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Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

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Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#511

Post by matt-attack »

amyjess wrote: post #198
Nbox9 wrote: post #51

I work for another company that is going to do a partial return to office. I will be looking at options for companies that offer full in person office (or 90% in person office) after things settle down. I have worked full remote for a total of 5 years of my career, and I believe working in the office is a competitive advantage. * Overhearing hallway conversations (and joining them) helps spawn invocation. * I often d…

I do not care about being competitve. I work so I can draw a salary to fund my life. That's it. I don't care about constantly climbing a ladder. I don't care about advancing my career for the sake of advancing my career. I just want to enjoy my life, and working for a living is just my means to that end. If I'm making enough to be comfortable, I don't care about chasing a promotion or getting ahead of people. I can't…

That’s because diversity and inclusion pretty much means “blacks” and “women” fullstop.

I was recently hiring a developer and my massive media company insisted I ensure my recruiter is giving me diverse candidates. I selected an individual who is apparently Spanish Jewish. Some very rare tribe of Jews from Spain. Was that considered diverse? Nope. Needs to be black.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#512

Post by trainsplanes »

wikibob wrote: post #424
gnicholas wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The food/drink part could be the most of it. A Google employee enjoying free food and drink could save $60/day versus buying prepared food ($10 for breakfast, $20 for lunch, and $30 for dinner). If you drink much coffee or other beverages, that could be another $15/day. If you weigh this against spending an extra hour or two commuting, then it looks like a lousy bargain. But if you are like many people, and ended up…

Jesus Christ. I eat well and spend maybe $400 a month on groceries and food. I’ve heard that Google recruiters attempt to con potential employees into some ridiculous assessment of the “free” food as a compensation benefit with numbers like those that you posited above. I can’t imagine valuing daily meals that highly.

Reading FAANG employees talk about food prices makes me realize the old "It's one banana. What could it cost, $10?" is something that was written based on reality.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#513

Post by swader999 »

ghaff wrote: post #379
staticassertion wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When Dropbox served food I valued it at 50k, ie: in order fro a company to poach me, given they don't have food, that's 50k they'd have to make up for. While I don't spend anywhere near 4k a month on food, there were a few things to consider: a) 3 meals prepared for me saves me time and money. I love to cook but I don't have tons of time anymore and I don't have a a good kitchen. If I want to save time via delivery I…

I guess I just can't comprehend a mindset where 3 meals a day at a company is this huge win. On the occasions when I went into an office with a non-free cafeteria, I didn't even always eat lunch. ADDED: This subthread to me is such a bizarre look into a certain bubble of SV. [See also apparent disagreements with the statement that spending $60/day in restaurants is somehow abnormal.]

Imagine rarely eating with your kids or wife.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#514

Post by SubuSS »

I remember someone trying to justify college over self-educating (quality varying all the way from coursera to Wikipedia to YouTube to Facebook): you just don’t learn the same way anywhere else. Being with your peers, having your ideas cross examined in real-time and having direct and personal feedback is invaluable.

I think the same applies to wfh. Yes it is fun, yes I like that I avoid commute, but I’ve also become a shell of what I used to be (remember I wasn’t the most social guy in the first place).

I am looking forward to going back to office and enjoying the hum of work around me.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#515

Post by Lewton »

wikibob wrote: post #424
gnicholas wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The food/drink part could be the most of it. A Google employee enjoying free food and drink could save $60/day versus buying prepared food ($10 for breakfast, $20 for lunch, and $30 for dinner). If you drink much coffee or other beverages, that could be another $15/day. If you weigh this against spending an extra hour or two commuting, then it looks like a lousy bargain. But if you are like many people, and ended up…

Jesus Christ. I eat well and spend maybe $400 a month on groceries and food. I’ve heard that Google recruiters attempt to con potential employees into some ridiculous assessment of the “free” food as a compensation benefit with numbers like those that you posited above. I can’t imagine valuing daily meals that highly.

What’s your hourly wage and how much time do you spend preparing food?

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#516

Post by jjoonathan »

gmadsen wrote: post #449
Izkata wrote: post #442

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Likewise here, I'm floating around $300-350/month at the store, and that includes non-food consumables like tissues and cleaning supplies.

Thats pretty extreme. I am usually around $800 a month, but that includes about 2 meals a week at casual restaurants with friends.

(Context: replying to gray post)

Whenever a pissing contest about grocery prices happens (and don't kid yourself, if a number has been mentioned it's not a question of when but rather an indication that the pissing has begun) you must quote a lower number than the previous person. It doesn't need to be true, it doesn't need to include critical qualifying information like location and tradeoffs, it doesn't even need to be particularly likely -- but it must be lower. So it is written. Here, I'll demonstrate:

I only spend $250 per month on groceries and I cannot imagine the disgusting excess that could possibly lead anyone to waste a single cent more!

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#517

Post by deagle50 »

tdeck wrote: post #488
k-mcgrady wrote: post #60

"Cook wrapped up the memo by saying that he's looking forward to seeing employee faces. "I know I'm not alone in missing the hum of activity, the energy, creativity and collaboration of our in-person meetings and the sense of community we've all built," he wrote." CEO's all spout the same nonsense. The majority of people work because they need to earn money. They're not working to make a new 'family' or change the wo…

I wonder if some part of this is the ego trip of seeing your workers in your building working for you . As an executive, that's got to be more fulfilling than looking at some OKR slides and an employee roster. I don't believe this is the only motivator but it's surely somewhere in the mix.

Totally. Also seeing and hearing the fear and subordination, a sociopath's delight.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#518

Post by [deleted] »

3np wrote: post #436
dcolkitt wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$150 extra from 40 hours of AC is insanely high. That's about what I pay total in the middle of summer in Florida for a decent-size SFH. Check the insulation on your house for a leak. Also maybe consider upgrading to a ductless heat pump mini split. That would almost certainly cut your marginal cost to near $30/month.

Where do you get 40h from? Assuming living in a place that has long hot humid summers and cold winters, thereby needing AC for most of the year, that number should be closer to 100~200. I live quite frugally otherwise (balking at other numbers in this thread) and $150 per month in climate cost increase for the daytimes sounds perfectly normal to me. During the hot summers I spent twice that when living in an apartmen…

[deleted]

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#519

Post by KingOfCoders »

twothamendment wrote: post #507
KingOfCoders wrote: post #490

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$60? Wow, happy to not be in the US. I'd say I spend <$10 a day on food with good quality organic local ingredients.

Not everyone spends that much. If have to guess that most people don't. I'm in the US, and spend less than half that much to feed a family and we don't eat cheap, boxed junk.

Thanks for the insight!

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#520

Post by xmprt »

threeseed wrote: post #498
foogazi wrote: post #477

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There are also plenty of people who like their coworkers and enjoy spending time with them each day. Not saying you are wrong, but The vast majority of people first get jobs to earn money THEN meet the coworkers AND having no other option besides interacting with coworkers during work hours, will try to get along

The vast majority of IT people in Silicon Valley can yell on the street and get a job. So then it becomes which company has the best culture, values, people, environment etc.

I think that line of thinking will be quickly replaced. Better culture, free food, people, environment, etc. all mattered when employees were expected to spend 8 hours a day at work (and often longer). If more companies allow working from home, then that trumps a lot of the other perks because employees can make their own perks such as more flexible hours, shorter/no commute, living where they want to instead of being forced to live close to the office, etc.
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