Ask HN: Does remote work by choice impact upwards mobility?

[mitchelI]

I work in the Midwest at a local engineering firm. Relocation isn't an option, so I'm considering applying for remote positions at companies that have headquarters in San Francisco, New York, Seattle, etc. Most of these companies have 1,000+ people, with the majority of their teams residing at physical locations near the coasts.

I personally have a perception that remote workers in companies like this have capped 'upside' in their long-term careers with the companies they work at remotely.

What's your experience or perception here?

[lacker]

At some companies it will be impossible to advance remotely, at other companies it will be no barrier at all. It really depends on the specific company.

One thing to consider is that you probably also have capped upside in the first place, when you are constrained to working in the Midwest, because most of those companies have lesser engineering quality and a corresponding lesser reputation. It is better to be working remote for a top-tier company than be working in person for a medium company.

[msarrel]

Yes. When working remotely it's really hard to be involved in all the back channel hidden conversations that result in upward mobility.

[_jx7j]

I think being remote impacts upwards mobility, but the cap varies by company.

It really depends on the remote culture of the company. I worked for a big company (about 1000 people) where individual contributors and line managers were mostly remote. So being remote and getting a lead or line level manager was not an issue. Directors could be at a satellite office and travel to a big office in a major city. VPs and above tended to all live where the headquarters were.

I've also worked in a company where 95% of the people were in office and they started to offer remote as an option. Forget about getting promoted - it was basically impossible to maintain a positive image as a remote employee.

If you are in a remote first company, obviously you can go much higher. But I suspect that even with remote first companies, the top leadership will tend to gravitate to be closer to each other.

[codingdave]

I think there is some truth to that - I live and work remotely and love it. But I have maxed out. I am doing just fine, and have product-level leadership roles under my belt. But I won't rise higher in the ranks because I am never in the office with execs. (A true 100% remote company would not suffer this problem, naturally.)

This is OK by me. It is balanced by being able to afford a home that is far more than I would afford in a coastal city and having a living space I love brings joy to my life. Not to mention all the other benefits - no commute, etc.

WFH is definitely a balance - it is not for everyone, and each person needs to decide for themselves whether the benefits it brings matches their own goals.

[karmab]

Here's another perspective:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-next-wave-in-remote-work-fl...

The type of company you work for has a big impact on whether you can rise up and how fast and I have had personal experience where I was a rockstar developer to begin with and things changed as soon as I asked for remote working setups for our team and the management wasn't kind to us remote professionals. Things seem to have changed though and I see a lot of people doing well remotely working and succeeding in their roles.

My 2 pennies...

[ab071c41]

Really depends on the company, as others have said.

I've been remote for a couple of years and for last year, I got an extremely good performance rating - which gets harder the more senior you are. I also made sure my manager knew of my efforts, did lots of demos throughout the year, and led efforts with visibility.

Part of this is just knowing the management system, knowing your own manager, and saying the right stuff. The soft skills.

It may also be helpful if the company you work for is already distributed across the globe. It increases the chance that everyone is remote to each other, especially due to the pandemic.

[muzani]

Definite yes. We had a remote team at one job. I wasn't remote and got along really, really well with the higher ups. The remote team was doing all the work and were part of the company, but most were left out of everything.

It can work if remote is part of the company DNA. As in most communication happens online. Even then, I've noticed a certain bias; you're just bound to be closer friends with people you see literally every day, who are in the same room and not multitasking while on a zoom call.

[tharne]

Absolutely. It may not be the career killer it used to be, but it will definitely slow your career growth.

[altairprime]

I have found that it impacts my ability to discover new opportunities on my own. Those that are offered unasked still exist, but are far fewer without the random-chance coexistence opportunities that I uncover and develop in offices.

[rootsudo]

Yes, I think so. Lots of times it's just the daily dribble of in person communication to get up.

It's not bad for a while, or to use it selfishishly, e.g. avoid high cost of living and assets.

But you do lose out on maximizing potential.

[hogrider]

If the company is not fully remote, probably yes. You will be mostly outside of the political games, so no upside from them but also not fighting any of those battles is a huge upside IMO.

[stefanba3]

There are lots of smaller all-remote companies around, it sounds like it might be worth your time to at least explore some of those.

[dyeje]

It depends on the org and how they approach remote work.