Ask HN: What Are the Trade-Offs of Working Fully Remotely?

What Are The Opportunity Costs Of Being Fully Remote?

Many people recognize the benefits of fully remote work, and those advantages have been widely discussed on HN. What are some of the less obvious downsides?

What are some overlooked or unexpected disadvantages?

7 points | by karakoram 20 hours ago

8 comments

  • hash0 4 hours ago
    There is this german expression, "Stallgeruch" (literally "the scent of the (horses) stable" - its a way of saying that you fit in and adapt to the culture, truly becoming one with your working environment).

    Working fully remote, especially in a firm you recently joined, will make it far more difficult to achieve this sense of belonging - which cuts both ways! You will likely have more trouble feeling you belong there and your coworkers might feel the same towards you.

  • softwaredoug 16 hours ago
    You’ll feel isolated from peers. You might not have an environment conducive to work. Poor work/life boundaries.
  • kentich 10 hours ago
    Isolation. But there is a solution: virtual frosted glass video meetings (via the MeetingGlass app). You can be behind a shared layer of virtual frosted glass with your colleagues. It works like the real frosted glass: mutual visibility and frosting.
  • throwitaway222 20 hours ago
    If the company also works in-office then you're probably missing out on organic communication. You'll be lucky to have people that spread news of changes that happen in person to you. In many cases you're the easiest lay-off too. If someone has to lay you off in person, they might not want to. The remotes will be first.

    If the entire company is remote, there is a lot of disorganization, missed opportunities to keep things in sync. And the organization may sometimes also become flatter (less hierarchy). While less hierarchy sounds good, it also comes with the balance that you're more responsible for a bad decision (because often you have to make more decisions).

    The best thing, obviously, is earning potentially a million in 3-8 years (depending on your comp) without having to drive to an office.

  • kingkongjaffa 1 hour ago
    It's not suitable for someone without prior in-office work experience IMO.

    There are mentoring and office based behaviors and norms that people learn from each other through osmosis. I think it's a career mistake to never work with other people building something every day in the same room together.

    I wouldn't hire a fresh grad who never worked in an office before.

    I've been fully remote for longer than I was an in-office worker but those formative years being in-person were very important from a skills and social / emotional IQ perspective.

  • buynao 11 hours ago
    I have been working remotely for three years. The biggest problem might be that my social skills have greatly diminished, and social scenarios have greatly decreased. I rather miss the previous office work scenes.
  • Jlepo 15 hours ago
    passive career stagnation. Your bugs are always visible remotely but your quiet daily impact isn't. The people physically seen in the office tend to get promoted faster
    • fdgfikgfv 15 hours ago
      Your quiet daily impact is also ignored in the office. You have to be your own advocate if you want promotion.
  • horticulturist 14 hours ago
    [dead]