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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

#481

Post by jen20 »

lolpython wrote: post #368
skybrian wrote: post #201

I've worked at a startup where everyone being there was essential in how we worked. (We were all pair programming.) It was great. It beats code reviews any day. I learned a lot. But when I was at Google, we would schedule VC meetings with people in a different part of campus just to avoid the walk. Also, I worked on teams that had people worked out in many offices, mostly not Mountain View. I was surrounded by Google…

> I've worked at a startup where everyone being there was essential in how we worked. (We were all pair programming.) It was great. It beats code reviews any day. I learned a lot. I do pair programming very frequently with my coworkers remotely. We share a VNC connection to a Linux host. It works great.

Indeed - I pair program for much of the day with different people on the same team, and there is only (recently) one city which has two people in it. The notion that pairing need take place physically in the same room is just not correct.

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

#482

Post by splitstud »

tick_tock_tick wrote: post #229
adenozine wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Luckily, there will be plenty of remote firms to scoop up all the engineers Google is about to hemorrhage. What a miserable work culture it must be for them to even have the nerve to declare this. Downvote away, I’ll be hiring some of them! ;-)

Of course they'll lose some people but an office is enough of a competitive advantage to justify it.

No post body was provided.

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

#483

Post by 1024core »

vkou wrote: post #479
bseidensticker wrote: post #456

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked at Google in KIR for the past 5 years. You calling the working conditions "atrocious" is hilarious. This is why people call Googlers entitled.

KIR-D legitimately sucks. Giant rooms, fifty million desks in each, not a wall in sight.

LOL... reminds me of the time I went down to Overture's office in Pasadena. We were supposed to meet some senior engineering guy there. We got out of the elevator, and there was a sea of long tables in that giant floor, wall to wall, with people sitting elbow to elbow.

"Wow, this looks like a call center; I'm glad I'm not in customer support", I thought to myself.

And then one of guys sitting at those big tables stood up, extending his hand: "Hi, I'm ...., glad to meet you guys". It was that senior engineer. Yikes!

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

#484

Post by heavyset_go »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #443
ignu wrote: post #432

I'd prefer to work an environment where I can't get interrupted synchronously by someone wanting their problem resolved that moment. Also, one thing with those in person interactions is you have no artifact of the interaction. Slack or tickets are great for documenting how decisions are made. But ultimately, I have no desire to waste an extra 5 to 10 hours of my life just driving back and forth to sit at a different…

> I'd prefer to work an environment where I can't get interrupted synchronously by someone wanting their problem resolved that moment. FWIW, I found synchronous interruptions to be more of a problem when remote. Too many people used Slack messages or video calls for everything because it was only a click away, as opposed to having to get up and walk over to someone’s desk > Also, one thing with those in person intera…

Slack is a poor tool for that job, but that isn't the fault of the remote work.

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

#485

Post by bee_rider »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #262
skybrian wrote: post #201

I've worked at a startup where everyone being there was essential in how we worked. (We were all pair programming.) It was great. It beats code reviews any day. I learned a lot. But when I was at Google, we would schedule VC meetings with people in a different part of campus just to avoid the walk. Also, I worked on teams that had people worked out in many offices, mostly not Mountain View. I was surrounded by Google…

> I think Google having a company-wide policy on this is nuts. Teams vary a lot. They should probably be left to make their own decisions. This seems rational until you are actually responsible for managing a large organization. First off, the article itself states that Google is giving a lot of flexibility ("Employees not prepared to return April 4 also can seek a remote-work extension, Google said. Since last June,…

> First off, the article itself states that Google is giving a lot of flexibility

> But it get's very difficult to manage a large company without at least some sort of consistent policy.

It isn't a contradiction but these two statements seem to at least be in a bit of tension, right?

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

#486

Post by djanogo »

kbos87 wrote: post #467
listenallyall wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These two companies sound the same... Your company allows remote, hybrid or fulltime in-office. Partner's company allows hybrid (3 days minimum), fulltime (people going above the minimum) or "transitioned to remote".

My company allows whatever you want. Partners company allows hybrid, not full remote unless that was something you negotiated at the start or got them to change. Those are two very different things.

Does your company have web app where employee can choose what they prefer, submit it, and done?, or bunch of management have to approve that request?

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

#487

Post by heavyset_go »

echelon wrote: post #465
ignu wrote: post #432

I'd prefer to work an environment where I can't get interrupted synchronously by someone wanting their problem resolved that moment. Also, one thing with those in person interactions is you have no artifact of the interaction. Slack or tickets are great for documenting how decisions are made. But ultimately, I have no desire to waste an extra 5 to 10 hours of my life just driving back and forth to sit at a different…

It's way more than just interruptions, travel, etc. I recently found /r/overemployed [1] on VC Twitter, and a lot of folks are using this setup to work two (or more) jobs. They know that they'll only need to dedicate 4 hours a day to any given job and as long as they can schedule non-overlapping meetings, they can get away with it. It's got me thinking though - this might be an opportunity for startups to knowingly h…

Plenty of people work more than one job. As long as someone does the work that's expected of them and performs their job duties well, it isn't any employer's business what someone does in their time off.

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

#488

Post by throwawaylinux »

buzzert wrote: post #455
throwawaylinux wrote: post #405

Aren't we still recording among the highest rates of covid deaths since the start of the pandemic, and it's still coming and going in waves? Hospital systems are still run on the brink of overload as they usually are. What's changed?

It is now a preventable disease. It wasn't at the start of the pandemic, before vaccines.

Vaccines have been widely available and used for about a year though. What I'm asking is what has changed so recently as to make April 2022 okay to mandate a return to work while November 2021 for example was not.

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

#489

Post by throwawaylinux »

redisman wrote: post #435
throwawaylinux wrote: post #405

Aren't we still recording among the highest rates of covid deaths since the start of the pandemic, and it's still coming and going in waves? Hospital systems are still run on the brink of overload as they usually are. What's changed?

Cases have plummeted?

Not sure how to answer your question, but US Covid 7-day average deaths is currently higher than at almost any point since the start of 2020. So nothing suddenly "changed" there, that I can see.

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

#490

Post by arrosenberg »

randomsearch wrote: post #227
icedistilled wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Mandated return to work date 3 days/week minimum unless you’ve transitioned to remote This is what bugs me about the hybrid set up. If the company onboarded a lot of permanent remotes and also doesn't have people sync up the in office days, then there is no point of going into the office. It's the worst of both worlds.

Which is why hybrid doesn’t work, and back to the office will win for most companies.

There's definitely room for a hybrid where teams (or whatever org-unit) are able to determine which days will be in-office and what hours people are expected to be physically available for during those days. I don't really need to go into the office 40 hours (plus the 5-8 hours of commute time), but I'd have no objection with 3-5 hours, 2 days a week to facilitate meetings, teambuilding, etc.
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