Over the next year or so, Google will try out new office designs • Hacker News Board

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

#141

Post by okareaman » Sun, May 02, 2021, 1:28 AM UTC

losvedir wrote: post #135

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

If you're vaccinated, why not?

if unvaccinated people get infected, they are more likely than vaccinated people to have the virus replicate at an accelerating rate before they show any symptoms. This large surge in replication means they will be spreading it and this may pose a danger to me. The vaccines are not %100 effective and I have several factors that would make it dangerous for me to get sick. I won't knowingly hang out with potential spreaders.

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

#142

Post by stevenicr » Sun, May 02, 2021, 1:30 AM UTC

selectodude wrote: post #139

stevenicr wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

thanks for the clarification - I had not known polio was only at 90% - since it has been all but eradicated (?) I had assumed it was 100.

I worry many others assume similar - as going back to an office with all at 80-90% I would do, but I may skip the shared bathrooms if I was really worried about it.

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

#143

Post by UncleMeat » Sun, May 02, 2021, 1:31 AM UTC

scribu wrote: post #41

The Campfire meeting room seems interesting. Giving remote participants a proportionate physical presence should help equal the playing field. I think it hinges on how easy it is to set up the call, so that each face is on a separate screen.

I do think that having them centered in the group makes it easier to be inclusive to remote participants. GVC has been great for years, so I expect the tech to work flawlessly.

But everything else looks horrible. Hard surfaces. Completely vertical seatbacks that only go up to your lower back. Little sound isolation. Teeny tiny spaces to put a laptop. Limited surfaces to put a cup of coffee.

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

#144

Post by geodel » Sun, May 02, 2021, 1:40 AM UTC

pram wrote: post #105

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.

Well the war on work from home is now peaking. We just had announcement to be back at office desk by June.

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

#145

Post by [deleted] » Sun, May 02, 2021, 1:46 AM UTC

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.

[deleted]

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

#146

Post by nomdep » Sun, May 02, 2021, 1:46 AM UTC

Animats wrote: post #46

One of the good ideas there is video conferencing screens so large that each remote person has their own, and the heads of the remote people are as big as the heads of the onside people. Big flat screens are so cheap now.

Sure, but what the remote people is able to see? Does those screens have extra-wide-angle cameras mounted on top?

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

#147

Post by ashtonkem » Sun, May 02, 2021, 2:12 AM UTC

geodel wrote: post #144

pram wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Well the war on work from home is now peaking. We just had announcement to be back at office desk by June.

Just got that too. I’ve had an open “you’ll have to fire me first” position on the matter.

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

#148

Post by ashtonkem » Sun, May 02, 2021, 2:14 AM UTC

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.

I do not care that the company invested in office spaces. I’m paid to do work, and if I do worse work from an open plan office then demanding that I return to it because some executive is suffering from a sunk cost problem is genuinely stupid. That executive can mourn their losses privately and leave me alone do to the work I’m actually paid to do, thankyouverymuch.

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

#149

Post by ashtonkem » Sun, May 02, 2021, 2:15 AM UTC

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #101

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.

They could not do that.

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

#150

Post by heavyset_go » Sun, May 02, 2021, 2:27 AM UTC

ashtonkem wrote: post #148

heavyset_go wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

I do not care that the company invested in office spaces. I’m paid to do work, and if I do worse work from an open plan office then demanding that I return to it because some executive is suffering from a sunk cost problem is genuinely stupid. That executive can mourn their losses privately and leave me alone do to the work I’m actually paid to do, thankyouverymuch.

> I do not care that the company invested in office spaces

Trust me, I do not care either. I'm just explaining the motivation some smaller employers have for getting employees back to the office, and hopefully those employees can see through it and advocate for their wellbeing.