most reckless people on the road. They are
happy to ignore traffic lights, passage priority, almost never signal a turn
(when they do, I am applauding in my mind), and generally consider themselves
invulnerable. Motocyclists can be reckless, but at least they stop at red and
signal lane changes. Pedestrians are vulnerable, but careful. Cyclists are the
worst of the both worlds. Yes, they risk their lives, but I am not happy to
take their life and go to prison for nothing. There are rules for everyone on
the road, including cyclists -- please do not ignore them, and we'll be happy.

As a pedestrian, I was nearly hit by a cyclist quite a few times while walking
at the park. They are silent and can't be seen until the very last moment. I
am also not happy about that. Some attach this ratchet thing to be more
noticeable -- you are the real heroes. Unfortunately, I almost never see it in
the wild.

~~~
dkarl
I get plenty pissed off at fellow cyclists, but it's important to remember
than just like with drivers, you forget the good ones the instant they're out
of sight. The bad ones are a minority, but they're the ones that give you a
reason to remember them.

------
matt_wulfeck
I biked to work in the Bay Area for awhile. The mediterranean climate here is
perfect for it.

Except people here drive like maniacs. I was tired of feeling like I was
taking my life into my own hands from people regularly going 20 or 30 over the
limit and treating me like a road obstacle.

Off-lane bike paths are important. Sane driving practices are also important.

~~~
wdbbdw
Absolutely! I'm in Chicago, where the weather is decidedly not mediterranean,
but the biggest challenge for me is finding a safe enough route to ride on.
The most direct route for me puts me on some pretty busy streets with a
"shared lane" (i.e. an image of a bike painted on the road), but by adding
about 5 minutes each way to my ride I'm able to spend 2/3s of it completely
off of the streets thanks to our elevated 606 path and the lakefront trail. I
often fantasize about some dystopian scenario that renders all motorized
vehicles inoperable, leading to a utopian world where streets are safe to use
for cyclists. Chicago gets a glimpse of such a world once a year on the "bike
the drive" event where lake shore drive is closed to car traffic for a few
hours and is filled with cyclists.

------
Confiks
In less click-bait-y headlines: "A record 2.6% of American employees now go to
their jobs without ever leaving their houses".

In more absurd headlines: "A record 2.6% of American employees now transfer to
their jobs INSTANTANEOUSLY."

~~~
rz2k
Did the title change?

"More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office
jobs" sounds like context, rather than click-bait.

~~~
dao-
I found the headline a bit ridiculous to say the least. It seems to suggest
that working from home is particularly popular, until you realize that the US
probably has an exceptionally low rate of people walking or biking to office
jobs. So this really just says that working from home is gaining some
popularity.

------
grangerg
I've been working from home for 10 years; our entire company is a virtual
office. For me, there's far more positives than negatives, but every
personality is different. Some people can't handle it. Sometimes work invades
personal/family time, and sometimes it's the other way around.

I miss the social, in-person part, but I spend more time with my family. And
we have enough calls, IM's, and occasional in-person meetings that I'm
satisfied. But then again, I've also been known to not go outside for a full
week and it doesn't phase me. ...which reminds me, it's Spring. I'm going to
go take 5 to lie down in the grass in the backyard and watch the clouds until
my next meeting starts. :)

~~~
rubicon33
This is fascinating to me. I've been working from home for about 4 years now.
With only the later 2 years being 100% WFH (I had office time the first 2
years).

I really wish I had your same relaxed feeling about social interaction. More
than being outside, it's the random social interaction I miss. I notice more
and more it's having a negative impact on my health. I feel less motivated,
less energetic, and downright depressed some days.

I attribute it to the fact that, like you, I can go a full week without going
outside... But unlike you, it really is starting to hurt me. In a given week,
I'll have face to face conversation for as little as 30 minutes. I've never
considered myself a very outgoing, or "extroverted" person, so this has all
been something of a surprise to me. I would never have thought that random
social interaction could be so important (for me).

~~~
grangerg
I definitely feel my family helps a lot in that regard. If not for those
interactions, I'd want an office job.

------
bryanlarsen
Meanwhile 56% of people who work or study in Copenhagen commute by bicycle.

~~~
buckbova
I doubt they have the hills I have to contend with. I don't want to show up to
work drenched in sweat.

~~~
mikro2nd
Hmmm... I get that, but... A place I worked at provided showers, mainly at the
instigation of people who biked to work. Thirty years ago.

~~~
buckbova
There are showers. It's just not for me.

Now I'm dragging a set of clothes/shoes, soap, towel/rag, hair brush, razor,
shaving cream, etc to work? Probably should wear sandals in the shower unless
I want foot fungus. Then what do I do with my wet towel and stank clothes?
Stuff them in a bag where they stink worse? Hang them in my cube?

Then I head home and have to put on my stank clothes and get all sweated up
again. Time for another shower I guess.

And that's not mentioning the time in transit, probably an hour a day round
trip by bike. This is why I live close to my work. I can drive there with all
the street lights and park, portal to portal in 10 minutes.

~~~
tjr225
I bike about 18-20 miles round trip every day and I spend between an hour and
an hour and ten minutes on the bike (total, not one way). I bring a change of
clothes, lunch, and macbook in a waterproof backpack. Shower once in the
morning when I get to work. I get my exercise and my commute done at the same
time and I don't have to pay for/maintain/fuel/insure a car. On the off days
that I don't feel like cycling or the weather is insane my wife drops me off
or I get an uber.

This is my opinion and it may ruffle some feathers but if it takes you 10
minutes to go from door to door in a car and you don't have a disability, you
shouldn't be driving to work. At least not every day.

