Is anyone currently working remotely for a large IT Corporation in Maui? (Kihei: rent, insurance)

[cadj59]

Hi,

I recently got an IT programming job that will eventually allow me to work remotely (probably a 2-3 year wait). I was curious if anyone currently works remotely in the IT industry on Maui (not a web developer/marketing entrepreneur/small business owner working locally, someone who actually works for a fortune 500/100 corporation with teams based on the mainland in a remote IT/business role).

At present, I am located in CA and work out of a company office and the rest of my team is scattered across the mainland (lower 48). The crux of my teams are based in the midwest so the meeting times are 6:30am my time (8:30am central). This would translate to 3:30am meetings in Maui!

I would love to hear of the different experiences people have had working remotely with teams based in the mainland (midwest or east coast based). I wonder if it is even possible. Does the insane work schedule catch up with you (working on an east coast/midwest schedule)? As I am writing this I am realizing that my schedule would most likely be 3:30am-12pm!!!! WOW.

I would love to move to Maui. The rent is equal, if not slightly cheaper than Socal. The beaches are much better (I am a huge beach person). In comparison to CA, the income taxes are surprisingly lower in HI (as amazing as that sounds) and the taxes are only going up here in CA. I have visited Kihei before and I absolutely loved it. I could live in Maui in a heartbeat.

[mdand3boys]

Check in advance if your company will allow Hawaii-based employees.
If you are contract, no problem, but due to Hawaii's insurance and taxes, if you are an employee, you may be told no.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by cadj59

Hi,

I recently got an IT programming job that will eventually allow me to work remotely (probably a 2-3 year wait). I was curious if anyone currently works remotely in the IT industry on Maui (not a web developer/marketing entrepreneur/small business owner working locally, someone who actually works for a fortune 500/100 corporation with teams based on the mainland in a remote IT/business role).

At present, I am located in CA and work out of a company office and the rest of my team is scattered across the mainland (lower 48). The crux of my teams are based in the midwest so the meeting times are 6:30am my time (8:30am central). This would translate to 3:30am meetings in Maui!

Does the insane work schedule catch up with you (working on an east coast/midwest schedule)? As I am writing this I am realizing that my schedule would most likely be 3:30am-12pm!!!! WOW.

Well - I'm not sure many people can predicte what 2-3 years in the future will be like work wise.

I used to work for a Fortune 500 company and managed a large team mostly comprised of the Pacific and Mountain time zones. I had to commute every other week to the Bay Area to meet with my teams and customers.

The routine of getting up at 5:00 or earlier wasn't for me. Getting up in the dark when my wife was sound asleep wasn't terribly fun. Only the cats seemed to like it.

You have to decide if those hours are right for you. Keep in mind, you probably aren't rolling out of bed at 3:30 - you need to be ready for work at 3:30. What you often find is - while you think you are off at 12:00 - it doesn't turn out that way and you keep working. You also don't get the advancement opportunities living in Hawaii.

[winkosmosis]

Well I know a guy who works for some healthcare software company as a programmer. It does happen.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

Well I know a guy who works for some healthcare software company as a programmer. It does happen.

Programmers are in a somewhat different category. When I was managing large global software development projects I had various resources working all around the world, and they had all kinds of different work schedules, and I never met most of them. But as PM I was the one who had to schedule meeting times that worked for them, which meant I was the one having to get up at 0 dark Thirty to make the call, or stay up until 26 hrs or whatever.

Having worked remotely for years, though never from Hawai'i, it was my experience that there was a certain minimum amount of face time required to stay connected to other managers and business partners, and not become just a "disembodied head" on a conference call. One company I worked for formally required a minimum of three days a month in the office for remote workers. In such an arrangement regular travel has to be factored in. And career development is tough.

Technology keeps improving, and video-conferencing gets better all the time, which helps communication, but there's still an intangible benefit from periodic personal contact, which is why senior execs tend to travel a lot.

[winkosmosis]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Programmers are in a somewhat different category. When I was managing large global software development projects I had various resources working all around the world, and they had all kinds of different work schedules, and I never met most of them. But as PM I was the one who had to schedule meeting times that worked for them, which meant I was the one having to get up at 0 dark Thirty to make the call, or stay up until 26 hrs or whatever.

Having worked remotely for years, though never from Hawai'i, it was my experience that there was a certain minimum amount of face time required to stay connected to other managers and business partners, and not become just a "disembodied head" on a conference call. One company I worked for formally required a minimum of three days a month in the office for remote workers. In such an arrangement regular travel has to be factored in. And career development is tough.

