Hiring remote workers versus local

DHH recently posted a blog entry Stop whining and start hiring remote workers.  I posted a comment on this that I think deserves its own blog entry.  I think DHH is in a very unique position at 37signals that allows him to hire the best of the best, which means he doesn't have to deal with as many issues with remote workers that most other companies will run in to.  Here is my comment:


"I partially agree with some of the points here. But in my experience people are much more open and frank if you're in the same room as them versus a Skype call. And from a management stand point it is easier to keep tabs on people, help them if they're struggling, etc. if you can just walk up to them and strike up a conversation directly.  If you have nothing but the best of the best developers, like 37signals, this isn't really an issue.  But most companies our there just don't have the reputation that 37signals does to attract the best devs, so we have to settle for many devs that aren't the best.  Especially if you're in consulting and contracting, and need to staff up.  Having remote devs that aren't the best of the best is much more difficult than if these same devs are local.

My experience has also been that remote devs are much less interested in doing any sort of management work.  And when they do management work they're typically less engaging than managers in the office.  They'll do OK managing those they work with day to day but once they need to interact with people from other teams at the company, someone else in the office is usually needed to facilitate the communication.

And there is the social aspect too that others have mentioned.  Several devs that worked remote at previous jobs but are in the office now at my job have said they're much happier in their lives because they have friends in the office, they can go out to lunch and socialize, etc.  This despite having to deal with commuting every day.  There are some devs that socially feel better working remotely but these are in the definite minority from what I've seen.

There is an environmental factor here too that no one has mentioned.  Many cite the environmental benefit of working from home - you're not driving to work every day. But this is not a valid point typically. If you're flying everyone in to the office 3 or 4 times a year, these 3 or 4 flights will usually have more of an impact on the environment than that person driving to work by themselves every day.  A lot of factors can throw this calculation off (like if the person only needs to take a direct 500 mile flight to get to your office, if the person commuting has a 50 mile commute, etc.) but overall 3 or 4 flights per year will equal or surpass commuting every day as far as environmental damage. "

New blog for Scala and Lift

I've started learning a new programming language, Scala, and the web framework built on it, Lift.  Like my Ruby on Rails blog, I've set up a blog for this, Brent's Scala and Lift Posts.  I'll post things here while I'm learning the language.

New spreadsheet, should you keep renting or buy a home?

I put another spreadsheet that I had made a while back online as a Google Docs template. This one is "Should I keep renting or buy a home?". Simply enter some numbers and estimates in, and it will tell you whether it makes the most financial sense to keep renting or buy a new home. See it at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Al_XAoAHsV3edHJWYXdSN1ZhY015UjU5aFF4eDJpeVE&hl=en_US

Online spreadsheet with calculators for mortgages and finances

A while ago I put together a Google Docs spreadsheet for my own personal use to figure out how my finances would look and what mortgage options I would have if I were to sell my current house and buy another house. I've now made this a template, so anyone can use this. The URL is

https://docs.google.com/previewtemplate?id=0Al_XAoAHsV3edDFnZ09YMWg5WS1TOEt4U05QUWxmalE&mode=public

Basically, just plug in some numbers, like how much you think you can sell your house for, how much you owe on your mortgage, how much money you make, how much you think you'll buy a new house for, and some others. The spreadsheet will tell you how much you'll need to save up for down payments for different types of mortgages (standard 20% down, 10% down, and FHA), how long it will take to save up, what percent of your income each of the mortgage types will take up, how much you'll pay over time, etc. Writing this spreadsheet got pretty complex but you can now benefit from my work. I've found it very useful for estimating how much I can afford, how long I have to wait before I can afford a down payment, etc.

New blog for non-Ruby/Rails/web development posts

I've set up a new blog for non Ruby, Rails, or web development tech posts at Brent's Tech Posts. Check it out!

YouTube videos

Now that I have a phone with a camera that can take decent videos (Droid X), I've started taking videos when I go to concerts and posting them on YouTube. You can see all of them at my YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/valenshek?feature=mhum.

Twitter and LinkedIn

I've finally gotten with the times and have set up profiles on Twitter and LinkedIn. I'll probably post a bunch on Twitter for a week or so and then forget about it though, we'll see how this goes. I added a gadget to the blog which shows my 3 latest tweets.

@sowersb on Twitter

Brent Sowers on LinkedIn