Software developers need a balance of remote and in-office work, says employers

Daniel Puchert

Daniel Puchert

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Back to the office for software developers

While remote work remains an important hiring consideration in the software development space, some firms have emphasised the need for employees to spend some time in the office.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, most companies were forced to close their office doors and adopt a remote work policy where employees had to work from home.
 
Unacceptable. They must work from the office lest they spend all their time vacationing in Bali.

Or, even worse, in Durban.
 
Hybrid works well for us, 2/3 or 1/4 , bulk out of office.

Biggest drag of the day is actually travel to and from the office on in days with the roads construction around Durban , 30mins to a hour plus on a bad day.
 
So what you saying is that you only value your staff having "the space for deep, uninterrupted focus, allowing our team to tackle challenging development phases with clarity" two days a week?

You strike me as a business who has meetings to discuss the next meeting.
 
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Sounds like a bunch of people who don't develop have decided what people who do develop, need. I'm sure it's all very accurate and excellent and certainly has nothing to do with the massive rent they pay monthly for superfluous office space.
 
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Kosmik said:
Hybrid works well for us, 2/3 or 1/4 , bulk out of office.

Biggest drag of the day is actually travel to and from the office on in days with the roads construction around Durban , 30mins to a hour plus on a bad day.
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So I kind of enjoy the trip into the office some days, its a bit of a "break" where I can switch that part of my brain off

But I agree, Hybrid is the best option, the split would be up for debate of course.
 
This was because they needed higher bandwidth communication between team members, as their roles require more collaboration.
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You wonder if people actually talk like this to their mates on the golf course.
 
ToxicBunny said:
So I kind of enjoy the trip into the office some days, its a bit of a "break" where I can switch that part of my brain off

But I agree, Hybrid is the best option, the split would be up for debate of course.
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Well that's my split because one day is dedicated to the software team and the other is actually cross interacting with other business units with just me as they are in for the day.

Devs are 1/4 , ie 1 day in 4 out if my shorthand was confusing.
 
PaulGherkin said:
Some firms.... wow... really now.
Daniel my brah... it's bums-on-seats pretty much out there in sunny SA, and in America they've doubled-down on making sure everyone's bum is back on the seat.
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This is not true. In my group of professional peers in dev, the number that are wfh outweigh the in-office. I'd say its about 70-30.
 
I moved to a small town and can't see myself living in a large city again.
Remote working made this possible.

I will move back to a large city if I have no choice but it's so much worse in a city.
Just a couple of the negatives.

A lot more crime,
Traffic,
Taxis,
Taking kids to school becomes a massive waste of time.

I have stated this before but I have wasted about 250 twenty-four-hour days of my life in a car travelling to and from an office.
 
UrBaN963 said:
Sounds like a bunch of people who don't develop have decided what people who do develop, need. I'm sure it's all very accurate and excellent and certainly has nothing to do with the massive rent they pay monthly for superfluous office space.
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100% - It's funny how often I'm told that remote work doesn't work or staff are lazy by people that have no interest in remote work. Most of it is projection...

All the ones that are pro remote work seem to defend it...

It would appear that if you want it, you may have to create the job yourself, since the number of companies offering full remote seems to be static.
 
This is expected. As the years go by, more and more SA based companies will cut back on remote working options for employees. We are in an employer-leaning market, so employers have the advantage now. Interestingly, a few software developers still think "they have the advantage"... lol.

That said, I do not think remote working will be here to stay - I think we will reach a point where most people will be working in offices again. I also do not think developers will resign in large numbers. One question I have is, how does this affect international companies that have outsourced their software development needs to countries that are cheaper to operate in (e.g.: India, South Africa, Mexico, etc.)? Will such companies build more remote offices for everyone to work from, or will they continue offering remote working options, or will they move the jobs back their countries (highly unlikely I think).
 
koeks525 said:
This is expected. As the years go by, more and more SA based companies will cut back on remote working options for employees. We are in an employer-leaning market, so employers have the advantage now. Interestingly, a few software developers still think "they have the advantage"... lol.

That said, I do not think remote working will be here to stay - I think we will reach a point where most people will be working in offices again. I also do not think developers will resign in large numbers. One question I have is, how does this affect international companies that have outsourced their software development needs to countries that are cheaper to operate in (e.g.: India, South Africa, Mexico, etc.)? Will such companies build more remote offices for everyone to work from, or will they continue offering remote working options, or will they move the jobs back their countries (highly unlikely I think).
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This is true - except that where companies can operate remotely and more cheaply the market will take costs out of the system. ie if there is an acquisition opportunity and you can increase margins 10% by cutting either the office or offshoring the staff, then that'll increase remote.

What is more likely IMO though is that they replace an entire back-office of compliance teams, or software teams with smaller teams using AI for cost savings, rather than the number of jobs staying the same...
 
If your employer is in the same country as you, and has an office, you can bet your balls they're going to demand you be in the office every day 8-5
If you work remotely I don't see that changing. I have family who worked remotely as far back as 2009 to date. I have worked remotely at several times, 2008, 2013, and then from 2019 - present.

We have two issues here:
* American companies that want their American workers back in the office. Musk, Bezos, etc.. being douches about it. Not affecting us directly but puts ideas into SA bosses heads.

* South African companies which are mostly d00ses anyway and want people back on the seats because it makes these faux Kings feel good about themselves and they have people to bully for kicks.

As a developer, I produce maximum output when I am working from home. Because I am not tired from sitting in traffic, I am generally happier and my mind is clearer. I am not needed physically in the office because whether I sit there or in Mauritius, my work does not change. I am writing code, debugging, testing, pull requests, review, and release. Nothing around me except the internet has any bearing on my job. At home I can have my cats close to me and listen to music and stuff like that.
 
If a company is flexible on travel time, I have no issue going into the office, I also agree, it is a requirement - sometimes you need the ability to walk over to someone's desk and say "Do your ****ing job"

Although, if a company changed its policy to fulltime in office, I'll probably start looking.
 
xrapidx said:
If a company is flexible on travel time, I have no issue going into the office, I also agree, it is a requirement - sometimes you need the ability to walk over to someone's desk and say "Do your ****ing job"

Although, if a company changed its policy to fulltime in office, I'll probably start looking.
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But they're not flexible on travel time. My wife's job is a case in point.
If she's 1 minute late past 8 there's a problem. And often we have no control over the traffic.
 
PaulGherkin said:
But they're not flexible on travel time. My wife's job is a case in point.
If she's 1 minute late past 8 there's a problem. And often we have no control over the traffic.
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You're generalizing, I've worked at a few sites in the past two years - only one wasn't flexible. (my last one).

The current one is the most flexible, so hoping it lasts. They actually told me to stop trying to be in before morning standup (8:30) - and do it at home, then come in. Took 1h10m down to 25m.
 
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