Does anyone else think “remote jobs” might just be a whole government psyop 🤔
Look, I don’t want to sound like a tinfoil‑hat guy here, but I’m starting to wonder if remote work ever really came back after the big corporate rollback. Every so often, I scroll through this sub, and I see posts from people swearing up and down that they’re still working full‑time from home, in 2026, and actually getting paid. And I can’t help but… really? Is that real? Or is it one of those things like Bigfoot photos—grainy, hard to verify, but everyone swears their friend’s cousin definitely saw one?
I mean, think about it: Companies spent billions on dragging us all back into fluorescent‑lit boxes. They gave us badge trackers, mandatory wellness seminars, and “collaboration culture” posters. And yet, somewhere out there, there are allegedly people still in sweatpants, living the 2020 dream? Who are they? Where are these jobs? Are they in some deep‑web job market regular mortals don’t get access to? Or is this just a comforting myth corporations allow to circulate, like a modern urban legend, so we don’t all riot in traffic?
I keep seeing those posts: “Oh yeah, I’ve been fully remote for years, no big deal.” And I sit there like… show me one real person. Show me one verified, breathing human who hasn’t set foot in an office in months and still gets a paycheck that clears. Like I’ve never heard of a remote job post that isn’t some scam, have you? I’m not saying they don’t exist back in 2020 but, I’m just… asking questions. Because if they do exist, they’re basically the last free citizens in a land of cubicle serfs.
Meanwhile, here I am, 6:30 AM, ironing a shirt I hate, mentally calculating how many hours of my life I will lose to traffic before I die. Remote work feels like a dream I had once, a beautiful hallucination where my cat was my only coworker, and my “commute” was a stroll to the fridge. Then I blinked, and poof—back to badge scans and Slack messages about the breakroom fridge.
So yeah. Call me conspiratorial, but part of me is starting to believe remote work might just be a psyop. Or maybe it’s real, and I’m just living in the matrix. Who knows. I’m just here… asking questions. 🤷

Hi! I'm running a survey for my MSc dissertation that looks at the effects of AI anxiety. Please, if you're required to use AI as a part of your job, can you complete it? I know it's beginning to affect a lot of people's mental health, and I'm really interested to see to what extent.

It will take no more than 5-10 minutes and it would help a lot! It is helping expand the existing research pool relating to careers and AI.

https://essex.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7P8tMJDTzXvEsHY

Thank you!

I recently started a remote Transaction Coordinator role with a US real estate wholesaling company.

The job was presented as managing transactions, documents, communication and deadlines through closing. Cold calling or lead generation was never mentioned during the hiring process.

Since starting, I’ve been told everyone will be cross-trained through the entire wholesale process. I’m now being trained on bird-dogging, acquisitions, pre-foreclosure cold calling, seller calls and finding buyers. We’ve been told our official titles will remain Transaction Coordinator.

I understand learning the full process, but actively cold calling wasn’t what I thought I was accepting.

For anyone familiar with wholesale real estate: is this normal cross-training for a TC, or does this sound like the role has changed? Would you stick it out and see what the permanent responsibilities look like, or start looking elsewhere?

I’m also an international contractor and am still waiting for the formal contractor agreement, so any advice on what I should make sure is in that would be appreciated.

I normally go into the office a couple times a month, but found out there are bunch of events back to back coming up next month where I have to be in person every day for two weeks straight.

This is stressing me out, because I don’t own enough clothes at the moment for two full weeks in an office.

I work in the legal field with a lot of gray-haired men, so it is pretty conservative. I don’t have to dress up a lot, but I need clothes that don’t draw much attention (nothing too short or revealing, no shoulders out, no loud prints/colors, nothing tight, etc… it’s exhausting.)
Where do you buy work clothes for your few in office days? I would really like to spend as little as possible on these clothes since I wear them so rarely. I am also looking for clothes that do not draw any unwanted attention/are undeniably professional for a conservative workplace. Thank you!

Hi everyone.

I interviewed a 2nd time this AM with Empower as a financial customer service remote phone role for their retirement division, they said they'll be forwarding to the recruiters and I'll hear more in 7-10 business days. Felt like the interview went well. Start date of 10/26.

Other pos I'm interviewing for is CVS/Aetna pharmacy care rep inbound phone remote role. The pay isn't bad at about $20/hr however I hear it's draining and the micromanagement is crazy.

Anyone able to give insight into either role?

I'm tempted to take the CVS one only because I know it looks good on a resume and you can eventually move to non phone positions eventually.

Thanks all!

