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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

#131

Post by soheil »

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…

Well you clearly identified the issue boiling down to cost but you keep insisting that the solution must still be private offices. If a private office costs 10x more would an employee’s increased contribution due to their surroundings also move up by 10x? I highly doubt it.

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

#132

Post by jack9 »

heavyset_go wrote: post #128
notatoad wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> Some companies made investments in properties, or signed multiyear leases, before the pandemic happened.

That was unfortunate, but incidental. Larger companies certainly can do the cost-benefit analysis that cancels out those losses if they plan on being around in 10 years.

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

#133

Post by zepto »

soheil wrote: post #131
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…

Well you clearly identified the issue boiling down to cost but you keep insisting that the solution must still be private offices. If a private office costs 10x more would an employee’s increased contribution due to their surroundings also move up by 10x? I highly doubt it.

Where does this 10x figure come from?

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

#134

Post by the_local_host »

HDMI_Cable wrote: post #122
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.

I suspect that would devolve into endless fights over cleanliness and storage of personal items.

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

#136

Post by imgabe »

soheil wrote: post #131
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…

Well you clearly identified the issue boiling down to cost but you keep insisting that the solution must still be private offices. If a private office costs 10x more would an employee’s increased contribution due to their surroundings also move up by 10x? I highly doubt it.

Obviously there's a point where it wouldn't be worth it, but there's also a point where the contortions you go through to not have private offices cost more than just having private offices. How much does it cost to design and develop, then build and maintain moveable wall robots? How much does it cost to employ a team of people to sit around and dream this stuff up? It's not cheap, I'm sure.

It's not like private offices are some new, untested technology. Law firms, investment banks, hospitals, universities, all manage to give private offices to a majority of their professional level staff. It's clearly possible to do and it is not a 10x factor compared to open offices.

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

#137

Post by UncleMeat »

throwawaygler1 wrote: post #113
rokob wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am in the same boat as you and I agree with all you say here. I have a lot opinions on this and continue to say them internally. I encourage you to say this internally as well.

I've been meme-ing about it, but I don't think leadership cares anymore. Instead, I just told my manager that there's 99% chance I'm leaving over the summer, it's a good excuse to take some time off after this crazy year anyways.

Yeah I'm never returning to the office. VP exception or bust. I'm frankly stunned that the company seems to be completely okay with the attrition they are going to see in September.

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

#138

Post by TylerE »

HDMI_Cable wrote: post #123
andrewnc wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Wipe it down? It's silicone.

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

#139

Post by selectodude »

stevenicr wrote: post #121
YokoZar wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Two doses of the polio vaccine are 90+ percent effective. Two doses of the Moderna/Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are 95+ percent effective against any illness at all and 100 percent effective against severe illness. If the polio vaccine is your goal, it's been surpassed.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/polio/hcp/effectiveness-dur...

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

#140

Post by kingsuper20 »

908B64B197 wrote: post #10

There's a good alternative to the open floor plans everyone is building: noise insulated "pods" with 10~12 devs and a meeting room.

If the main things is meetings, I wonder if you couldn't just kit up a cargo van with an office and work in the parking lot.
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