Stay put or try to find remote work?

I'll try to keep this short. I have a very high stress management job that I'd be fine leaving, but I kind of got grandfathered into it, and I haven't been in it long enough to make a lateral move, plus I live in a small market anyway so there's not even a lot out there.

Meanwhile, there are job postings on the coasts for 8-5 schedule hourly technicians for the same or greater pay than I make. I'm completely qualified for a lot of those.

Today I was chatting with a full time WFH tech who explained that he's across the country visiting family. He can basically work from a spare room there and just have nights and weekends to hang out-- I mean, this practicality had honestly never come to my mind before. That sounds AWESOME.

So I'm looking for some advice here. I think I could handle working from home, but I'm just not sure about taking a "backward" career move. If I stay where I am, despite the stress, I figure that when I have accumulated more mgmt experience, I'll have plenty of options since mgmt principles transition across disciplines, but if I commit myself to being a tech, that's many times the final destination. Why that matters is that I fear that the perfect storm of high-paying WFH won't always be the fad it is today, and if I go making backward career moves, once my remote position gets downsized someday, I'll be stuck in that technical dead-end in a small market that pays only 50% of what the coasts pay.

Thoughts?

As far as I know you get 1 chance at this life thing, so might as well be happy. If less stress makes you happy, jump. 

Do you have kids?

I personally think some form of WFH/Hybrid is here to stay for many roles. 

Where are you and what type of technician role are you looking at?

I think WFH is going to continue to grow.  I'm also looking to jump ship so I can avoid my current 50 mile commute on graveyard shift :(

I've been living the work from home life since well before March 2020, and it's pretty sweet.  Like you mentioned, I've gone to see the inlaws before without taking off work.  I just get my stuff done during the day.  It also lets me work from the shop or Panera, or whatever.  I worked from the hospital in Daytona when my dad popped his appendix while we were at the Rolex, so having to stay there an extra few days didn't matter.  So if you can swing it, I recommend it, but it's not for everyone.

I don't think you need to sacrifice a management track for WFH, though.  There are plenty of orgs out there that have bought in and are hiring remote for management positions.  If the ops team button-pushers are going to be remote, why not the people that manage them?

Working from home does require a certain mindset - you have to be able to get up in the morning, put on your clothes and actually work every day, independently from other people.  It's not for everyone; there can be too many distractions at home to work effectively, and many people are more effective when they have actual contact with other humans.

High stress jobs are never worth it, IMO. The few I've had took tangible years off my life.

I was fortunate to test ride a WFH job during Kung Flu and decided it wasn't as bad as I envisioned. My field job took a turn for the worse and was on it's way to potentially being eliminated. I just took a WFH position to escape it. Worst thing I've had to be conscious of is I can go an entire day without going outside. When you don't even have a short drive to an office it's easy to do. I'm going to have to schedule in time to at least walk up and down the road for some sunshine.

I'm generally an introvert, so the reduced time interacting with live people is actually a plus.

I've been working from home, like a lot of people, since March 2020. In June I transitioned to a permanent WFH position. I absolutely love it. I know work 1,400 miles from my home office. It's upper 30's and rainy there, mid 80s and sunny here. When I was here house hunting I worked my normal hours. When it was time to go look at houses I'd either put in for 1/2 day off, or shift my working hours to accommodate the house hunting. The freedom is amazing. 

That being said, a lot depends on the company, and the employee. The company has to trust you, and you have to be trust-worthy. I'm working hard to make sure nobody can say I'm fluffing off or anything like that. 

Depending on your home situation, you might need to get a dedicated office. I'm currently in our bedroom until I finish my office, which is a 8X12 shed just behind the house. I have two kids and a wife at home, so that separation is helpful. 

Like others have said, WFH isn't going to decrease. If anything, it's going to increase in the coming years. Just think about it. If you are a business owner and you need 6,000 sq. ft of office space for your 100 cubicles and cubicle workers, you have that expense in your budget. Then a deadly virus that kills all of humanity in a few weeks (that's what the media wanted us to believe) strikes and people are forced to work from home. Nearly two years later you only need 3,000 sq. ft of office space for your same 100 employees. You move to a smaller building with 1/2 the over head and maintenance expenses. but maybe you look to see if you can get away with 1,500 sq. ft and figure out how more folks can work from home. 

