Ask HN: If you don't permit telecommuting, why?
I am a remote worker and if I ever ran a company I wouldn&#x27;t allow telecommuting.  Here is why:<p>When I was at the office for a decade, 90% of the insight and productivity came from informal conversations in the hallway, lunches and things I overheard in passing.  As a remote worker, nearly all communication is very deliberate so I am not exposed to those ad-hoc conversations.  Everything is very deliberate:  I receive an email, a text or a meeting.  The net result is my personal career becomes very confined and stunted... I become that guy who does that one thing rather than a team-member who has an awareness of everything and the ability to jump in as needed.<p>Being remote also limits my upward mobility.  Most of my promotions and moves were because I would walk back from a meeting with an executive and talk about what was discussed and express interest in taking ownership.  These walk-and-talks are the only availability in an execs schedule.  I tried to get time with an exec remotely and it was a full two months before I could get any time-- and since it was scheduled it wasn&#x27;t ad-hoc and overly formal (&quot;What would you like to discuss?&quot;).<p>So, in my judgement, remote workers are fine for very defined single tasks. For dynamic workers that move about the company and immerse themselves in lots of projects and want upward mobility, I can&#x27;t recommend it.<p>I feel like my experience of being in office and remote at the same company gives me some unique perspective versus the people who join a company remotely and never fully appreciate what they are missing.