Back to the Office for Tech Workers

[Coronita]

[quote=deadzone]

You tech guys have reading comprehension issues. I said the prima-donnas are the ones who threaten to quit if “forced” to work from the office a couple times a week. Think their skills are so unique, rare and irreplaceable that they can get any job they want. I see a lot of this attitude lately and it reminds me of the late 90s when engineers were hopping between multiple startups every few months chasing higher salary and stock options. Until the shit hit the fan.

Sure most employees would prefer to work at home in their pijamas all day, save gas, avoid rush hour traffic, jerk off during lunch break, etc. But the fact is corporate management is not in favor of that because they know it is not the most productive situation. That’s why they are calling their employees back to the office now that Covid is over. You guys can whine about it all you want, but it isn’t going to change the fact that fully remote work is going to be the exception, not the norm, going forward.[/quote]

Dz, there are lot of non-tech people on this thread responding to you about your assertions and generalizations being incorrect. But yet, you decided to collectively lump all these people all as tech workers. Besides generalizing wrong, it also does yet again suggest you have a ax to grind with tech workers, no different than previous BearishGurl having an ax to grind with college degreed people who bought homes in far flung North County with lizards and walls. Just saying…

And again, you are arguing with yourself. No one ever said remote work is going to be the norm for everyone and every company. Almost everyone said that some (NOT ALL) companies are going to adopt remote a remote option of varying degree, and that’s no longer going to be a trivial amount. The work environment has changed enough for enough companies to make a material difference to give some people options. Remote work is not without drawbacks, and individuals have to weigh the pros and cons like anything else. But even the adoption of a hybrid work environment makes a big difference because unlike before, that gives people that further away to obtain a job. Before, driving 2+hrs one way every day to a job might not be possible for some. But now with a hybrid model, that’s more obtainable for people that only have to do it for part of the week or part of the month. Real families with real commitments to kids for instance, with more job mobility further way, that opens the door to greater career and earning prospects. For instance, if an company in OC is offering 25% above comps at the inconvenience of making someone work 5-6 days out of the month, that might be worth it for a family at various stages and earnings in their life. If I was in my late 20ies or early 30ies, I wouldn’t mind doing it. I wouldn’t do it for now because I’d rather spend the extra time with my family and I don’t need the extra 25% pay bump if it means more hours of commute per month. But for others, it might be worth it. That also applies to all sorts of jobs. For instance lower paying clerical work. If someone currently makes $20/hrs and has to spend 1 hr each way each day commuting, but another company now offers those clerical jobs remotely for roughly the same pay, it makes sense for that person to switch jobs since an hourly making $20/hr, commute costs is a significant impact on their household income so why wouldn’t they take the remote job with the same pay. And companies that have a hard time finding in-person clerical workers, well they’ll have to pay more, say $25/hr, which is probably fair considering those people coming in have to commute. That’s solves a lot of problems with companies being in a expensive area like Sorrento Valley where people paid $20-25/hour probably can’t otherwise afford to live comfortably near it and the company can’t easily find people who are willing to drive longer distances for those jobs.

Beyond that, locally there appears to be a pretty good growth in new higher paying jobs in biotech and life sciences too.

I’m sorry if you feel like you’re getting left behind and feel a need to wish people who have a decent career prospects to lose their jobs in order for you to get ahead. Reality is that life most of the time isn’t a zero sum game, and most likely one is one’s worst enemy more than anyone else.

[scaredyclassic]

Strangely, many of the telemedicine jobs my wife’s been offered require the doctors to come to the medical office to do the telemedicine. For no real reason… They can’t quite let go of making people show up.

I think in general management likes to see bodies it can exercise control of.

I exaggerate my love of human interaction. Humans can be draining and infuriating, and having to deal with them via screen or phone can make it easier. More distant, less affecting. This may better many workers mental health.

On the downside, there have been coworkers, some, over the years whose presence I’ve deeply enjoyed. On the other hand, some people are maddening.

[sdrealtor]

“ You tech guys have reading comprehension issues. I said the prima-donnas are the ones who threaten to quit if “forced” to work from the office a couple times a week. Think their skills are so unique, rare and irreplaceable that they can get any job they want. I see a lot of this attitude lately and it reminds me of the late 90s when engineers were hopping between multiple startups every few months chasing higher salary and stock options. Until the shit hit the fan.”

