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Over the next year or so, Google will try out new office designs

nytimes.com

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Re: Over the next year or so, Google will try out new office designs

#101

Post by AceJohnny2 »

imgabe wrote: post #93

All of these are just half-assed, incomplete attempts to solve problems that were already solved by private offices. You don't have to worry about a sick person sitting 3 feet away from you if you have a private office. You don't need to wear a mask sitting at your desk all day if you have a private office. You don't need specialized "focus rooms" if you have private offices. You don't need specialized break-out room…

> But, it's not like Google couldn't afford private offices if they wanted to.

Google employs in some of the most expensive real-estate in the world. It's hard and takes years to build more, larger office buildings.

Re: Over the next year or so, Google will try out new office designs

#102

Post by kingsuper20 »

jeffbee wrote: post #95
olliej wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

while I was there I detested the open plan cube farm horror of their offices (at least the SF ones) they weren't even full cubes, being only half height so constant visual distraction, and they didn't completely surround you so you had people always moving around behind you. Changing how the open plan is arranged is just pointless, accept that you have made an unpleasant work environment and leave it alone so at leas…

We were all nostalgic for the half-height cubes of Google SF after it was all converted to no-height non-cubes, just desks on the floor (and they kept making the desks narrower, an inch at a time!).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS5WLkb_Cxk

Re: Over the next year or so, Google will try out new office designs

#103

Post by tazjin »

Animats wrote: post #43
jdhn wrote: post #19

Why would I want to come back into the office if I have to wear a mask?

As soon as a coronavirus vaccine gets full FDA approval (expected soon for Moderna and Pfizer), companies should require immunization for employees. Then they can stop requiring masks. Every vaccine that has ever had serious side-effect problems has shown them in the first few months.[1] The FDA requires six months of data for full approval. Those six months have passed. [1] https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns…

Each move like this creates more anti-vaxxers, but at this point I'm starting to think people are aiming for that.

Re: Over the next year or so, Google will try out new office designs

#104

Post by notatoad »

imgabe wrote: post #93

All of these are just half-assed, incomplete attempts to solve problems that were already solved by private offices. You don't have to worry about a sick person sitting 3 feet away from you if you have a private office. You don't need to wear a mask sitting at your desk all day if you have a private office. You don't need specialized "focus rooms" if you have private offices. You don't need specialized break-out room…

not only are they half-assed incomplete attempts to solve problems solved by private offices, they ignore the excellent solution to the problem open-plan offices were meant to solve: using a small office space for a large staff.

if you let people work from home if they want to, you need far less office space. so instead of trying to cram in a ton of workspaces, just let people who want to work from home do that, and use the space that frees up to give private offices to the people who want to work at the office.

Re: Over the next year or so, Google will try out new office designs

#105

Post by pram »

imgabe wrote: post #93

All of these are just half-assed, incomplete attempts to solve problems that were already solved by private offices. You don't have to worry about a sick person sitting 3 feet away from you if you have a private office. You don't need to wear a mask sitting at your desk all day if you have a private office. You don't need specialized "focus rooms" if you have private offices. You don't need specialized break-out room…

I’ll take a regular cubicle at this point. The thought of returning to long rows of desks crammed right next to each other is causing some real psychological dread.

Re: Over the next year or so, Google will try out new office designs

#106

Post by nzrf »

throwawaygler1 wrote: post #16

As a Googler, I'm pretty disappointed with this plan and I think many colleagues are as well. The office that's being pitched right now has no resemblance whatsoever to the one we left. I just don't see why someone would go through 1+hr commute just to social distance/wear masks, use balloon walls and hotdesk. By now, many of us have gotten a good setup at home and are pretty productive. Even the hybrid model isn't i…

Fully agree with return to office in line with mask mandate. I’m not sure if you tried talking to someone over hangouts/zoom/teams while they where a mask. It’s next to impossible to understand what they are saying with it on. If we are looking at hybrid most chances someone will be remote.

Next marketable item is masks with Bluetooth microphones I guess…

I am so glad I found a new fully remote job to skip going back to the office.

Re: Over the next year or so, Google will try out new office designs

#107

Post by YokoZar »

stevenicr wrote: post #84
okareaman wrote: post #58

> The company will encourage — but not mandate — that employees be vaccinated I wouldn't want to spend a good part of the day indoors with people who aren't vaccinated

[flagged]

You are very wrong on all of this.

mRNA doesn't, and can't possibly, "change your DNA".

Vaccinated people are much less likely to get infected and much less likely to spread infection.

Re: Over the next year or so, Google will try out new office designs

#108

Post by ghaff »

notatoad wrote: post #104
imgabe wrote: post #93

All of these are just half-assed, incomplete attempts to solve problems that were already solved by private offices. You don't have to worry about a sick person sitting 3 feet away from you if you have a private office. You don't need to wear a mask sitting at your desk all day if you have a private office. You don't need specialized "focus rooms" if you have private offices. You don't need specialized break-out room…

not only are they half-assed incomplete attempts to solve problems solved by private offices, they ignore the excellent solution to the problem open-plan offices were meant to solve: using a small office space for a large staff. if you let people work from home if they want to, you need far less office space. so instead of trying to cram in a ton of workspaces, just let people who want to work from home do that, and…

At least hoteling spaces of some sort for people. Combined with conference spaces for when people want to come into the office to meet and work together.

Re: Over the next year or so, Google will try out new office designs

#109

Post by caturopath »

ghaff wrote: post #26
dmitrygr wrote: post #8

If the shuttle buses are to be suspended, but they still expect people to come to work, it is a recipe for disaster. When I still worked there, about 60% of my co-workers took the shuttle from San Francisco. About 90% of those who did, did not own a car. Telling them they have to come to the office or quit is equivalent to firing them. I doubt anybody is going to buy a car AND sit an hour in traffic in the morning an…

Of course, the vast majority of employees in the tech sector manage to get by without shuttle buses, free cafeterias, etc.

Note that the buses are a key part of the offices' parking plans. Some of the garages were already valet double parked in the beforetimes.

Re: Over the next year or so, Google will try out new office designs

#110

Post by mehphp »

908B64B197 wrote: post #47
thoweryo2i344 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> By now, many of us have gotten a good setup at home and are pretty productive. It might be okay for people who've been at Google for a while, but it's really not a very good experience for a Noogler. Google's infrastructure, while amazing, is also one-of-a-kind, which means that you need a lot of internal resources to get up to speed on things, which would go much faster from a face to face interaction. It's nightm…

> some rather unfriendly folk in MTV (who I find are always rather disinterested with us plebs in "shit-hole" India). Not sure why the racism, care to back that up?

He's clearly quoting the racist comment, not being racist themselves.
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