johnh wrote:
I think that’s a pretty extreme view. My son works from home, has done for years, and so do the various teams he has worked with (all IT contractors). My team in India all work from home, and it is working well. For that matter, so do I. I do somewhat miss the team interaction from the “good old days” of having an office, but I don’t miss being there 9-6 every day. My commute then (in the US) was 10 minutes, so that wasn’t a problem for me, but it was for some of my colleagues.
Same here – most of people that don’t NEED to be in the office in the international companies work from home some or most of the time. Reason is obivous – if you put on the headset on in the beginning of the day and put it down at the end of the day (as your team members are all around the world), it doesn’t matter where your work.
if you put on the headset on in the beginning of the day and put it down at the end of the day
Not a job I would ever want 
Peter wrote:
if you put on the headset on in the beginning of the day and put it down at the end of the dayNot a job I would ever want
Peter, that is the job for the most of us for the last decade. You either operate a computer or communicate with other people on the phone/messenger – even hardcore IT guys that work with on-prem hardware would go to a datacentre once in a blue moon. And if you are in the UK, your team lead is in the central US, and your team mates are in India, France and Eastern US, while your internal customers are in Canada, then what’s the point?! Yes, we have colleagues that prefer office as they’ve got small kids or other reasons not to work from home, they do work from office. Also the case in other companies where interaction with people from the street has to happen in the office, they also work from the office.
That’s true if you are young, not yet in control of your destiny (not started a business or reached a professional position) and like to be on 100k+ and preferably more if anywhere near London.
“Team lead” and “team mates in India” says it all Most people I know in the business tell how unproductive contracting out coding to India is; the quality is poor but they are so cheap than you can just throw as many bodies on the job as is needed to get something working.
However I doubt that is the job the OP is looking for.
Most people I know in the business tell how unproductive contracting out coding to India is;
Depends. I know that’s some people’s experience, and it seems to be true when done on a large scale (look no further than BA). But in my case, with a small team, they are every bit as good as the team I had in California – who were all Indians anyway, but resident in the US. With the great advantage that the cost is about 1/6th of hiring engineers in California, even supposing you can find them.
arj1 wrote:
if you put on the headset on in the beginning of the day and put it down at the end of the day
Sounds like a good recipe for a heart attack well before your time, what a life !
Adam, what do you mean by “a youngish family” ?
My advice would be to stop watching off-grid videos, and look for your options in terms of :
I would not move to another continent just for money reasons. I would if that move had intrinsic value for my family (learning languages, great position for my wife etc…).
I would if I felt it was our calling. And if it was, everything would fall into place.
Search your calling
Last year we moved from Paris to a small town after months of reflection. We couldn’t be happier because it fits the lifestyle we want. Our future isn’t totally clear but we know we are where we are meant to be, for now.
GRIFF wrote:
if you put on the headset on in the beginning of the day and put it down at the end of the daySounds like a good recipe for a heart attack well before your time, what a life !
What is the alternative if all your counterparts are NOT on the same continent?!
arj1 wrote:
What is the alternative if all your counterparts are NOT on the same continent?!
Maybe no alternative except to get a different job that involves some exercise, it wouldnt be for me but I guess that someone has to do it
arj1 wrote:
What is the alternative if all your counterparts are NOT on the same continent?!
This is my problem. I have a team spread out across the world, and even though I have a local office with a large number of people in it, I end up spending most of my time behind closed doors on Zoom calls. So most of the time the commute isn’t worth it and I go in once or twice a week.
