Would you say it's better to sacrifice wfh as a younger person right now then career advancement?

Never thought of it like that, good points

Building up a strong marketing skillset to bolster my other skills. Would love to go fully remote but as others have said you learn much more quickly in an office environment. I'm 11 years in.

Mike Hancho said:

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Would you say it's better to sacrifice wfh as a younger person right now then career advancement?

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I do not understand why to 2 have to be mutually exclusive. You can WFH and have the same level of career advancement. What industry are you in? In this day and age, I see no reason why there should be an issues, depending on the industry of course. I know plenty of people who work from their house and have advanced up to upper management. Sure, at that point they might have to go on site and travel a bit more but nothing too dramatic overall.

RockOn said:

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Isn't that just work?

Is there something wrong with me that I don't get this?

My son will get into the workforce in about 1.5 years and I think he should work in an office and not in his pyjamas. I, on the other hand have been working for 25 years and now I prefer WFH jobs.

For The kids these days it is possible to go through an entire career without meeting any coworker in real life. My previous job was that way, I was there for almost 2 years, never met anyone in real life. Not even my manager. The one before that, I worked onsite for 3 months before COVID hit and it was WFH since then.

infinity ag said:

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My son will get into the workforce in about 1.5 years and I think he should work in an office and not in his pyjamas. I, on the other hand have been working for 25 years and now I prefer WFH jobs.

For The kids these days it is possible to go through an entire career without meeting any coworker in real life. My previous job was that way, I was there for almost 2 years, never met anyone in real life. Not even my manager. The one before that, I worked onsite for 3 months before COVID hit and it was WFH since then.

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I reported to a boss for 5 years and only met him when I went to his city to see Pearl Jam.

I have 8 direct reports for over 2 years and have only met 1 of them in person.

It is what it is.

I will say that when you live by yourself WFH is very very hard.

And when i first did it, I missed the watercooler talk.

texAZtea said:

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RockOn said:

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Isn't that just work?

Is there something wrong with me that I don't get this?

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There are two kinds of people entering the workforce these days:

1. Recent graduate that expects a leadership position and a corner office, which they don't want to use because they also want to WFH.

2. Instagram/YouTube/TikTok "celebrity".

To be fair, every college graduate faces a reckoning when they enter a 9-5 style work environment. When I graduated in 2013 I had a 1hr commute each way. It takes significant adjustment to overcome the massive change from a college experience to a 9-5. I can imagine social media has made this adjustment even more difficult.

When did 9-5 start? Today is the end of my 2,329th week in the work force and it's always been 8-5. I've been WFH the last year love it. I even moved 1200 miles away and it's even better. They can't ask you to stop by the office.

jja79 said:

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When did 9-5 start? Today is the end of my 2,329th week in the work force and it's always been 8-5. I've been WFH the last year love it. I even moved 1200 miles away and it's even better. They can't ask you to stop by the office.

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I guess it became 9-5 when people started eating lunch at their desks so as to not waste an extra hour at work. I have done it several times.

If I were young I would be targeting jobs that were WFH but with a large travel component. You get out and meet people, cut your teeth on the realities of business, and in 5-10 years people will notice that you really sacrificed for your position and knowledge compared to those that work in an office.

This is an interesting topic. The fact is life in the workplace is in transition and about to change. Hybrids of WFH will become much more commonplace. And now with AI and so many new opportunities to set up work in more efficient and effective ways, plus the fact that there are a lot of new ways for people to make money and monotone their skills, this thread will be interesting to revisit in 10 years. Hell, 5 years.

I entered the professional workforce 25 years ago with the mentality that I would outwork my peers. I did, but it wasn't easy as there were so many talented and driven people in my company (not a startup but early stages of growth). If we had wfh I would have gladly given it up. I hate to be the "times have changed" guy, but if you have any long term growth aspirations and work ethic you will kill it in the office/growth environment, rare exceptions excluded. For better or worse there are fewer driven people entering the workplace so the opportunity is there.

It really boils down to career goals and your interpretation of work/life balance. I LOVED what I was doing in my 20s and 30s so it was easy for me. I can see the dilemma these days when wfh can offer so many other benefits.

And yet you lived in the van down by the river.

Matt Foley said:

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I entered the professional workforce 25 years ago with the mentality that I would outwork my peers. I did, but it wasn't easy as there were so many talented and driven people in my company (not a startup but early stages of growth). If we had wfh I would have gladly given it up. I hate to be the "times have changed" guy, but if you have any long term growth aspirations and work ethic you will kill it in the office/growth environment, rare exceptions excluded. For better or worse there are fewer driven people entering the workplace so the opportunity is there.

It really boils down to career goals and your interpretation of work/life balance. I LOVED what I was doing in my 20s and 30s so it was easy for me. I can see the dilemma these days when wfh can offer so many other benefits.

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I was just like you 25 years ago. Now I am different.
My philosophy is companies don't care about you, why care about them? Make sure use and exploit them, and when they no longer serve your purpose, dump them in cold blood.

You think only about yourself. Since everyone else is.

It definitely depends on the career field. I am able to WFH on occasion but I can only do so much. I can dial into meetings, do a little training, and work on editing and creating new documents and procedures but that's about it. I was sick with the flu all last week but was lucky to have enough work to keep me occupied without burning a ton of PTO. My team is also contractually obliged to be on base during duty hours. Point being, if you are able to fully WFH and do so effectively, more power to you! Just remember that you are luckier than most!

To me it comes down to money; but how much more money to leave WFH

Mike Hancho said:

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To me it comes down to money; but how much more money to leave WFH

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I would need a $20-$25k increase in salary to leave my wfh job just to stay even.
Clothes, gas, food, time in the car, etc.

No, that is assuming I'm employed and all of that is out the window if unemployed.

what if office job has slightly higher pay but also higher income potential plus benefits?

Mike Hancho said:

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what if office job has slightly higher pay but also higher income potential plus benefits?

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That would have to be significant to make it worth my while.

I know my job. I do a good job. I don't work too many hours. I make a pretty good living.

At this point in my career, i don't see myself making much more money than I already am. I've hit the peter principal.

Im still in the infancy of my career, just starting to earn my stripes. WFH is very chill; but i want more money. Classic dilema

I don't think there is any dilemma here. If you want more money, you have to sometimes sacrifice and do things you don't want to do.

The time to do that is when you're young and your decisions only impact you and you don't have to take anyone else's life/finances/feelings/etc. into consideration.

Then when you've proven yourself to be an asset and have built up a network, you will have the flexibility later in your career to either continue to climb and earn more money, or take a step back and have better work/life balance when you have a family, if that is important to you.

Basically, if you want options in 10 years, you have to be willing to suck it up for a little bit. If you choose to "take it easy" now, there will only be one path before you.