Global Workforce
While I value actual face-to-face meetings with whiteboards and sitting next to someone while we run through code, the globalized workforce was a royal pain when working from the office was required. I have no fond memories of the early 2000s, sitting in a conference room with a half-dozen of my California colleagues at 9 pm while we met with our counterparts in India. Likewise those thrilling 3 am meetings when I was orchestrating efforts with a team in both Dublin and Bangalore.
At my recent previous job, I felt fortunate to be able to log in from home for my 9:30 pm meetings with India. Once the pandemic hit, while I worked from home during the day, those meetings at odd hours of the evening were still on my calendar. Often, my remote day started at 7 am and finished around 11-12 pm, with a few breaks between. It's the way things work, nowadays.
In my current position, I am fortunate to be working with a team in Sydney, Australia, so the meeting schedule is so much better, being daytime for both of us.
I know this sounds rather like "when I had to walk 10 miles to school, uphill both ways" but that was the reality. As recently as 1017, I was sitting in a conference room, with one group of us in California and another in Beijing, at times outside standard working hours. There is a lot to be said for hybrid work.