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

reuters.com

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

#151

Post by kcb »

librish wrote: post #84

I think anyone who's claiming that remote work has been "proven" to be better or worse is wrong. There are some studies but they use estimations and proxies, carrying the same flaws as doing performance reviews based on lines of code. We've proven that the big tech companies can go fully remote and not completely crash and burn, that's about it. Some people love the lack of commute and less semi-forced hanging out, s…

> We've proven that the big tech companies can go fully remote and not completely crash and burn, that's about it.

Most big tech companies are public. Record earnings and stock prices throughout the pandemic prove more than just not crashing and burning.

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

#152

Post by tomnipotent »

bnj wrote: post #134
jbay808 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Location is one factor in cost of living, but there are a lot of others too: the type of car you drive (if you drive a car), the quality of food you buy/coffee you drink/restaurants you frequent, the number of kids you have, the schools they go to, etc. Should companies adjust compensation according to these variables too, or just city?

Why should cost of living be a factor in pay determination?

It shouldn't. Paying local market rates makes sense when your customers and business operate locally.

Google's revenues, however, are not limited based on employee location and I sure as hell don't see why pay should be.

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

#153

Post by csa »

rr808 wrote: post #73
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.

I'm going to strangle my wife and kids if I have to stay in my apartment with them another two years.

Strongly suggest a co-working space nearby if that’s the situation at home. It would suck to have to pay for something that other folks don’t have to pay for, but if that’s the reality you find yourself in…

Obviously upgrading to a place with a dedicated office would probably be comparable, but that makes some assumptions on my part that might not be accurate or reasonable.

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

#154

Post by whartung »

DebtDeflation wrote: post #122

Why do so many assume that there are only 3 options: - 100% remote. - 100% office. - Some rigid hybrid scheme of n days per week in the office every week where n = 3 +/-1. Why not "mainly remote but be in the office when it makes sense to be in the office"? This is how my team has been operating since last July - remote first but every 1-2 months we'll do a week onsite somewhere. Now we're getting pressure to start b…

> Why not "mainly remote but be in the office when it makes sense to be in the office"?

Depends on the space utilization. The company paying for real estate that "might" be used isn't very efficient. If they have a temporary work area system, it's different. Then they can down scale their real estate footprint and accommodate ad hoc visitors, by reservation, or the occasional "group meeting". But if they're dedicating space to someone who isn't there, it's a bit of a waste.

My last company called this "hoteling".

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

#155

Post by tellitnow »

bnj wrote: post #134
jbay808 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Location is one factor in cost of living, but there are a lot of others too: the type of car you drive (if you drive a car), the quality of food you buy/coffee you drink/restaurants you frequent, the number of kids you have, the schools they go to, etc. Should companies adjust compensation according to these variables too, or just city?

Why should cost of living be a factor in pay determination?

you know why. Only hire in blue cities so that socialist authoritarian (so called democrat) party can keep control of tech companies that gather data on everybody for the party.

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

#156

Post by samstave »

sigzero wrote: post #129
jbay808 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Location is one factor in cost of living, but there are a lot of others too: the type of car you drive (if you drive a car), the quality of food you buy/coffee you drink/restaurants you frequent, the number of kids you have, the schools they go to, etc. Should companies adjust compensation according to these variables too, or just city?

No because everything you listed is a personal choice.

I have gone through a fair bit of your comment history and I find that you are much like me.

I disagree with your comments on this though...

I'd appreciate it if you would expand on what you feel is actual 'choice'

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

#157

Post by ghaff »

c7DJTLrn wrote: post #25
nix0n wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

A lot of tech industry jobs are also outside of big cities. (As are Google jobs in the Bay Area; the BA is just something of an outlier in that fairly conventional suburbia is still priced higher than just about anyplace else in the country.)

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

#158

Post by tauntz »

sigzero wrote: post #129
jbay808 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Location is one factor in cost of living, but there are a lot of others too: the type of car you drive (if you drive a car), the quality of food you buy/coffee you drink/restaurants you frequent, the number of kids you have, the schools they go to, etc. Should companies adjust compensation according to these variables too, or just city?

No because everything you listed is a personal choice.

... but so is location.

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

#159

Post by amyjess »

whiplash451 wrote: post #67
dmitrygr wrote: post #55

A gift to Meta recruiters, brought to you by Sundar.

Meh. It is unclear to me that so many people will want to work fully remote when their company offers a (real) office to work in 3 days a week. The mental benefits of in-person working can be significant.

"3 days a week" is untenable because it requires that you live within an 8-hour drive of your office.

If they want to make a mandatory mix of remote and non-remote work, it should be like oil rigs, where you go to the office to work and live on campus for two consecutive months out of the year, and then you go home for the rest of the year.

Requiring that you be chained to a single metro area for the entire duration of your employment is objectively inferior to a situation where you can live wherever in the world you want (except I guess for countries that have sanctions) and you can even just get rid of your home and spend each week working out of a different city and just have to give 2 months of your life to the company.

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

#160

Post by InTheArena »

I think people need to look at the multiplier FAANG companies provide salary / bonus / RSU wise. My experience is that these companies pay a significant market premium, but expect total control over your life for that margin.

Everyone else I suspect is going to adapt to this work. There are people who want to work in a office. People who don't. We will need to find ways to make both successful.

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