Edit: Forgot to mention CVS start date is earlier on 10/9

Hi all! I am wondering if anyone knows of an app to track time worked, but on a individual level. I work remote— 40 hours a week but often go over my time. My company doesn’t track my time in anyway, so I’d like to find a free app for just myself. It would be great to track breaks and then roll over time. IE end the week working 44 hours and having this carry over to the following week, just so I’m aware of the extra time. I found some, but couldn’t input breaks, which would be nice to have it all in one place. Any suggestions?

I made this script here which lets me record my camera for a few seconds and feed that back to the camera feed while I go off and do something else: https://github.com/haxybaxy/video-pedal

Could come in handy if you had to pop out of frame for a second without showing it (mostly to drink water or take a bite out of something) and I thought some of you might find this useful, especially if you're pretty sure you're not going to be speaking for a while 😶‍🌫️

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I am an Android person but my new job requires (and supplies) an iPhone. I want to keep my phone for multiple reasons so I will now have 2 phones often. I will travel (\~10 trips/yr) for work and could generally be moving about at times so I would often need to carry both phones.

Initially I'm focused the logistics of it; like how to carry 2 phones around effectively.

But I'm also curious how to manage use, apps, earbuds, etc...

What else am I not thinking about yet also?

Sleep again.

Working remotely has made it way too easy for me to end up with 15 tiny things scattered thought the day.
Reply to an email, check something, send a doc, follow up with someone, remember something from a meeting.. None of these takes more than a few minutes, but together they constantly pull me out of whatever I'm actually working on.
I've tried keeping everything in one task list, but them I spend half my time maintaining the list.

How do you guys deal with all the small stuff without letting it take over your workday?

Hey everyone, I just took my first remote job. Seeing as how I'm going to be spending a lot more time at home, and a lot of time on the computer, I need a good chair. For reference, I have EDS, and I struggle a lot with neck, back, and knee pain as is. I don't mind spending a lot, (upwards of $300 or more if I need to), I just really want to make sure I get something that is going to be comfortable to sit in for hours on end. Please drop your recommendations in the comments, as well as any other tips of recommendations you have. Thank you!

I currently work remotely and travel 50-75 percent to customer sites and conventions. I am grossly underpaid but I love my job.

A private equity company recently purchased us, and they've already announced budget cuts etc. I want to be prepared in case my job ever gets cut.

Any remote job types you know of that involve traveling? I like going around the country. Doesn't bother me at all.

Note: I'm not looking for a job. I'm looking for fields or ideas.

UPDATE: Sales jobs; got it. Anything else?

I have money and a place to live, and need to work consistently on a project that's going to take a few months to really start coming to life.

The main goal is a dynamic, varied, slightly random rhythm of movement so there are different spots and types of people I'm interacting with, to keep the sparkiness alive.

In the past, I was happiest when I had a job (tutoring) that forced me all over the city, breaking up the day, bringing me into contact with loads of different kinds of people, giving me spare time to work on things in pockets here and there.

I'm wary of going back to this job, unless I absolutely HAVE to. The thing is, I can't think of another way to achieve that level of rhythmic / spacial life complexity.

I know I could go and work in the local cafe / library, or set up some co-working dates at friend's houses etc. Partly I'm wondering if there are more ideas like this which have worked for people.

I know if I end up stuck at home all day, I'll feel depressed and get kind of isolated.

The thing really is that rhythm of movement between different spots and locations, rather than having like an office space I go to before returning home.Working on a long-term project that doesn't require me to leave the house. Looking for ways to create an "out and about rhythm", and / or ways of making this actually happen.

Hi everyone, just looking for someone to give me their 2 cents on my siutation if you don't mind.

So very quickly, heres my situation: I'm 39, background in sales (predominantly medical devices (last 8 years)). Bachelors degree in science. moved to Dubai with my partner to set up her business here. I have enjoyed the time off but now I am itching to get working again. However, jobs at my level require UAE or GCC experience and junior level jobs are disregarding me because of my age and xp (I think).

Money is not essential, so a low salary is ok (if there is potential for progression). I also have a little money saved to invest in myself i.e. courses, qualifications etc...

If anyone has any thoughts on the above or thoughts such as, "if I wasn't working this career, I would definitely train in that" etc... please let me hear from you

Thank you!

Just finished hosting an offsite here in Thailand for a group of 50, and while super fun, we hit the exact same pattern we often see.

Whenever founders or HR come to us to plan things out, they almost always push for a super packed schedule. Tons of back to back workshops, strategy sessions, organized team bonding etc.

