Comment by JakeTheAndroid | Hacker News Reader

Comment by JakeTheAndroid | Hacker News Reader

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I am not sure where you live, but I would expect that WHF allows those under 30 a similar financial relief to those above. For you to be forced to live in an 800 sqft place working in tech, I would assume you live in one of the larger metropolitan areas. WFH should allow you to move further away and capture more space for your dollar, even if you don't end up owning the property like those over 30 might.

At the start of the pandemic I lived in a house full of people working at tech startups in Oakland. So I understand having no space as I worked/lived from my tiny room. But, I was able to leave the bay area, as were my roommates and now we all have our own places (some rent some own) because the same rent in Oakland was able to afford private spaces in other parts of CA.

So I empathize with your position. I recommend trying to move out of the locale that only allows you to afford an 800 sqft studio. Even the shittiest tech jobs in the Bay would allow for you to have your own 2 bedroom apt in other parts of CA. This is how you take advantage of the WFH opportunity as a younger person.

You may have misunderstood me, I could definitely afford a bigger space. I didn't/don't want one. I purposely chose my 800 sqft studio because I hadn't signed up to be entombed in it.

I was never home by choice in the before times and I don't want to change that. I want to go back to getting home at 10pm sleeping after work, socializing, going to meetups or whatever and then leaving at 8:30am the next day. The extra space would be wasted in that case. Plus saving 35%+ of my paycheck was/is great.

I only spent time in my apartment later at night and sometimes on the weekends.

Moving away from the city won't help me there. I imagine it'd actually be worse.

I am confused then. You want to go into an office so that you can stay living in a small apartment? The position was that the WFH situation helped those that had their own space. But you're saying that not having your own space is a choice.

It would seem that this issue is more around the pandemic itself and less around WFH. Once things open up your home would only be a place where you work and sleep, and you'll be able to spend most of your time away from your apartment. And if you expanded the size of your apartment to a 1 bed instead of a studio, you could theoretically reduce this issue by having an isolated work space that you don't share with your recreational activities.

I don't want WFH to become permanent for everyone, I want it to be a choice. A lot of people around this forum seem overly about WFH and it being permanent which often means it becomes a thing everyone has to deal with. I'd prefer it being a well balanced choice or go back to how it was.

So yes, if things return to how they were before you're right my issues will be resolved.

Thats fair. I am all for the hybrid situation where there is an office people can use while also supporting the remote workforce. IDK if it's economical but I think the choice helps ensure everyone has the opportunity to the work environment they work best in.

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