Remote vs. In-Person (From Someone Who's Tried Both)
Spoiler - there's no clear winner.
Hi all,
I’ve been working fully remote for just over a year, with the additional hurdle of being in a different timezone than the majority of my team. There are a lot of great benefits to working fully remote…but there’s also a few big drawbacks to leaving the office behind. If you’re debating in-person vs. remote work, this should hopefully give you a better idea of what to expect (from the perspective of someone who’s done both).
I’ll dive more into that down below, along with a few great resources, a sneak peek of what I’m working on, and this week’s question.
- Kyle
Remote vs. In-Person
I’ll begin by saying - there is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. Which means at the end of this post, you’re not going to find a recommendation, because the decision to work in-person or remote is all about weighing tradeoffs. Here’s a list of nine factors to consider before making a decision.
Where do you want to live?
For most people, the primary benefit of remote work is the freedom to work from anywhere. This was the sole reason for my decision to transition into a remote role - I needed to move from the west coast to the east coast, and going full-time remote was the only way to make that possible. I still haven’t settled down yet geographically, and being able to work from anywhere makes it easy to move without the additional stress of needing to find a new job.
Flexibility
I’ll preface this by saying that different employers have different policies - but broadly speaking, working from home affords you more flexibility than working in office. For some people, this might be as simple as not needing to take their child or pet to daycare every day. Or, maybe it’s not needing to take the day off because you’re having your roof replaced, or your kitchen’s being remodeled. Some companies also allow employees to work flexible hours to fit around appointments/errands/etc…the idea being that as long as your work gets done and you can collaborate effectively with your teammates, you can do it on the schedule that works best for you.
Time
Working from home has been a huge time-saver, which mostly boils down to one thing - not needing to commute to work. Back when I worked in person, I only lived about 15 minutes from my job, and there was fortunately no rush-hour traffic on my route - but for people living further from the office, commuting can take over an hour…each way. That’s a lot of time to spend sitting in traffic every day, when you’d probably rather be doing just about anything else. Taking public transit (or using your company’s shuttles if they have them) can help, but I’d still rather spend that time in my apartment…than on a bus.
Costs
When I moved to Washington for my first job out of school, one of my first priorities was purchasing a car. Buying a car is obviously a huge expenditure, as is the cost of gas/electricity, maintenance, tires, insurance…you get the idea. Admittedly, I suspect that I would have purchased my car even if I wasn’t commuting into the office - but for a lot of people, working remotely makes it a lot easier to be a no-car household (or to only have one car instead of two), which can save a lot of money. I haven’t personally benefited from this as a remote worker since I still own a car, but this is probably something that should be factored in when considering any potential adjustments to your compensation.
Compensation
This one can go either way depending on where you’re working, but a lot of companies will increase/decrease your compensation based on the cost-of-living in your area. Since a lot of tech jobs are centered in high COL cities (San Francisco, Seattle, NYC, etc.), employees who aren’t living in those areas will often see a reduction in pay for the same role. While you’ll likely spend significantly less on housing and food if you don’t live in one of those cities, a lot of other items are priced independently of location (cars, online goods, etc.) - which means your money might not go as far depending on where you live.
Collaboration
Remote-based collaboration has improved drastically over the past few years, but in-person collaboration generally involves a lot less friction. Small spontaneous interactions are a lot harder to replicate when people are in different physical locations, and if a lot of your team is working in-person, you might feel like you’re missing out on some of those discussions. This is one of the biggest things that I miss about working in-person, but it’s worth noting that this point also depends on your coworkers being in-office - otherwise, you’ll still be collaborating over video calls.
Socialization
This goes hand-in-hand with collaboration - being around other people means a lot more socialization. This can be seen in one of two ways - if you prefer a quiet working environment without people around, then working remotely will be great. On the other hand, if you like making small-talk with co-workers and making friends with people at work, then working remotely will be…not great. This is another thing that I really miss about working in-person - I enjoyed spending time with my coworkers when I was in-office, and it was a great way to make friends straight out of college.
Stability
Over the past year, numerous companies have reversed their stance on being remote-friendly, adopting RTO (return-to-office) mandates that force employees to work in-office several days per week. Unless you’re confident that your company will continue to allow you to work remotely forever, this can be stressful - you run the risk of being required to uproot yourself and move so that you can work in-person…or being out of a job. Without calling out any specific companies, this is a scenario that has played out for thousands of people in recent months, and I hope I never end up in that situation.
Discipline
Depending on your perspective, this may be seen as a pro or a con, but working from home requires a lot more discipline…because there are so many more distractions. In a traditional working environment, you (generally) aren’t surrounded by TVs, game consoles, or anything else that might divert your attention when you’re supposed to be working (not to mention that you also won’t have your boss looking over your shoulder). But, assuming you want to get your work done, you need to be able to focus on working in the same environment where you do non-work activities. You also don’t want your work to ruin your home-life - it can be hard to stop thinking about work at the end of the day without the physical act of leaving the office and heading home. This is something I’ve talked about before - the importance of having systems and boundaries to help separate work stuff from life stuff - but especially when you’re in a small apartment, that’s easier said than done.
Things Worth Reading
From The Archives
(Video) Working From Home vs. In-Office?
Sneak Peek
Here’s a few things I’m working on…coming soon!
(Post) Let’s Talk About Promotions
This Week’s Question
I want to hear from you! Leave a comment on this story or email me at support@kylekeirstead.com with your thoughts/ideas.
Would you rather be fully remote, in-office, or hybrid? Which ones have you tried?