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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

#121

Post by stevenicr »

YokoZar wrote: post #107
stevenicr wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[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.

Digging for more truth then. further down in the same results. cdc April 2 21 doc ( https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-br... ) includes this:

" A growing body of evidence suggests that fully vaccinated people are less likely to have asymptomatic infection and potentially less likely to transmit SARS-CoV-2 to others. However, further investigation is ongoing. "

8th result from healthline ( https://www.healthline.com/health-news/if-youre-vaccinated-c... )includes this: " While all the approved vaccines offer strong protection against severe COVID-19 and hospitalization, the Oxford-AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines block fewer infections than do the mRNA vaccines.

None of the vaccines are 100 percent effective at preventing infections. So even if people don’t get very sick with COVID-19, they may still contract an infection and can potentially transmit the virus to others. "

So it seems that indeed people that have been fully vaccinated with either the mrna (seems like after 2 doses up to 90% protection?) and the lesser ones to a lesser extent..

both types of "vaccines" do not 100% full stop people from getting it an transmitting it.

This is very different from vaccines as I had previously known like polio or shingles vaccines which 100% prevent them and prevent you from spreading them right?

So I guess my point to the OP would be that sure it's fine to not want to go to an office where everyone has not been vaccinated, but this is not like the polio vaccine - depending on the vaccine given there is a 10% or higher chance that those people can still get it and still transmit it right?

It's fine choice to want people to get vaccinated - I just think some people are using the term to think like eradication.. full protection - like polio vaccines.. but this is not that (right?).

Again, happy to be wrong on all of this. But also want other people to not be confused by terms that at this point I feel are being misused, and sure, perhaps for the greater good - but nonetheless can be abused to create a false, and for some people deadly, sense of security.

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

#122

Post by HDMI_Cable »

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…

Also, if you’re trying to have half (or fewer) people at the office, you can have the same office assigned to two people, making it just as efficient as an open-office.

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

#123

Post by HDMI_Cable »

andrewnc wrote: post #120
nzrf wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I haven't admitted this publically, but I am actually really looking forward to Project Hazel masks [0] which look like a crazy futuristic n-95, but have microphones and clear portions to help with communication. [0] https://www.razer.com/concepts/razer-project-hazel ps. They have been approved from concept phase, so they are being built as we speak

How would someone wash it, if it got dirty?

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

#124

Post by dmitrygr »

kazen44 wrote: post #64
ghaff wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

the sillicon valley bubble of HN is sometimes hilarious. the concept of a company providing shuttle bus service instead of just having proper public transport to bussiness parks is very weird when one thinks about it.

It is not Google's job to fix public transit in the Bay area. But given the lack of transit, if they don't provide shuttle service, many of their workers cannot work from the office. So not really a bubble as much as stating the fact.

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

#125

Post by HDMI_Cable »

ThrowawayR2 wrote: post #90
fasteddie31003 wrote: post #34

I want to see what statistics management are looking at where going into an office is better than the current WFH arraignment. Tech stocks are at all time highs with the current work situation. I'm personally never working full time in an office again. I can only see an office being good for junior engineers.

> " Tech stocks are at all time highs with the current work situation. " The logical conclusion to draw from tech stocks being at all time highs is "the general public being isolated at home forced a huge increase in tech usage and purchases", not "WFH is great for tech companies".

To be fair, some of that growth for those tech companies comes from WFHers (like people buying on Amazon more), but I get what you mean.

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

#126

Post by cma »

hpoe wrote: post #116
Animats wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I have concerns with employers requiring a vaccine to allow you to return to work because of the dangerous precedent it can set that employers have some valid need to suddenly start knowing your medical status, and once they get their foot in the door I don't see them quietly giving up that power.

Employers have always had a right to know communicable disease status (when it could be communicated feasibly at work, not for something like HIV/AIDS or other STDs). Vaccination status to such a disease is just a stochastic level above that and has been required in college dorms, etc. already before the pandemic.

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

#127

Post by HDMI_Cable »

> the company asked a diverse group of consultants — including sociologists who study “Generation Z” and how junior high students socialize and learn

I don’t want to start Google-bashing here, but I have no idea why Google is investing in Gen Z offices. I’m a Gen Z, and I can tell you that none of these changes would make us any more productive, and for the anxious among us (a scary amount) would probably hurt. I think Gen Z would appreciate WFH and private offices best.

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

#128

Post by heavyset_go »

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…

> if you let people work from home if they want to, you need far less office space.

Some companies made investments in properties, or signed multiyear leases, before the pandemic happened. I know of a couple that are itching to get people back to work in-person.

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

#129

Post by throwawayboise »

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…

Since vaccinated people are told they still need to wear masks, why will this change if the vaccine is formally approved by the FDA? It's the same vaccine.

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

#130

Post by randyrand »

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.

my commute was already 1hr 30 minutes each way with the bus. sometimes 2hrs. its not a practical commute without a bus. Too much traffic.
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