I haven't worked in an office setting since 2008. 

Couple of things to mention here. 

1. Are you the type of person that depends on work to meet people? 

2. Do you have a space that is quiet enough for you to work? 

3. Can you self start and work without direct intervention? 

4. Are you able to make that separation between work and home when they are the same place?

There are advantages to work from home but there are also disadvantages. You do have to make more effort to make yourself seen some times. It's easy to drift into irrelevance. There are good and bad with the arrangement. I know that I couldn't do a traditional office situation ever again. 

ddavidv said:

...during Kung Flu ...

please don't be xenophobic, it makes us all look bad and if we don't say something we are complicit. 
 

I have worked from home since last March as well. I like it and I get a lot more done because you don't loose any time on casual conversation. At the same time you have very little casual conversation so that's something to consider. For me it was like starting a new job with people you already knew. All of the working relationships changed, some better some worse. 
Being firmly in middle management I am not sure how much more mobile it is than being a tech. 

I have the kind of job you're considering right now and it can still be a very high stress job, especially if you have to take calls that can completely derail what you're doing and thinking at any time. My first year working here was very busy, I was on the phones all the time, and it was pure hell. I used to think that if it were possible to line up crises one after another for an IT worker to deal with, it would be a very efficient use of that worker, but it would be a hellish job nobody would take. Well I found out that my theoretical hell job was real and I was in it.

Ever see a mecha anime control room where there are people jabbering away with headsets on, typing away like ninjas, maybe some foot pedals getting in on the action too? That's what you could look like almost every minute of that 8-5, excluding your lunch break if all goes well. Days can go by where you don't have time to think your own thoughts. It's a nonstop conveyor belt of irregularly sized work and if it gets too backed up your ass is on the line.

So don't think it's like working in an IT department where you're mostly working on long-term projects occasionally interrupted by problems that need a fast response, with time to walk around the office an shoot the E36 M3 with coworkers, it's not. It's also kind of an inherently unstable job because of the unpredictable nature of the work combined with how easy it is to underperform. Speaking of which, I've lifted off the gas too long to post this and need to get back to it now, but heed my warning.

I've been at my current job almost 5 years. We already worked from home 2-3 days per week, been doing 5 days since March 2020........December our founder said we could work from home permanently. 

This month they just went ahead and closed our OKC office. 

I think the decision on the mgmt/working through other people OR being a highly skilled individual contributor is the bigger question here. I have taken on direct people roles and I was not a huge fan and took a step away from that and am better for realizing it before going too far. 

The WFH/Remote question I think comes after the above, with some good advice already given.

One thing that I would add is that I am actually looking forward a little bit to when the I75/I1 bridge work is completed in a couple weeks so that I can drive up to the office once in a while.  For me, it has little to do with "getting things done" and more about building relationships with folks, going to lunch, having after-work beers, and stuff like that.  100% remote has been fine, but the handful of times that we've met as a team for lunch or beers over the last year and a half have been pretty nice.

bmw88rider said:

There are advantages to work from home but there are also disadvantages. You do have to make more effort to make yourself seen some times. It's easy to drift into irrelevance. There are good and bad with the arrangement. I know that I couldn't do a traditional office situation ever again. 

I agree 100%. We start work at 8, and end at 5. I make sure to answer or send an e-mail no later than 8:00 every day, and had had some calls at 4:55. I don't think that's a coincidence. Haven't had the late call in a while, but even if I do knock off early (maybe I didn't take a lunch that day) I make sure I'm available until 5. 

We have folks that work from home and some in the office. All of my sales guys are remote and so am I. I actually live further from the home office than most. We have many managers that wfh. We are a software company so that's probably part of it. I love working from home personally. I do not call and make sure guys are doing their hours, they only have to show activity if they are not hitting their numbers. Seems like it's a good fit for some but not for others. I would have a really hard time going to an office full time again. 

Thanks for the input, I especially resonate with the couple about trying to eliminate stress.

