@grayface_ghost@tech.lgbtWhy don't tech companies hire people on part-time contracts? Given the proportion of programmers who are neurospicy (I have no stats, just we seem to be drawn to it) you'd have thought it would be a good way to attract folk.
Now I'm apparently at least temporarily semi-retired, I struggle to get up and moving on a morning. If I had, say, a four hour remote shift from 8 til 12, that wouldn't even cut into my day. And I could earn some money and they could get my coding output and everybody would be happy.
But no, it's all back to office and high pressure environment and move fast break shit and work all day every day until you find out the pension you saved for us disappearing up Trump's arse because he's no better at running an economy than he was at businesses.
Seriously though, why? I honestly think two 4 hours a day programmers would be more productive than a single 8.
@grayface_ghost There are any number of jobs that don't really fit 9-5 40 Ur work week in terms of what you usefully do Vs mandated time in the office. And the return to office push is part office property portfolio managers and part "controlling the lives of employees gives management a sense of accomplishment" - if you're not running an assembly line or in construction or dealing with people in person, there's no reason not to. I'd work 12-8 if I could as a natural night owl.
@grayface_ghostYeah.
I'm a night owl too, but if I need to get up in the morning I can, easily. If I don't, it's nearly impossible. Getting up for an 8 start and getting it out the way would suit me.
It's fascinating that COVID showed office environments are about little more than control, yet collectively we don't have the power to stop them enforcing it.
My last boss told me, just before I left, they were going to trial hybrid working one day a week but that in his experience the most productive work happens around the water-cooler.
I managed to hold back from telling him he hadn't actually done any work for decades then. I did tell him one day a week would make recruitment difficult as their competitors were a decade ahead of them.
@grayface_ghost I also remember the push they made to try and say all coping mechanisms everyone had for getting through the office week were actually things everyone missed and it's like...no. no we don't miss any of that.
@grayface_ghost Two 8 hours a day programmers are usually less productive than a single 8.
Software development scales really badly by adding people; it is a truism of software project management that trying to deliver a software project faster by adding more people is like trying to put out a fire by adding more petrol.
The more developers you have, the more meetings and management you need to keep them all working together and not building wildly incompatible solutions to the same problem.
@grayface_ghostI've never known anyone able to work at full burn coding for eight hours a day. Just sayin'.
I don't.think human brains can sustain it effectively. 4 hours? Maybe.
I agree about the more people thing in practice but that's often down to mistakes at the design level imho. That said I've only ever worked in or led small teams.
@bencurthoys @grayface_ghost a friend described it as cavitation. Trying to speed up a software project beyond its limit y adding man hours simply causes turbulence. Like there is a maximum speed a propellor can make a ship go, spinning it faster just creates air pockets and turbulence.
@grayface_ghost
@anathem
at least in Germany you have the right to go part time, but you gonna have to work at that employer for half a year forst
@grayface_ghost
I'm useless in the morning. If you employed me for the 8am-till-12pm shift, I'd get nothing useful done. 
More significantly:
In most of the companies I've worked in, people want to be able to contact a developer at any time during working hours. If a customer has a problem in code I've written, Support wants to be able to escalate to me quickly. Same for other developers, the Docs Team, Project Management, Uncle Tom Cobley and all.
As well as that, I can get more done per hour when there's more in my mental cache. Working on a given task for six hours a day is more than twice as productive as working three hours a day.
If and when I go part time, I'm likely to do what a lot of devs in this company do when we get old and creaky: work four or even three days a week. That'll keep me productive on the days I do work, but also give me more time for R&R and time with Helen.
@IncHulk@mastodon.green@grayface_ghost From experience I would say that a 4h/day coder working on a ‘well documented and defined’ project , is more efficient than having an IT person in the office for 8 hr/day.
@grayface_ghost US based perspective.
I’ve hired and managed a number of developers over the years. Web services and mobile apps can make part time/fixed hours challenging, as the people developing the code are also usually the ones supporting it. For small teams in particular, you lean heavily on the person that wrote the code. So, if a high priority issue occurs, you may need that person to jump online, regardless if they are on shift.
Larger teams, you can manage it better …
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@grayface_ghost
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But you have to deliberate in setting that up.
If you have non-critical tasks, those may be better suited to part time work.
Many companies prefer salaried employees, so they aren’t dealing with the perceived hassle and the reality that commercial software isn’t a fixed hours per week job.
Just my opinion, from what I’ve seen first hand