Transitioning from Work-From-Home back to going to the office

[kphoger]

I can't stand not being able to just walk into someone's office, point to the computer screen, and ask a direct question.

Call them...

I can't stand not being able to just walk into someone's office, point to the computer screen, and ask a direct question.

[Rothman]

I can't stand not being able to just walk into someone's office, point to the computer screen, and ask a direct question.

Call them...

I can't stand not being able to just walk into someone's office, point to the computer screen, and ask a direct question.

You're the reason we can't have nice things.

[webny99]

I can't stand not being able to just walk into someone's office, point to the computer screen, and ask a direct question.

Call them...

I can't stand not being able to just walk into someone's office, point to the computer screen, and ask a direct question.

You're the reason we can't have nice things.

To be fair, call them wasn't exactly a rebuttal to the point.

[hbelkins]

I can't stand not being able to just walk into someone's office, point to the computer screen, and ask a direct question.

Call them...

I can't stand not being able to just walk into someone's office, point to the computer screen, and ask a direct question.

I don't have that option. Most of the people with whom I'd need to talk are usually busy with someone else already. So it's easier for me to just email, text, or even call (my least-preferred option) and I can do that whether I'm in an office next door or at home.

[tchafe1978]

Work from home? what's that? I work a job that is impossible to work from home, and frankly, I don't think I'd ever want to work from home. I need the time out of the house, and to be able to separate work from home and family time. I'd have too many distractions at home to ever get any kind of work done. And I would miss the interaction, both good and bad, that I get from my co-workers and customers. I need that kind of balance between asking my dogs, "what did you do THAT for?" and customers (in my head anyway), "what did you do THAT for?"

[MikeTheActuary]

I can't stand not being able to just walk into someone's office, point to the computer screen, and ask a direct question.

Most of the folks I work with very quickly got the hang of sending quick messages in Teams and sharing screens as needed.

That's been one upside of the pandemic from my perspective; my coworkers no longer think it's remarkable that I'm full-time WFH, and their proficiency/comfort with the tools to facilitate that has increased to usable levels.

[kphoger]

Teams

[7/8]

Teams

Lol what's wrong with Teams? I find the screen sharing very useful (arguably better than in-person). It's also cool that people can use their cursors on another person's screen.

[jeffandnicole]

Teams

Lol what's wrong with Teams? I find the screen sharing very useful (arguably better than in-person). It's also cool that people can use their cursors on another person's screen.

For basic stuff, Teams is ok. Once you get into slightly more elevated reports and files, Teams can't handle it too well.

[Rothman]

I find WebEx better than Teams.  Have had fewer issues with people connecting with varied platforms with WebEx.

[Rothman]

Work from home? what's that? I work a job that is impossible to work from home, and frankly, I don't think I'd ever want to work from home. I need the time out of the house, and to be able to separate work from home and family time. I'd have too many distractions at home to ever get any kind of work done. And I would miss the interaction, both good and bad, that I get from my co-workers and customers. I need that kind of balance between asking my dogs, "what did you do THAT for?" and customers (in my head anyway), "what did you do THAT for?"

I found that if I made sure that I took steps to separate work at home from home, that the division was easy.  Just dressing up for the day per usual did the trick.

[JayhawkCO]

There is nothing worse than trying to copy something into a Teams chat. The formatting is beyond bizarre.

[US 89]

Teams is not at all intuitive and is my second least favorite of the various online meeting softwares I've had to use. Only Bluejeans is worse. Zoom and Google Meet are far superior.

[JayhawkCO]

How many people here are permanently remote? ::raises hand::

[NWI_Irish96]

How many people here are permanently remote? ::raises hand::

I've been more or less permanently remote since 2018. My office is about 250 miles away. Before COVID I was going on site about 4-6 weeks per year in one week chunks. Since COVID I've only been down there twice.

[Scott5114]

How many people here are permanently remote? ::raises hand::

I'm currently doing contract work for a guy I've only met in person once. I've never even been to the state his business is based in. We communicate solely through email and Facebook Messenger. Which is perfect for me, as I'm far more comfortable communicating in writing than in person.

