DON'T Work Remote As An Engineer

Great video! I’m a fully remote software engineer so it may be different for me because software engineering is inherently more of a solitary thing than other disciplines, but I’ve done both and don’t see my self ever going back to the office. I find the finances are so much better, I can collect the “California” salaries while living in the rural Midwest, don’t pay for gas and still drive my beater car from 15 years ago. The only point is really disagree with is the social life aspect, I’ve always tried to keep work relationships and friendships separate and find that I still hangout with friends a few times a week. Keep up the great content!

Truly believe what you are saying.

As a developer I totally agree. Never felt so stressed as I did working fully remote

I guess it depends on your professional goals, as an HR I like to work remotely but I also like to go to the office, but going to the office should not be a requirement to be promoted

Thank you for making this video! No one else is talking about these remote work challenges for engineers, and I totally agree with your points. Love seeing such high-quality content from a smaller creator. Keep it up!

Ty for the info! Your insights on the challenges of remote work in the power industry are really enlightening. I’m currently trying to break into the power industry. I have a degree in Electrical Engineering and a year of experience in instrumentation and controls, but finding a way in has been tough. I'm thinking about starting as an electrician and working my way up. Do you have any specific advice on how to transition effectively into a power distribution engineering role from my current position? Thanks for sharing your experience!

Only when I went to the comments section did I realize that this is not a 100k+ sub channel its just 42 omg. Good video

Personally, I disagree with most of the points mentioned in this video except for the one mentioned at 3:29. I've worked both in the office and remote and can confidently say that I'll never go back to the office. Lots of the points in the video just sound like what management people love to say to the teams they manage ("camaraderie", "building relationships", "face-to-face interactions", "synergy", etc) whereas a lot of ICs just want to do their job, get paid, and go home. My job is my job, my co-workers are my co-workers, and a job is just a financial transaction between employee and employer. They are not my friends so don't expect me to die for my teammates or my job. If a job is expecting to suck the entire soul out of me, then I'll gladly just quit cause it's truly not worth it. Also if you're working remotely and there are some co-workers you think would make good friends, then you would go out of your way to become friends with them. Otherwise, just separate work and your personal life which is what you should be doing whether in the office or working remote. Also promotions and raises aren't always tied to your performance cause there is always some company politics involved and needing to split the money pot equally across multiple teams/employees. Whether you work in the office or remote, you have to work on impactful things while performing and communicating well to get noticed. If your company is overlooking you because you are remote or any other reason, then consider looking for another job that will pay you more and also seems like a good place. Obviously it depends on the person and their role but for me personally, I'm 100x more productive working remotely, make way more money, have way more free time, my work gets praised, get recognized by others, have gotten great raises/bonuses, etc. Also if you've proved to deliver work at a amazing level while being a great teammate and communicator, then people will respect your work/time which will allow you to pace yourself so yes you can afford to sometimes take a break/do nothing while still getting paid well.

What a great deal of the remote work discourse leaves out is that fully remote work allows you to work from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. This means that you can earn in dollars while spending in a weaker currency like Mexican pesos.

While this may be true at some companies it is far from the rule. Even when I was in person I found myself essentially screen sharing anyway. I've worked at a few companies in the power industry and have found that typically working in person doesn't make a difference - it's just some companies force you to. It can be nice to network with your coworkers in person occasionally, but being remote, everyone is still just a teams call away. If you're overlooked for a promotion (which happens whether office or not) it's easy to job hop and you may even get a counter offer with that promotion you were looking for. I think the greatest asset you have as an employee in the industry's current state is the threat of leaving, just make sure you have the knowledge and skillset to back it up.