I am interviewing for two different companies right now. One is a fully remote position, and the other is hybrid requiring 2 days in person, downtown in a major city. I have been working primarily remote for the last 6 years since the pandemic, but I do go downtown a couple times per month. I live in the suburbs so it takes me 1.5 hours one way for the commute into the city, by train (3 hours/day). I am torn between working fully remote (which I love the flexibility but fear I'd feel isolated being totally remote), or hybrid and needing to hike all the way downtown twice per week, every week. I am a single parent but my child is 15 years old now so does not require as much supervision/child care as a younger child. Any thoughts? Both would pay about the same and are in the same industry, both are good companies with good benefits.
Posted by Proud_Use842
7 Comments
If the pay is approximately the same, and total commute is 6 hours per week for one of the jobs, I don’t see any arguments against the other job
Ultimately it’s your call and you clearly know the pros and cons of each option. But if you’re asking me to give up my time commuting then you better be paying me commensurate with giving up two weeks of my year. I’d go remote without question and figure out ways to feel less isolated as necessary.
With the price of gas lately, I honestly would lean towards the remote position if the pay is the same
Do you have an insurance question? r/lostredditors
The answer to this really depends on you and your situation.
I’ve been full-time remote for over 10 years. While I would prefer to work in office, the local office is a miserable long commute from me, and the rest of my team isn’t local. I miss going in and the “learning by contagion” you get in office…but I do NOT miss the commute, which would be stupid to do given that I’d mostly be on email and Teams when doing relevant interactions.
Because I’m a big believer in the value of those serendipitous interactions you get just by being around coworkers, I absolutely would prefer a hybrid situation over full-time WFH…but the extent to which I would take that over the flexibility of full-time WFH would depend on how good/bad the commute was, how many relevant people are coming in how frequently (I would NOT want to be the only full-time WFH when others in my department are local mostly hybrid or fully in-office), etc.
And regarding the loneliness/isolation… if you’re full-time WFH, it’s a good idea to have a regular huddle with your team (could be work updates; could be social), and occasional 1-on-1’s with relevant folks. The 1-on-1’s are a good idea regardless of whether you’re WFH or hybrid.
I personally like a hybrid schedule if the commute is doable. I live by myself, and I think seeing each other in the office a few times a week gives us a place to vent and actually interact. It’s also much easier to get a hold of people and discuss things. I find that getting a hold of fully remote coworkers is much harder than even hybrid ones when they’re home.
Remote