I Just Found Out Why Nobody Wants To Hire Me

[CrysPhys]

It's interesting that no one in this thread has made any comments whatsoever on telecommuting (i.e. working from home). An increasing number of jobs these days can be done remotely from any location with readily available Internet access, thus allowing employers to no longer be bound by geography in terms of hiring decisions.

I work for a company which has employees located all over the world, across 3 continents, all working remotely. All meetings are held via Skype or Webex, and I meet with clients via the same methods as well. This takes the commuting factor out of the equation entirely.

<<Emphasis Added>> I brought this up way back in Post #21:

There are jobs that require only a computer and an InterNet connection; those can be performed remotely. I know guys who are field service techs. They spend most of their time hopping around client locations across the US; they really have no principal work location, other than for administrative purposes. But I also know guys who are plant maintenance engineers: they necessarily must be reliably on site.

But even for jobs that can be done remotely, some company policies just won't allow telecommuting. I worked for a law firm that nixed it; the bosses wanted to keep a close watch on us. And my daughter currently works for an organization that repeatedly has said "Nyet!" every time someone proposes it.

Sometimes there is weird retrogression. I worked for a Big Telcom Megacorps when the InterNet Bubble Burst of 2000 - 2001 hit. It had taken years for telecommuting permissions to be granted. But in the aftermath of the bubble burst, people realized that if your job could be done remotely from 50 or 100 miles away, it could just as readily be done remotely from thousands of miles away ... in India. Suddenly, employees were scrambling to get offices back.

 

[gmax137]

Seems too long

in the Bay Area

That says it all, Bay Area traffic has to be seen to be believed. Some of the freeways have toll-charge express lanes where the toll is like $5 for two or three miles, and then another charge for the next few miles, and so on. That tells you how slow the free non-express lanes are moving.

 

[WWGD]

That says it all, Bay Area traffic has to be seen to be believed. Some of the freeways have toll-charge express lanes where the toll is like $5 for two or three miles, and then another charge for the next few miles, and so on. That tells you how slow the free non-express lanes are moving.

No Ez-pay electronic options?

 

[gmax137]

yes, its electronic with transponders. But how many $$ per mile would you pay?

 

[WWGD]

yes, its electronic with transponders. But how many $$ per mile would you pay?

Ok, I see.

 

[russ_watters]

Google tells me my 13 mile commute home will take 44 minutes.

 

[WWGD]

Google tells me my 13 mile commute home will take 44 minutes.

Is that accurate in your case?

 

[russ_watters]

Is that accurate in your case?

That one was, but it often underestimates.

 

[StatGuy2000]

<<Emphasis Added>> I brought this up way back in Post #21:
But even for jobs that can be done remotely, some company policies just won't allow telecommuting. I worked for a law firm that nixed it; the bosses wanted to keep a close watch on us. And my daughter currently works for an organization that repeatedly has said "Nyet!" every time someone proposes it.

The law firm that you speak of where the bosses wanted to keep a close watch on you sounds to me like a company with a "toxic" work culture that does not respect the intelligence or the dedication of their workers.

As for the organization that repeatedly denies proposals for telecommuting -- I wonder if this is due to simple resistance to change, or the expenses involved from IT's end in setting up a secure server.

Sometimes there is weird retrogression. I worked for a Big Telcom Megacorps when the InterNet Bubble Burst of 2000 - 2001 hit. It had taken years for telecommuting permissions to be granted. But in the aftermath of the bubble burst, people realized that if your job could be done remotely from 50 or 100 miles away, it could just as readily be done remotely from thousands of miles away ... in India. Suddenly, employees were scrambling to get offices back.

I find the attitude of the employees from your former employer in the telecom industry curious. After all, if a company already determines that it is cheaper to set up shop in India or other countries with lower costs of labour, they would have done so already. Outsourcing to India and other countries have taken place long before telecommuting became a thing.

At the end of the day, if employees were worried that their jobs were about to be outsourced, then it will happen, whether there is telecommuting or not. Better to leave and find another company that will both allow telecommuting as an option, while providing an overall better work environment.