[rlb2024]

Our office is finally starting to begin a soft reopen on Monday, with the option of continuing to work from home.  Doesn't really affect me since I am retiring in a month.  I miss my group (control system engineers) and I do not like Teams meetings (only one person can talk at a time, and we have one person that manipulates that), but I don't miss the 70-mile round-trip commute -- especially with gas north of $4/gallon here in south Louisiana.

[1995hoo]

How many people here are permanently remote? ::raises hand::

I was permanently remote before the pandemic and that won't change. I do go into the office on rare occasions, but the key word there is "rare."

[hbelkins]

How many people here are permanently remote? ::raises hand::

Semi-permanent. Minimum of three days in the office with two days at home (with the stipulation that if the need arises, I have to go in on one of my scheduled telecommute days.)

With the way gas prices are now, I'm grateful that I'm not having to make a 60-mile round-trip five days a week in a vehicle that gets, at best, 17 mpg.

Between gas and no payroll tax, I saved a lot of money when I was working from home 95 percent of the time with only an occasional trip to the office to pick up mail or if something else came up.

[golden eagle]

How many people here are permanently remote? ::raises hand::

I am, even though I work in the same city as where my office was.

[elsmere241]

I've been coming in one day a week for the last two years - the five of us in our section take turns.  The department wants everyone to come in Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and work from home Monday and Friday, starting in April.  My section boss is making a counter-proposal where each of us comes in two days a week, and there are two of us there every day.  I really wouldn't mind either, as long as it's consistent.  And since I live in Wilmington, I'm paying 1 1/4 % wage tax regardless.

[Rothman]

How many people here are permanently remote? ::raises hand::

Semi-permanent. Minimum of three days in the office with two days at home (with the stipulation that if the need arises, I have to go in on one of my scheduled telecommute days.)

With the way gas prices are now, I'm grateful that I'm not having to make a 60-mile round-trip five days a week in a vehicle that gets, at best, 17 mpg.

Between gas and no payroll tax, I saved a lot of money when I was working from home 95 percent of the time with only an occasional trip to the office to pick up mail or if something else came up.

How did payroll tax come into play with working remotely? 

[jeffandnicole]

How many people here are permanently remote? ::raises hand::

Semi-permanent. Minimum of three days in the office with two days at home (with the stipulation that if the need arises, I have to go in on one of my scheduled telecommute days.)

With the way gas prices are now, I'm grateful that I'm not having to make a 60-mile round-trip five days a week in a vehicle that gets, at best, 17 mpg.

Between gas and no payroll tax, I saved a lot of money when I was working from home 95 percent of the time with only an occasional trip to the office to pick up mail or if something else came up.

How did payroll tax come into play with working remotely? 

Many municipalities - especially cities - have a payroll tax if you're working in that jurisdiction.  If you're not physically working in that jurisdiction, you don't need to pay that jurisdiction's payroll tax.

[elsmere241]

Many municipalities - especially cities - have a payroll tax if you're working in that jurisdiction.  If you're not physically working in that jurisdiction, you don't need to pay that jurisdiction's payroll tax.

Wilmington, Delaware, where I live, says if you're telecommuting into Wilmington you still have to pay wage tax.  My wife and I don't work in Wilmington, but we have to pay it because we live there.

[kalvado]

Many municipalities - especially cities - have a payroll tax if you're working in that jurisdiction.  If you're not physically working in that jurisdiction, you don't need to pay that jurisdiction's payroll tax.

Wilmington, Delaware, where I live, says if you're telecommuting into Wilmington you still have to pay wage tax.  My wife and I don't work in Wilmington, but we have to pay it because we live there.

That is an interesting situation. Many global companies have disperse set of locations and network access points. While we don't have this tax, I wonder how that would work out for my wife who often had to VPN into Singapore access point - as US locations were overloaded daytime during early covid - to access servers at company headquarters in California to join a meeting which - during in-person days - is held is a conference room at a local facility in upstate NY.  Who would have most rights for telecommuter tax?