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Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are asking staff to work from home

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Re: Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are asking staff to work from home

#91

Post by jb3689 »

daniel_iversen wrote: post #17

Dropbox is too[1] and what I like about this is that their main motive (I think, based on the kind of person I’ve seen Drew being) isn’t just not their employees getting sick, or it spreading inside Dropbox, but also to make their tiny contribution to it spreading less in the world in general. And in the article it mentions it’s only in Seattle that these other companies are instituting work from home, and it seems l…

I think for most companies the idea is they don't want entire teams getting sick (or worse) at the same time. It's nice to think there's a larger motive at play here, but I strongly believe self-interest is the primary factor. I also wouldn't be surprised if a lot of this is just SV monoculture at play (you'd hate to be the company that didn't do it and paid the price even if it was just bad press)

Re: Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are asking staff to work from home

#92

Post by ailideex »

zzzcpan wrote: post #90
ailideex wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which country was totally prepared for this?

Probably none of the countries that push "don't use masks" propaganda.

Well that rules out Norway then... thanks Trump!

Re: Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are asking staff to work from home

#93

Post by intopieces »

strstr wrote: post #4

This is a massive accidental experiment on the effectiveness of fully remote teams. Most of these companies are fairly reticent to have even a few workers remote, let alone entire teams/orgs. It'll be interesting to see if teams push for something closer to full remote wherever it worked well (or if some employees will want it, having not realized what it was like). Plausibly teams that it works well for will have gr…

Those teams will ultimately walk away from this with proof that WFH “doesn’t work.” Distributed teams can work, it just takes a different set of organizational structures that keep people engaged and visible, structures that aren’t in place due the sudden nature of the virus.

Re: Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are asking staff to work from home

#94

Post by SpicyLemonZest »

intopieces wrote: post #93
strstr wrote: post #4

This is a massive accidental experiment on the effectiveness of fully remote teams. Most of these companies are fairly reticent to have even a few workers remote, let alone entire teams/orgs. It'll be interesting to see if teams push for something closer to full remote wherever it worked well (or if some employees will want it, having not realized what it was like). Plausibly teams that it works well for will have gr…

Those teams will ultimately walk away from this with proof that WFH “doesn’t work.” Distributed teams can work, it just takes a different set of organizational structures that keep people engaged and visible, structures that aren’t in place due the sudden nature of the virus.

Although I'm not sure that's necessarily an unfair reaction - compatibility with remote work isn't the only relevant factor when building organizational structures.

Re: Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are asking staff to work from home

#95

Post by Debogue »

chronofar wrote: post #82
guessmyname wrote: post #8

My employer dislikes remote work, many will disagree, but I’ll explain why… The company makes video games and as you can probably guess being creative is very important. Working from home reduces the creativity of every employee not just because the existing tools for telecommute are insufficient to create a good work environment but also because it prevents people from socializing with spontaneity. Add to this the f…

> many of the game developers and designers need special hardware (different game consoles, VPN routers, high speed Internet, interactive pen displays, additional software licenses, etc) that the company would have to buy for every single person to maintain the quality and development speed they have from working on-site. Buying individuals what they need is likely still cheaper than maintaining a large office space.…

I'm not sure the stimulation of creativity can be improved much with process and management. Just like bouncing off ideas, brainstorms etc. works best in-person. Physical contact is something that is hard to replicate or work around with technology. Everyone has experienced the difference between webconferencing and real person meeting and can tell that one has more weight than the other. Maybe VR could be of use here since it helps lift that imaginary barrier that gives weight to conversations.

Re: Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are asking staff to work from home

#96

Post by EForEndeavour »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #86
orion_uranus wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried the library? Personally I noticed it help me if I did my usual routine but instead of going to work I'd go work at home. What I mean by this is that i'd wake up at my normal time, wear actual work clothes and fully prepare myself like I'd usually do going to the office. Gets my head in the right space.

My library is a no-go in my opinion. They have meeting rooms, sure, but each 6-8-person room is occupied by one college student studying alone. So its share a table with strangers or nothing.

Do they not have communal tables out in the open?

Re: Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are asking staff to work from home

#97

Post by lotsofpulp »

Zenbit_UX wrote: post #83
lotsofpulp wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s nothing, because people can’t do anything other than wash their hands and not touch their faces. The media hype is a problem because it causes supply chain issues. People over 80 are always at risk of the flu and other crap, and again, the only thing to do is properly wash your hands and not touch your face.

I would be a lot of money that you touch your face dozens - if not hundreds of times - a day, just like everyone else. It's a normal human reaction to multiple stimuli. There's a video spreading on reddit right now of the talking heads regurgitating the same advice you're giving now, they usually last about a few seconds after telling others not to, before touch their face.

And? It’s the best we can do, so keeping it in mind might help reduce the frequency.

Re: Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are asking staff to work from home

#98

Post by eddyg »

BigBubbleButt wrote: post #9
freepor wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this works well I will eat my hat. This represents: companies with no remote-work culture (thus systems that are not fully documented, etc.), forcing employees into this suddenly (so they will not have a proper space at home set up for this... some of them will be in the same room as a crying baby), while their spouse may also be working from home due to the virus, while everyone is also thinking about getting a d…

> while everyone is also thinking about getting a deadly virus every time they leave the house Am I the only person who isn't worried about the coronavirus? I'm not exaggerating when I say it hasn't effected my life at all, except for the effort it took me to write this comment. I live in San Francisco, if it matters.

"Precautionary decisions do not scale. Collective safety may require excessive individual risk avoidance, even if it conflicts with an individual's own interests and benefits. It may require an individual to worry about risks that are comparatively insignificant."

https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1235663235573067777

Re: Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are asking staff to work from home

#99

Post by hrez »

daniel_iversen wrote: post #17

Dropbox is too[1] and what I like about this is that their main motive (I think, based on the kind of person I’ve seen Drew being) isn’t just not their employees getting sick, or it spreading inside Dropbox, but also to make their tiny contribution to it spreading less in the world in general. And in the article it mentions it’s only in Seattle that these other companies are instituting work from home, and it seems l…

Coronavirus: Facebook tells most Bay Area employees to work from home

https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Coronavirus-Fac...

Re: Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are asking staff to work from home

#100

Post by mcv »

ailideex wrote: post #89
feistypharit wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The us is totally unprepared for this. Similar to our all out other public infrastructure, we've been neglecting it for years.

Which country was totally prepared for this?

Depends on what you mean by "totally". People cannot be "totally" controlled, but there's a lot of difference between how good of a handle various countries have on this.
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