------
s73ver
The biggest hurdle to biking and walking, for those who are already
comfortable doing those activities, is showering. I don't want to show up to
the office drenched in sweat, making the work area smell like a gym. And there
are some things that you can do, like the wipes and that, but they don't feel
anything like a shower. The more offices that either put in showers, or locate
near gyms and places that do have showers, the better.

~~~
rlglwx
You don't have to bike like a madman when you commute. You can bike at a
moderate pace 10-12 mph (roughly 4x walking) pace and not break a sweat.

~~~
seattle_spring
The 400 foot elevation gain in my commute respectfully disagrees.

~~~
deathhand
My 13 mile route concurs.

------
Androider
"Nearly 8% of programmers now work from home, following a staggering increase
of nearly 400% since 2000."

Could working remotely reach a tipping point where it becomes the default? I
could see it happening in the next 20 years, the advantages are too numerous.
Most of the downsides are typically related to the inherent friction between
onsite and the offsite workers, meaning companies that start out as remote-
first will have a big advantages over companies that later add remote working
options.

~~~
xeromal
The biggest downside to me is decreasing the ways to make a friends and being
social. I worked remote for about 8 months and I got bored seeing the same
room in the day and the night. Of course not having a commute is an amazing
thing and environmentally friendly, but I felt very disconnected from the
world.

I think once working from home is the norm something will have to exist to
allow for meeting new people besides the status quo.

~~~
clarkmoody
Well with the time saved from your commute, you could get involved in
something locally.

You could talk to your neighbors...

~~~
colmvp
I think this is where a lot of remote workers fail to adapt, myself included
for a few years. Remote working has its disadvantages but it's not unsolvable.
Nowadays, I make it a point to go to local meetups on a consistent basis,
which actually allowed me access to social networks far outside the limited
network within my company.

What's nice is that it forced me to learn how to make friends outside of
typical environments (work, school). It was far easier than I realized, and
now I regret not doing it earlier in my life.

~~~
ArtDev
Meetups are awesome.

I highly recommend board game meetups! There are lots programming related
meetups as well.

------
ArtDev
The best thing about working from home is no one knows/cares where you are
working from. If you sick of your home office, go somewhere else!

I have spent the last two summers working remotely from Europe. My favorite
office was a houseboat in Amsterdam!

Its good for my wife and kids to go on trips too. I bring a extra screen and
they (mostly) respect my workspace.

I am more happy and more productive after becoming remote. Its been 4 years.

------
Johnny555
One downside of full time working from home is that the WFH workers are
faceless, and easier to cut if it comes time to lay off employees.

It's harder to tell the worker you eat lunch with every day that you're laying
him off than the worker you only know via video chat.

~~~
padobson
This is true. As someone who's worked remotely for the last four years, I can
say that you want to be in the room for decisions that are made in the room.

For those who are thinking of going fulltime remote, I recommend doing so at
companies where everyone works remote, or on teams where everyone works
remote. Freelancing and contracting can work too, if you don't mind the extra
hustle needed to line up clients.

But being the only remote guy at a company full of cubicle dwellers is just
asking to me left out of important discussions or being the first to be fired
or blamed in times of trouble.

------
the_cat_kittles
working at home is great for me because its super efficient and i dont wrap my
identity in my work. so it pays bills, then i can use the free time to do
social things and things i care about

------
ge96
I wish I didn't feel in the way when riding a bicycle on the road. So I walk
instead. Oh well. Then my next fear is being confronted by strangers asking
for a lighter then money. It's not so bad though, I just feel anxious to be
encountered.

~~~
buckbova
> my next fear is being confronted by strangers

Don't make eye contact, eyes straight ahead, walk with a purpose.

~~~
ge96
It's that whole guilt thing. This one guy kept insisting he was
hungry/homeless like it was my problem. But first he asked for a cigarette,
then a lighter, then $1,$2,$5 ahh... I had just gone to a store and had a
bunch of singles/quarters for the bus.

Could I spare a few bucks sure. Do I waste money on myself sure.

I remember one time I was scammed haha. This old lady's like "You're a good
boy, you had a good mother." Haha as they walk off with $20.00 for "gas" where
I could have pumped gas into their car but insisted on cash.

Oh well I just think if it's my time it's my time.

------
pwthornton
I think this might be pretty damning on how unwalkable and unbikable America
is.

~~~
Markoff
i think this would be similar in bigger European cities too, it's just too far
to ride bike especially if you live in suburbs

------
revelation
That's just because fewer Americans than ever walk or bike to office jobs.

------
jordache
ok as if everyone is cognizant of the magnitude of people who walk or bike to
jobs.

------
booleandilemma
Why am I not one of them? :(

~~~
brianwawok
Why don't you find one? weworkremotely or stackoverflow careers have a fair
amount.

~~~
Arizhel
Not in my experience. Last time I looked on weworkremotely I think I saw fewer
remote-relevant jobs there than I have fingers on one hand. ("Remotely-
relevant" for me means just searching for C and C++.)

------
paulryanrogers
Two biggest issues I had walking, later biking, the last leg of my commute
were the air pollution and time.

Still, it was good exercise. Now that I WFH exercise has to be more
deliberate.

------
hellofunk
Confucius say, Working from home much harder after having baby.

------
kutkloon7
And here I am, thinking the comment section would be about how unhealthy
Americans have become...

~~~
remotehack
When I work remotely (a.k.a. WFH), I exercise on the treadmill at lunch every
day. I feel better and my blood test numbers prove it. When I have to work in
an office, I am too tired to exercise when I get home and my health suffers
for it.

