Covid-Era Tech Grads Launch Careers From Parents’ Homes
The coronavirus pandemic has created a uniquely challenging environment for entry-level workers.
Caren Zeng started a job at Google this month. She works from a bedroom at her parents’ house.
Photographer: Michael Short/Bloomberg
Eric Lee has dreamed of working for Microsoft Corp. for as long as he can remember, and was stoked this spring to land a job at the tech giant right out of college. But instead of traveling across the country to start his career at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash., Lee joined the workforce this month from his family’s house in the suburbs of Boston.
The arrangement has its comforts. Every hour Lee’s mom brings him a different type of cut-up fruit, then usually noodles for lunch. But he feels disconnected from his new colleagues in a way he wouldn’t if they were sharing an office. When Lee gets stuck on a tricky line of code, he sends a message asking for advice, then tries to figure it out himself. If that fails, he passes the time until he gets a response by watching videos on TikTok. Sometimes it takes hours. “I’m afraid of asking dumb questions or intruding when they are AFK, away from keyboard,” Lee says. “So I just wait.”