This is not a surprise to me. I think it also applies to some people who are senior and new on a project or team. Or people with a more synchronous working style. I think remote has been toxic to productivity in all sorts of companies and for all sorts of people. I think there's in general a "personality type" that does really well with remote in a certain kind of job and thrives with fairly asynchronous disconnected tasks, and on HN I think there's a bias towards seeing our whole industry that way.
But some of my best jobs were not like that. They were sitting down with people in very up close conversations and working out ambiguities and tasks. And mentoring juniors and working things through with them.
All that said, I won't be going back to in person. I'll be hunting for places that know how to make remote work, even though I don't prefer it. Because remote is still better than the 1.5 hours a day I was spending driving and the toll that was taking on my health and sanity. And most of the local employers are crappy.
So it's a real mix of stuff, we're in a transition period. It's going to take a few years for this stuff to shake out.
But some of my best jobs were not like that. They were sitting down with people in very up close conversations and working out ambiguities and tasks. And mentoring juniors and working things through with them.
All that said, I won't be going back to in person. I'll be hunting for places that know how to make remote work, even though I don't prefer it. Because remote is still better than the 1.5 hours a day I was spending driving and the toll that was taking on my health and sanity. And most of the local employers are crappy.
So it's a real mix of stuff, we're in a transition period. It's going to take a few years for this stuff to shake out.