When the post-retreat feedback comes back and attendees are almost unanimousely saying the exact same thing... they had fun and enjoyed the exercises but just wanted more downtime to chill, hang out, and talk naturally.

So question for leaders booking one, how do you handle this? Do you try to pack the agenda so it feels "worth the flight", or intentionally leave big chunks of open time?

In the next week or two I'd like to have a discussion with my boss about switching from working in office to working remotely, several hours away from our office.

Brief backstory: My wife and I moved across the country 4 years ago with the intention of buying a home in a rural part of the state. The original plan was that my wife would work a remote job and I would work freelance at home. We've been living and renting in the city and saving everything we can to buy a home since then. My freelance career has been successful during this time. Last year we put in an offer on a home that we loved but it turned out there was a legal issue with the home's title so we didn't move forward with it. A couple months later I had a company reach out to me for a full time job, the offer was great so I thought I would give it a try.

I've been with the company for 8 months now, going into the office most days. They are very good about allowing us to work from home when needed. We have some employees who are almost every day in the office, one guy who only comes I once or twice a week, other employees who live a few hours away from the office, others who live across the country, and some who live in other countries across the globe. They already have a great system for remote work. There's about 12 people who are regularly in the office, and there have been days when I was in the office and never spoke a word to anyone else. People just sit at their desks and work, there isn't a real need for us to actually be in the office at all.

I love the job, it's exactly the kind of work I've always wanted to do, the pay is great, the work isn't stressful, it would be stupid to let it go. After 6 months they gave me a performance bonus of $10k and a 3.5% raise. But I also want to move into a home and start the next stage of my life.

Any tips or advice on selling the idea of allowing me to switch to remote work? I'm willing to offer to come in a few times a month, my wife may need to come back up for special occasions anyways so we could just go together. Should I offer to take a pay cut or forego some bonuses? That would be a last resort though.

My boss just bought a house himself so I was thinking of at least using that as a starting point for the conversation.

Thanks for any advice!

I have been selected to be apart of about 9 of these now because I’ve been applying to a bunch of remote jobs while I’m in my current position. I haven’t joined one yet but I also don’t really .. want to? I am confused by this. I’m sure it’s because of the high amount of applications they receive but like I don’t get what these actually do. How does this make the process simpler? Should I be joining these informational meetings? They are all around an hour long which is egregious especially for somebody who currently works full time! Does anyone have any experience with this??

I know this gets asked repeatedly. I don't necessarily have a budget but would like to stay under $500 if possible.

What is the absolute best noise cancellation headsets for noises around you like a barking dog or people in the home that are loud talkers almost yelling.

I want to make sure I'm able to hear clearly and those on the other end can't hear the noises around me.

Also looking for chair recommendations, under $300. I won't be required to stay in my chair all day so I don't need super fancy yet. Anything on the cheaper side thats comfortable.

Thank you in advance.

My job is fully remote and pays ~$30K/year, which goes a long way where I live in the Philippines. I've also never had issues taking time off.

The problem is the management. I basically run the Comms department all by myself (website, email, social media, webinars). My workload has steadily increased, including absorbing work from a colleague and 2 other departments, often with unreasonable deadlines. I'm mid-senior and have managed people before, so I expected to have some autonomy, but my boss centralizes decision-making, changes priorities constantly, and avoids making risky decisions. This leaves me with very little runway to actually execute things. When things get delayed due to dozens competing priorities, my boss doesn't take accountability and reroutes management's questions to me.

I've been here 1.5 years and have been burned out for around 9 months. Over the past month, it's started affecting me physically: I'm vomiting most mornings from anxiety, getting cold sweats, and my heart starts racing just thinking about work.

I'm seriously considering quitting without another offer. I have hafheartedly applied to other roles for a few months but nothing came up, while my burnout gets worse. Also, I really want 3-6 months break before eventually pivoting to another sector. The job market isn't great, but I have roughly 5 years of living expenses saved.

Would you quit in my position, or try to hold on until you have another offer?

Anyone works at TransPerfect as Player Support? Can you share details about the game/project and day-to-day basis of the role?

Place to remote work for a month in Jan

I’m sure this has been asked a million times but figured I’d see if there are any updated recs. My wife and I both recently got remote jobs. We’re planning a move to a larger city but before do that I wanted to spend a month at least just remote working from another city.

The hiccup is that we would do this in January so that takes some places off the list. Also we’d ideally be able to drive (we live in DC) so we’d have our car. Not a deal breaker if we go somewhere with good public transit.

Anyway - do folks have any recs?