October 5, 2020 at 1:00 am
I wouldn't move. Good neighbors, kids in a good school, four seasons (without a crushing Winter)... it doesn't get much better than this.
If I was given relocation, maybe I'd get a new house, as long as I could buy within a few miles of where I am now.
October 5, 2020 at 1:14 pm
We took the leap almost 3 years ago. We weren't living in a location that we loved. And while we are a few years from retirement yet, we wanted to move to where we thought we wanted to retire to. We didn't want to wait until retiring to make a big move (physically) as well as start over developing friendships and connections. We spent time visiting different cities that we thought we might be interested in and ended up choosing Savannah, GA. At the time, the company I was working for had a few remote employees, but that was not the norm. They did allow me to keep my position and be 100% remote. Almost three years later, I am still feeling so incredibly blessed. We absolutely love our new city. I work for an amazing company and am part of an amazing team. There are some challenges to be remote, but nothing significant. At work, we utilize Teams constantly for team chats, meetings, paired programming, etc. so I feel pretty connected. Thankfully, we are still in the same Time Zone, so that was not an issue either.
October 5, 2020 at 1:30 pm
George, I am envious of your being able to work remotely for so long. What I'd like to know is how you've been able to do that? Or put differently, who've you worked for to be so flexible towards their employees?
I did it mainly as a consultant in a large city. The downside to that is that you are constantly selling, which is not my strength. I am back in a large corporation making a lot less money, but much happier.
Development teams went global about the time of the Agile Manifesto. Entities that insist on having developers in-house are throwbacks that don't know much about how software development is done. You can't tell if developers are being productive by looking at them.
October 5, 2020 at 3:24 pm
... We spent time visiting different cities that we thought we might be interested in and ended up choosing Savannah, GA.
Heard good things about Savannah, so congrats and glad you enjoy it. We're doing some of this now. Every time we travel, we think about living there and discuss is. So far, not a lot of places we'd move, but there are a couple. Lots more to visit as well.
October 5, 2020 at 3:54 pm
Very interesting and timely topic Steve. Made me stop and think about where in the world I'd like to live and work remotely. I've come to the conclusion that I'm already living in one of the best places in North America; British Columbia, Canada.
October 5, 2020 at 4:00 pm
So, post-pandemic (which I assume means at some point in the future when this COVID19 outbreak is considered over), will companies start reversing the current trend of remote working?
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
October 5, 2020 at 5:40 pm
So, post-pandemic (which I assume means at some point in the future when this COVID19 outbreak is considered over), will companies start reversing the current trend of remote working?
Hopefully they'll realize the cost savings of a remote work force and keep it going. At least this period has forced many companies to re-evaluate their tightly held beliefs and myths concerning a remote work force such as inefficient, non-productive, expensive, etc. I do realize that working remotely is not for everyone, but hopefully companies will strike a balanced solution that will be equitable for all.
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October 5, 2020 at 6:17 pm
I do realize that working remotely is not for everyone, but hopefully companies will strike a balanced solution that will be equitable for all.
Equity is right. If you care about improving equity, work from home is the best tool available.
I remember in the early 1990s, being on an employee team to develop recommendations for improving diversity at our company. We came up with only one recommendation: implement work from home. I will never forget the look on the executive's face when we gave him our report. I remember thinking, If you don't want a question answered, don't give it to developers.
October 5, 2020 at 7:48 pm
I currently live in a suburb north of Atlanta. I'm a 5 - 45 minute drive from hundreds of companies that specialize in IT or have a substantial internal IT department. There are plenty of good schools, parks, and medium priced quiet neighborhoods on large lots. There is a part of me that would like to live in a more remote area and maybe in an alternate universe that's where I am, but I don't my wife and kids would be happy there. All things considered, I wouldn't move, unless it were to a similar area.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
October 5, 2020 at 9:04 pm
My only concern would be if I worked for a single employer that after I relocated they might decide to end work-from-home. Then what?
Rick
Disaster Recovery = Backup ( Backup ( Your Backup ) )
October 6, 2020 at 12:47 pm
If I were younger, single, and living in a high rent place like Seattle or Sanfrancisco, then I certainly would be thinking about moving.
However, it also makes me wonder if this trend of remote working will put downward pressure on IT salaries - particularly at the higher end of the sale. Not only will employers have a larger pool of talent to draw from (basically the entire nation or world), but they'll be recruiting from a pool of candidates with substantially lower cost of living. It also means that real-estate prices will drop in zip codes where home prices and rent were propped up by local IT salaries.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
October 6, 2020 at 1:06 pm
My only concern would be if I worked for a single employer that after I relocated they might decide to end work-from-home. Then what?
If you do choose to move while working as a fulltime employee, it would be a good idea live within 2 hour drive of your employer, so you could commute and meet face to face with coworkers once every week or two without buying a plane ticket or staying in a hotel overnight. Even if a new CEO starts a trend away from WFH, you could acquiesce and commute daily for a few weeks while searching for a new job.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
October 6, 2020 at 1:31 pm
I currently live in a suburb north of Atlanta. I'm a 5 - 45 minute drive from hundreds of companies that specialize in IT or have a substantial internal IT department. There are plenty of good schools, parks, and medium priced quiet neighborhoods on large lots. There is a part of me that would like to live in a more remote area and maybe in an alternate universe that's where I am, but I don't my wife and kids would be happy there. All things considered, I wouldn't move, unless it were to a similar area.
Eric, I've heard that traffic in Atlanta is the worst in the US. How do you manage it?
Kindest Regards, Rod Connect with me on LinkedIn.
October 7, 2020 at 3:32 pm
Eric M Russell wrote:I currently live in a suburb north of Atlanta. I'm a 5 - 45 minute drive from hundreds of companies that specialize in IT or have a substantial internal IT department. There are plenty of good schools, parks, and medium priced quiet neighborhoods on large lots. There is a part of me that would like to live in a more remote area and maybe in an alternate universe that's where I am, but I don't my wife and kids would be happy there. All things considered, I wouldn't move, unless it were to a similar area.
Eric, I've heard that traffic in Atlanta is the worst in the US. How do you manage it?
There are a lot of companies with offices outside the I-285 perimeter. Back when I was driving into the office, my commute was 20 minutes on a busy day.
But Atlanta doesn't have the worst traffic in the US. The absolute worst commute is Miami, Florida - it's a maze of highways elevated above swamp land and often times the exits are spaced a half mile or more apart. Not to mention that the drivers there are extremely aggressive.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
October 7, 2020 at 4:05 pm
Not to mention that the drivers there are extremely aggressive.
Unfortunately, I've found that every major city has it's share of aggressive drivers. I've been in Indianapolis, Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, Denver, Salt Lake City, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Washington D.C., and others and they're all equally crazy drivers! I've been in traffic where if you're not going 10-15 miles over the speed limit you get run over. I've even been pulled over by cops for being too slow while driving the speed limit!
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