At the same time though you can now move to anywhere you want (like an area that's cheaper to live) and keep your current job.

working from home works GREAT for certain families, if you got 4 kids (my buddy), he's dying ot go back to work in office.

2 people living in downtown was tough, not working together in the same house was fine, but now, they gotta figure out a way to have their own "zoom / webex" zones has proven difficult.

We’ve had serious meetings via bridged calls and virtual meetings and I’m sorry but I’ve got to say, having your kids in the background is unprofessional af.

yup every phone call or teams calls i get for people needing technical help, always either a kid screaming in the bg or a dog barking like crazy

^ fortunately for me, I have a quiet office space in the garage. That said, it’s not climate controlled like the rest of my house. The previous owner built it and... it’s kinda ghetto. If I have an important webinar and need silence, I’ll head in there. If I’m talking to regular clients that I have a personal relationship with, fuck it, I’m in the house.

I’ll just say this, if you’re bothered by the background noise of whatever’s going on, whoever you’re talking to is likely far more annoyed than you are. I just say it’s no big deal because chances are they’re embarrassed af already. It’s not business as usual these days.

Anyone buy any WFH gadgets? Looks like this is what I'm doing for the long haul.

I bought a massage pillow last week since I'm sitting at my desk all damn day.

^Made 2x4 acoustic panels out of Rockwool panels to reduce sound coming from wife's office and upstairs via the stairwell door.

I'm set up at the back of the living room/dining room downstairs. Bonus is my 5.2.4 home theatre is set up there, so the sound treatments are good for that too.

That's a pretty good idea I should do the same for my sons room he woke me up again last night playing his Fn games.

Typical acoustical panels are nothing more then semi-rigid insulation wrapped in fabric the same type of insulation used to wrap mechanical ducts but unfaced. That's what all the theatres use.

We have a bunch of left over Tectum in our warehouse here I've been meaning to take some home, back with insulation and add it to his walls not sure that would even help though he's so loud.

Trump just announced he is signing an executive order to limit foreign work visas, angering Silicon Valley high tech companies. The only exception so far are healthcare workers related to their work on the battle against COVID-19.

LOL they don't give a fuck about Silicon Valley. Trump is all about clean coal and steel workers and other old timey occupations.

Prepare for an influx of could-have H1Bs to Canada.

silicon valley doesn't care anymore - a significant amount of their future hirings are going to be remote workers.

Yah shaping up to be a nice excuse for big business to marginalize workers again... oh you work from home your job is easier so you get less pay... meanwhile they are also pocketing the savings of you providing your own office and internet and whatever else and they don't have to lease a building or maintain anything or provide any amenities anymore. PROFIT$$$

I don't quite get the argument completely why they think if people work from home in the long run or permanently maybe will be taking less pay. The organizations are spending less such as taxable benefits/office resources; whereas the employees are somewhat spending more such as telecommunications/electricity/office supplies than normal for at home usage. Some will argue it's cheaper to hire foreign workers, but I question how many really want to deal with the tax implications.

the worker may live further away from the city
paying less rent/mtg or upgrade to sthing bigger
save child care, gas, insurance, bus pass, work wear etc

not directly translatable to cost savings but the average employee will also gain 5 hours each week that would've been spent in traffic

I think this belongs here instead of the coronavirus thread?

i'm kind of used to it, everyone's trying to figure out their situation. sometimes a closed door isn't enough to stop all sound and young kids look for parents. hell my coworker lives near chinatown and i hear ambulances and people screaming in the alley :lol

i just go with it, though if they're not speaking we ask everyone to be on mute. i'd rather see a person and maybe a photobomb of a kid in the background than black screens. it's more personalable IMO

We have everyone muted unless they need to speak so it weeds out a lot of background noise. Just imagine how the actual parents feel having to deal with their kids 24/7 :lol

I personally don't think it's that big of a deal as we've learned to deal with it. People are going to have kids to take care of, they'll run up to their parents to ask to watch Frozen or get an apple juice, or their cats will walk all over their laptop and lay there, or someone will be banging dishes on counters and what not. We've been tolerant and understanding of everyone's personal situation and circumstances. Pre-COVID, yeah, that shit would have been a fireable offence. :lol Given the circumstances - not a big deal at all.

My issue is when there is serious, important, discussion going on that was instigated by the individual with the kids, or the person with the kids is running a meeting and is obviously distracted or not taking the discussion seriously as they are juggling their kids in the background

I was in a very important meeting essentially ending the meeting with remarks regarding the whole reason behind the stupid meeting to begin with and the guy who instigated it just kinda replied “oh yea ok good point bla bla” as you could hear him humoring his kids in the background and talking to them

Your kids ain’t my problem. It’s been 4 months like this, figure it out.

If it's a serious/important meeting, I get it. Individuals need to make the necessary arrangements to remove distractions. Maybe time for you to have a serious discussion with said individual, or recommend him start looking up how to apply for CERB. :D

My kid's daycare is still closed, so my kid is stuck at home with me. Do you think it's possible to wave a magic wand and just come up with a child care solution, especially with all the other parents in the same boat looking to do the same thing? Do you think those parents are actually enjoying their situation right now?

No his kids are not your problem, but a decent human and a decent employer realizes that this pandemic is not over yet and lives are still affected. We're not back to normal.

You don’t have like a dog kennel or somthing?

:lol

So how many kids do you have right now? FailFish