In answer to a few of the questions above:

- I have kids

- I have worked from home here and there but my summer 2020 experience was SUPER atypical in that I was mostly just on-call so I'm not yet sure how much I understand what it will be like for me, I'm social but I haven't made many connections at work- yet I know that casual conversation is good to me

I think I'm going to see what's out there. My boss is trying to get me some relief from the stressors, but that's been the story since April and I'm now beyond burned out by the lack of support. As I write this I think maybe my first answer is that I do need to jump ship. Maybe I'll get in some WFH practice before I do, so I know if I'm cut out for it. And then I can tackle the other part.

Thanks, guys (and girls?? dunno)

It really depends on personality.  I have been in the office 1 day in the last 3 weeks, rest of the time was spent on jobs, WFH, or vacation.  I miss the office, my coworkers, and my routine.  Its been a big run of travel here the last few weeks, hoping it will quiet down a bit for the holidays.  This post is coming to you from a Holiday Inn Express in south Tenessee.

On the manager vs high level contributor, I have done both and come to find out I am not really a great manager.   I am much more useful to the company as a direct contributor with no reports (and really no boss, but thats another story)   I have a fancy title and great pay and very much satisfaction,  It gives me the freedom to work on what I want, help others, travel when and where I want, and set my own schedule without worrying about what my direct reports are doing or being responsible for them.  

I got nuked in a management reorg from a high stress management role that was killing me.  I had shared your backward step concerns but overall it's been good.  I struggle a bit with distraction and the lack of work colleague interaction but am working thru it.  It has generally been great and I have a ton less drama in my life.

When distracted by the home with wifee and kiddos I just skip out for a drive or head to home office 2.0 Starbucks. 

Less stress, more money, and breakfast with my daughter every morning = winning.

Talked it over with the Mrs tonight. Most of my stress is inherent to me. It weighs on me to have too many things to do than there's time for, or to have things required of me that I don't even know where to start. Don't get me wrong, sometimes those factors push me to rise to the occasion, but personality of the boss is a contributing factor to how I respond. In any event, I currently have both of those factors at play, plus one of my sups makes it hard to go to work some days. 
However, I can recall a job as an ind contrib where I felt the same way. This leads me to believe that it's a case that I need better habits/disciplines. I'll give it some probationary time and see how it goes with these new strategies. 

I will say that im very glad to have talked thru the alternative on here. I no longer have reservations about that path if this doesn't pan out, which ironically may take off enough stress to make this pan out. 
 

Does anyone else think that as more and more people seek WFH arrangements, the average wage for those types of positions will stagnate, while office based positions will see a wage increase? 

My company needs people in the office because so much of our work is paper and so few of our employees can manage technology in the office, much less at home. 

I've heard lots of people quitting jobs that even just a few years ago would be viewed as "enjoyable day-to-day jobs" in search of WFH situations.

Even had a friend who was complaining because he started working remotely pretty much all the time and then suddenly his employer instituted a "activity tracker" for all remote employees that office employees were not required to use. He said "I went from being able to get my required tasks done in 20 hours a week then being able to do other things, now I've gotta sit at my desk for 8 hours a day doing nothing." WELL YEA LIKE THE REST OF US

Stuff like that will become more common as more people search out WFH situations and employers start wondering why nobody wants to get promoted or ask for work during downtime. 

In reply to P3PPY :

WFH isn't a fad. It's a discovery. 
my Wife WFH now and since the pandemic output has gone up 41% while costs have gone down 23%. 
For Banks that's a bases loaded home run.  
 She works IT management and every moment of work is documented. Those who perform well are promoted and those who abuse or neglect work are fired.   
      No longer is it kiss your bosses butt gets you the promotion/pay raise.  
      Her late husband is a classic example. Brilliant mind. Solved countless problems in a few moments. But started drinking during the day and his performance slipped. Add smoking breaks to that and his numbers dropped. Just before he died he was terminated. Nobody except his wife knew why but the numbers told the computer which informed HR.  And the notice was sent. 
    Working from home is a real double edged sword. Regards and success if you do it well termination if you fail. 

Job hunting caone?  

(but hope all went well with the search)

pheller said:

Does anyone else think that as more and more people seek WFH arrangements, the average wage for those types of positions will stagnate, while office based positions will see a wage increase?

Yes. 
 

Many jobs will also ship overseas.