His ax to grind is on full display here. It must suck to be so unhappy and envious. It’s not that they think their skills are so unique, rare and irreplaceable but rather they know there is tons of demand for their skills. It’s not that they are unique but rather they are under supplied. It kind of reminds me of San Diego real estate and the opportunity of a lifetime here missed! OOAL!

[Coronita]

[quote=scaredyclassic]Strangely, many of the telemedicine jobs my wife’s been offered require the doctors to come to the medical office to do the telemedicine. For no real reason… They can’t quite let go of making people show up.

I think in general management likes to see bodies it can exercise control of.

I exaggerate my love of human interaction. Humans can be draining and infuriating, and having to deal with them via screen or phone can make it easier. More distant, less affecting. This may better many workers mental health.

On the downside, there have been coworkers, some, over the years whose presence I’ve deeply enjoyed. On the other hand, some people are maddening.[/quote]

Well, there are some jobs (for instance) lab work that requires in person obviously. But there’s also some management style that have trust issues with employees.

I found that it was interesting that one biotech company a friend works out made all their hourly coworkers go back to office and make them work in close contacct cubicles while they gave all the engineers/scientists single room offices and also the option to work remotely. Obviously, all the engineers scientists are all working from home so all the single room offices are left unoccupied while all the clerical workers (the ones that haven’t quit yet) are bunched together in cubicles in close contact. To me, that sends a strong message to the clerical workers. “We don’t give a shit about you, even if you get sick from a covid reinfection…” And they wonder why people quit and it’s hard to find replacements.

[Anonymous]

[quote=sdrealtor]
Speaking of reading comprehension issues someone seems to be stuck on the idea that we need everyone working fully remote to continue the incredible growth around here. We do not! A small handful each month arriving has and will continue to change the housing market around here[/quote]

Do you truly believe that fully remote tech jobs are currently and in the future going to be a major contribution to San Diego housing price growth? Fully remote workers can live literally anywhere in the country (or world?). Is it really logical to think they ALL want to move to San Diego which is one of the highest COL areas in the U.S.? But regardless, any way you slice it, the growth rate of tech workers going fully remote is going to be going in reverse with Covid over. I never claimed that fully remote won’t be a thing going forward. But it will never again be at the level of during Covid.

[an]

[quote=deadzone][quote=sdrealtor]
Speaking of reading comprehension issues someone seems to be stuck on the idea that we need everyone working fully remote to continue the incredible growth around here. We do not! A small handful each month arriving has and will continue to change the housing market around here[/quote]

Do you truly believe that fully remote tech jobs are currently and in the future going to be a major contribution to San Diego housing price growth? Fully remote workers can live literally anywhere in the country (or world?). Is it really logical to think they ALL want to move to San Diego which is one of the highest COL areas in the U.S.? But regardless, any way you slice it, the growth rate of tech workers going fully remote is going to be going in reverse with Covid over. I never claimed that fully remote won’t be a thing going forward. But it will never again be at the level of during Covid.[/quote]
I don’t think anyone in their right mind will say the WFH quantity is normal or permanent. After, everyone either was not working or WFH during part of COVID. So, we’ll never see that again, unless we see another pandemic like COVID.

Isn’t that the definition of a strawman argument?

[an]

[quote=deadzone][quote=an] I don’t bet on one direction or another.[/quote]

You literally just placed a bet that Neflix was going to go higher.[/quote]
Thank you!!!! for bringing my attention to NFLX. Up about 18% in less than 2 days. The question now is, should I sell and capture my 18% gain?

[Coronita]

The way I would look at it DZ is this remote work option could open the doors for where you want to live and buy a house too.

One gets a lot of newer houses and bigger houses for instance in great parts Riverside County.

If I wasn’t so entrenched where I am with my kid and school, I would seriously consider a nicer home elswehere that would be closer to what I would want out of an ideal home.

[Coronita]

[quote=an][quote=deadzone][quote=an] I don’t bet on one direction or another.[/quote]

You literally just placed a bet that Neflix was going to go higher.[/quote]
Thank you!!!! for bringing my attention to NFLX. Up about 18% in less than 2 days. The question now is, should I sell and capture my 18% gain?[/quote]

yes, sell imho. I’d rather have a smaller capital gains, then a long term capital loss carryover.

