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Google's push to bring employees back to offices, some say they'll rather quit

businessinsider.com

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Re: Google's push to bring employees back to offices, some say they'll rather quit

#111

Post by ArtDev »

chronicsunshine wrote: post #36
underseacables wrote: post #5

I travel a lot because I’m in sales, so I’m constantly in and out of the office. I very much want to return to the office, because for me it’s a homebase, where I can connect with my colleagues. It just hasn’t been the same and I feel that my workflow has diminished without the communal nature of the office.

I'm a developer and spending 1-2 hours a day to commute to an office where I have to microwave a lunch, sit in a cubicle all day, and be forced to overhear coworkers talk about inane things while I'm trying to concentrate sounds like hell to me. Working from home has increased my productivity and made work more enjoyable.

Corporate offices were always terrible but when they removed the cubicles for the "open-office plan" was the last straw. Having my own room for work, at home, is the only way to go.

I would rather my kids interrupt me at my home office than having to hear coworkers chatting and eating all day.

Re: Google's push to bring employees back to offices, some say they'll rather quit

#112

Post by spoonjim »

CarelessExpert wrote: post #89
spoonjim wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Productivity” is not something a person can measure themselves. Sure, some people may be closing bugs faster than when in the office. But productivity manifests itself in different ways over longer time periods. Is there a strong corporate culture? Are junior staff being mentored and trained? Are new product ideas like Chromecast being thought of and shipped? The individual employee is not going to be a reliable ind…

> “Productivity” is not something a person can measure themselves. And management can ? Please, tell me how. Give me metrics and methods for measurement that can effectively capture productivity. What's the KPI for "strong corporate culture" or "innovation"? Because if we can't rely on individual experiences, then clearly the only other option is systemic measurements, so please, tell me how!

Not everything can be numerically measured. By what metric is Macbeth better than the Da Vinci Code?

Also, not all measurements should be shared. Let’s say that they have data showing that new hire productivity and skill growth is much lower when senior engineers are WFH. They’re not going to share that data when forcing senior engineers to be in the office, since it could foment resentment of junior staff.

Re: Google's push to bring employees back to offices, some say they'll rather quit

#113

Post by sam0x17 »

sriram_sun wrote: post #83
notdonspaulding wrote: post #14

What people say they will do when there's no cost associated with an action and what people will actually do once a cost IS associated with the same action are frequently 2 different things. Bob Lutz, in his self-aggrandizing book "Gutz", describes the initial phase of an automobile design project where a survey is conducted asking respondents whether they would prefer a vehicle with heated cupholders. It turned out…

GOOG folks, FB is recruiting stressing on "remote". Call a recruiter today!

No FANG company has good work culture or good work/life balance anymore, and all are entangled in some morally questionable project or another. Go work for a startup.

Re: Google's push to bring employees back to offices, some say they'll rather quit

#114

Post by falcolas »

sam0x17 wrote: post #113
sriram_sun wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GOOG folks, FB is recruiting stressing on "remote". Call a recruiter today!

No FANG company has good work culture or good work/life balance anymore, and all are entangled in some morally questionable project or another. Go work for a startup.

Or for one of the tens of thousands of non-faang/non-startup businesses out there paying good money with actual work/life balance.

As a side note, I personally find it hilarious to associate work/life balance with a startup.

Re: Google's push to bring employees back to offices, some say they'll rather quit

#115

Post by Foobar8568 »

notdonspaulding wrote: post #14

What people say they will do when there's no cost associated with an action and what people will actually do once a cost IS associated with the same action are frequently 2 different things. Bob Lutz, in his self-aggrandizing book "Gutz", describes the initial phase of an automobile design project where a survey is conducted asking respondents whether they would prefer a vehicle with heated cupholders. It turned out…

If I had a dollar each time someone said they wanted to leave badly only to be still in the same company/position 1 or 2 years later....

Re: Google's push to bring employees back to offices, some say they'll rather quit

#116

Post by theflyinghorse »

sam0x17 wrote: post #110
notdonspaulding wrote: post #14

What people say they will do when there's no cost associated with an action and what people will actually do once a cost IS associated with the same action are frequently 2 different things. Bob Lutz, in his self-aggrandizing book "Gutz", describes the initial phase of an automobile design project where a survey is conducted asking respondents whether they would prefer a vehicle with heated cupholders. It turned out…

While technically correct, I think you are dramatically overestimating the difficulty ex-googlers have in getting a new job.

A new job that carries same prestige and benefits?

Re: Google's push to bring employees back to offices, some say they'll rather quit

#117

Post by jeffbee »

CarelessExpert wrote: post #89
spoonjim wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Productivity” is not something a person can measure themselves. Sure, some people may be closing bugs faster than when in the office. But productivity manifests itself in different ways over longer time periods. Is there a strong corporate culture? Are junior staff being mentored and trained? Are new product ideas like Chromecast being thought of and shipped? The individual employee is not going to be a reliable ind…

> “Productivity” is not something a person can measure themselves. And management can ? Please, tell me how. Give me metrics and methods for measurement that can effectively capture productivity. What's the KPI for "strong corporate culture" or "innovation"? Because if we can't rely on individual experiences, then clearly the only other option is systemic measurements, so please, tell me how!

Well, if I was going to pick one organization in my experience that I think is best able to judge developer productivity it would be google. They have a team of organizational analysts who study it and have developed a pretty sophisticated model. Interestingly, in past research they found that remote work is the top predictor of developer productivity.

Re: Google's push to bring employees back to offices, some say they'll rather quit

#118

Post by EGreg »

Wow I have been predicting for 10 years that working from home is super attractive, and the commute is great.

And many people kept telling me how that’s so stupid, and they want to have a social life at work etc. I replied you can a social life with your friends and neighbors if everyone works from home...

Now it seems it has been tried and many people would rather keep it :)

Re: Google's push to bring employees back to offices, some say they'll rather quit

#119

Post by CydeWeys »

sriram_sun wrote: post #108
elite_hackers3 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But then you’d have to work for Facebook… cringe

Quality of life improvement when you work remote is several fold higher. You have to experience it. I've been working remote (consulting) for about 4 years now. My wife has done it about 1/2 her career. We live in sunny SoCal (expensive, but very tolerable when you don't have to get on the freeways). Take care of No. 1 first. That is you. GOOG folks, please don't cringe at FB. There is no difference.

Pretty much everyone has experienced what WFH is like a year plus into the pandemic. Those of us who want to go back to the office have experienced WFH, and our quality of life is lower with WFH. It's no longer true that people who say they don't like WFH would change their mind if only they'd experienced it.
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