Technology keeps improving, and video-conferencing gets better all the time, which helps communication, but there's still an intangible benefit from periodic personal contact, which is why senior execs tend to travel a lot.

A lifetime of career advancement for a lifetime in Hawaii is a pretty good tradeoff, assuming you're making enough money at whatever career level you're stuck at. If you're working from home it also means you can go on trips while working. I'd be doing 2 week long photo expeditions in the west.

Here is a picture illustrating the tradeoff... My programmer friend is the one in the white rash guard:

[KauaiHiker]

In theory, the remote working is a boon for employees, but in practice, there are many hurdles. It can work for some people and some companies, and others can get burned. Here are some things to think about, specific to the situation you describe:

- 3:30am is just too early for most people. Unless you're someone who can adapt to a night shift, it literally feels like dragging your body out of bed. Plus, you have to be disciplined to get to bed very early. I work CA hours, 6am-4pm in HI (with breaks), and that's already difficult for me. It is nice to have early afternoon to be with family or enjoy the outdoors (or both).

- The nature of the work is important. When you say IT do you mean programming or maintaining computer infrastructure? Design, managing, programming, writing can be done remotely much easier than dealing with cables and computers. Yes computers can all be accessed remotely, but sometimes you just need to kick the computer (metaphorically speaking).

- Yes, face time is important, so count on 4-6 mainland trips a year. If you go remote on your own accord, the company may or may not pay for your travel. And ticket prices are so unpredictable. Direct flights to the west coast are doable, but I wouldn't want to need to travel much further so regularly.

- As other have said, it's a career limiting move. For programmers, that's not such a big deal, but for other career tracks, it just doesn't make sense.

- You definitely want to downplay the whole surfing and living in HI thing. You don't want to be thought of as the slacker, even if you're not.

- Same goes for working while traveling. I know people who do it all the time, and frankly, they're never online when you need them. Plus, having done it by necessity once, it's just not fun being somewhere and being chained to the computer and some flakey wi-fi.

- I will say that being in the office for 2-3 years will give you a great start with the company, let you establish relationships with your co-workers, and generally make yourself invaluable, as opposed to going remote right away.

It just seems that for being remote in HI, a CA-centric company or one with ties to Asia or Australia would be much better than a midwest or east-coast company.

[Hp1167]

Just from a practicality standpoint, assuming you need 6-8 hours of sleep:

Getting up at 3am means going to bed at 7pm to 9pm. Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing as it tends to get dark in Maui around 7pm or so anyway, so theoretically you can work until noon, then have the afternoon to enjoy the beach or whatever. It might work out.

Where it won't work out is if you have a wife who works normal hours. You'd never see each other.

[cadj59]

To clarify some things, yes, I am a computer programmer. Many people in my role at my company eventually work 100% virtual, however almost never outside of the lower 48 (I'm not sure if this is because it is strongly against the virtual working arrangements or if nobody wants to live in HI, most likely the former). To put it into perspective I can count on one hand how many people work virtually in HI and its a fortune 500 company. I agree that it would probably be career limiting, however if I can make a decent living in paradise I don't need to be in the rat race. I have also heard of people traveling while working (I've heard of people working out of their hotel rooms in Vegas). I am definitely not proficient enough to pull that off.

KauaiHiker- This statement scares me in my pursuit of virtual work in HI. "I work CA hours, 6am-4pm in HI (with breaks), and that's already difficult for me."

I think the reason that noone in my company works virtually in HI is due to the fact that the vast majority of the teams are east coast/ mid west based.

Winkosmosis- pictures like this make me want to move to HI every second!

[whynot?]

I don't have a dog in this hunt, but we have several friends on Maui whose work is primarily with people in the mainland time zones. They go to work a little earlier and go to bed a little earlier, but Maui is not exactly a late-night kind of place. Most restaurants stop seating after 8, and there are very few places that stay open after 11. (Okay, a few that mostly serve the restaurant trade's staff when they get off.)

Maui is kind of a sun-up to sundown culture. It's not unusual for neighbors/friends to start calling around 8AM. (This does not happen on the mainland unless there's an emergency.) A lot of people get up before dawn to call east coast customers, trade stocks, or go surfing before work.

If it's really a dream to live here, why not give it a try (if your work allows, and it doesn't mess up your career)? It's much more complicated to relocate a family with school-age children here -- or to retire here if you have health problems -- but people do it all the time.

Best of luck.