Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4

reuters.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 1001 posts

Re: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4

#21

Post by penjelly »

jefb wrote: post #5

Mandates? "Since last June, Google has approved nearly 14,000 employees globally to transfer to a new location or go fully remote, Casey said. About 15% of applications have been denied, he added." "Employees not prepared to return April 4 also can seek a remote-work extension, Google said."

i see your point but the language used actually suggests theyll be bringing people back in the future, even if they allow them to work remote now.

"employees not prepared to return"?

"remote work extension"?

and transfers?

Re: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4

#22

Post by jdlyga »

I work for a large company, and my team has changed so much since before covid.

Before Covid:

5 people in the same New York office, 1 remote in Europe

Today:

2 in New York, 2 in California, 1 in Ohio, 1 in Europe

There is no single office to return to. Though we could meet up with other coworkers on different teams and projects. But in essence we've become a remote team.

Has anyone else's teams become geographically distributed since covid?

Re: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4

#23

Post by barkerja »

foogazi wrote: post #13
infamouscow wrote: post #4

After two years of not being in the office, I don't see how anyone can justify going into the office without putting themselves into a quagmire of hypocrisy and contradiction.

What do you mean ?

I believe they mean from the perspective of the employer. If a team has been able to fully function these past two years and the employees prefer working from home, there's little — if any — justification the employer can make for the return to office.

Re: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4

#24

Post by bpodgursky »

bubblicious wrote: post #14

this is only for those who have opted to not be fully remote. those folks have a reserved physical desk / office space at which they will be required to go 3 days per week starting apr 4th. They may switch to fully remote but cannot keep a dedicated physical spot if they do so. source: googler

Honestly that seems like a totally reasonable ask, assuming there are a reasonable number of flex desks for people who are nominally remote.

Re: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4

#25

Post by c7DJTLrn »

nix0n wrote: post #8
c7DJTLrn wrote: post #3

Do Googlers mind working in the office much? They get plenty of free meals/snacks/beverages, great equipment, and great salary allowing them to live close to the office and pay for childcare if needed. I can't see the rest of the industry moving in the direction of returning to the office, because they don't have these things.

Outside of Silicon Valley, it is possible to live close to the office without a FAANG level salary. Beverages and snacks also are not that rare.

Well, you'd have to be outside of most big cities. Even on a tech salary, living near an office in central London isn't affordable. Not unless you're flat sharing which is basically mutually exclusive with having a family.

Re: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4

#27

Post by paxys »

jefb wrote: post #5

Mandates? "Since last June, Google has approved nearly 14,000 employees globally to transfer to a new location or go fully remote, Casey said. About 15% of applications have been denied, he added." "Employees not prepared to return April 4 also can seek a remote-work extension, Google said."

A mandate which allows temporary exceptions is still a mandate.

Re: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4

#28

Post by 09bjb »

foogazi wrote: post #13
infamouscow wrote: post #4

After two years of not being in the office, I don't see how anyone can justify going into the office without putting themselves into a quagmire of hypocrisy and contradiction.

What do you mean ?

$GOOG stock has pretty much doubled since the beginning of the pandemic, meaning the company has been having absolutely no trouble whatsoever doing its job with a fully remote workforce for 2 years now. They don't "need" employees to come back to the office.

Re: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4

#29

Post by itsangaris »

bubblicious wrote: post #14

this is only for those who have opted to not be fully remote. those folks have a reserved physical desk / office space at which they will be required to go 3 days per week starting apr 4th. They may switch to fully remote but cannot keep a dedicated physical spot if they do so. source: googler

does going remote impact one's salary?

Re: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4

#30

Post by paxys »

I see two reasons to go back to the office:

1. You need a physical space to work from.

2. Your entire team is at the office as well and you can collaborate with them face to face.

I imagine 1 is not a concern for most people who have adapted to the situation over the last two years. And 2 requires that most of your team is local and agrees to come in as well, which I can't see being too likely.

For me personally going back to the office and still sitting in video calls all day with a geographically distributed team makes zero sense. It is a lot more comfortable to do it from home.

Post reply on HN