18% is way above the 4% rule 🙂

[sdrealtor]

[quote=deadzone][quote=sdrealtor]
Speaking of reading comprehension issues someone seems to be stuck on the idea that we need everyone working fully remote to continue the incredible growth around here. We do not! A small handful each month arriving has and will continue to change the housing market around here[/quote]

Do you truly believe that fully remote tech jobs are currently and in the future going to be a major contribution to San Diego housing price growth? Fully remote workers can live literally anywhere in the country (or world?). Is it really logical to think they ALL want to move to San Diego which is one of the highest COL areas in the U.S.? But regardless, any way you slice it, the growth rate of tech workers going fully remote is going to be going in reverse with Covid over. I never claimed that fully remote won’t be a thing going forward. But it will never again be at the level of during Covid.[/quote]

There goes that reading comprehension deficiency again. No one said they ALL have to move here. To the contrary only a small handful. And yes I think they have already had a significant impact here and will continue to along with several other factors driving growth here

[Anonymous]

[quote=an][quote=deadzone][quote=sdrealtor]
Speaking of reading comprehension issues someone seems to be stuck on the idea that we need everyone working fully remote to continue the incredible growth around here. We do not! A small handful each month arriving has and will continue to change the housing market around here[/quote]

Do you truly believe that fully remote tech jobs are currently and in the future going to be a major contribution to San Diego housing price growth? Fully remote workers can live literally anywhere in the country (or world?). Is it really logical to think they ALL want to move to San Diego which is one of the highest COL areas in the U.S.? But regardless, any way you slice it, the growth rate of tech workers going fully remote is going to be going in reverse with Covid over. I never claimed that fully remote won’t be a thing going forward. But it will never again be at the level of during Covid.[/quote]
I don’t think anyone in their right mind will say the WFH quantity is normal or permanent. After, everyone either was not working or WFH during part of COVID. So, we’ll never see that again, unless we see another pandemic like COVID.

Isn’t that the definition of a strawman argument?[/quote]

Strawman my ass. The number of people fully working from home is going down. Period. Companies are bringing folks back to the office, in droves, that have been working fully from home for 2 years. That’s the whole point. What is this so hard to understand? If you claim fully remote workers were a significant factor in SD (or any other city’s) RE gains over the last 2 years, you can’t also claim that remote workers going back to the office won’t have a negative impact. You can’t have it both ways.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Coronita]The way I would look at it DZ is this remote work option could open the doors for where you want to live and buy a house too.

One gets a lot of newer houses and bigger houses for instance in great parts Riverside County.

If I wasn’t so entrenched where I am with my kid and school, I would seriously consider a nicer home elswehere that would be closer to what I would want out of an ideal home.[/quote]

Of course remote work is a benefit to the employee. I never said I am against it, just pointing out that it is not going to be an option for the vast majority of employees going forward. Whether you or I have a preference to work from home has no influence on what is going to happen.

[Coronita]

.

[Coronita]

[quote=deadzone][quote=Coronita]The way I would look at it DZ is this remote work option could open the doors for where you want to live and buy a house too.

One gets a lot of newer houses and bigger houses for instance in great parts Riverside County.

If I wasn’t so entrenched where I am with my kid and school, I would seriously consider a nicer home elswehere that would be closer to what I would want out of an ideal home.[/quote]

Of course remote work is a benefit to the employee. I never said I am against it, just pointing out that it is not going to be an option for the vast majority of employees going forward. Whether you or I have a preference to work from home has no influence on what is going to happen.[/quote]

So how is more people going back to the office in San Diego going to impact real estate in San Diego?

Hypothetically, how is going back to the office for a lower cost area like Alabama for someone that relocated from San Diego to Alabama to move to a lower cost area going to impact real estate in San Diego?

[Anonymous]

[quote=Coronita][quote=deadzone]

Strawman my ass. The number of people fully working from home is going down. Period. Companies are bringing folks back to the office, in droves, that have been working fully from home for 2 years. That’s the whole point. What is this so hard to understand? If you claim fully remote workers were a significant factor in SD (or any other city’s) RE gains over the last 2 years, you can’t also claim that remote workers going back to the office won’t have a negative impact. You can’t have it both ways.[/quote]

Again, why does it matter for SD real estate, whether ?[/quote]

For the upteenth time, because it has been reported all over the media, and by folks at this site including you, that Bay area tech workers were moving down to San Diego in droves to buy houses during Covid and WFH. I’ve heard that same story in the media about many other cities besides San Diego, so not unique to San Diego. Whether that is actually a significant factor in Sd RE growth I don’t know. But if it is, that trend will reverse itself post Covid as the number of fully remote jobs goes down.

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