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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

#491

From my visits to Google's offices in Manhattan, I don't expect many who reside within the city, to resist this change. People will accept leaving their small city apartments and visiting the vast offices, with a plethora of services available as a welcome alternative after two years. It's those who've moved on from that lifestyle, and may have physically relocated, who will resist this change. They will be inclined…

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

#492
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…

>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.

Not exactly.

Some organizations have limits to how long historical chats are stored.

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

#493
I fail to understand the 3 days a week concept. If a company needs in-office interaction, why not make it 5 or 10 working days a month in office, and then let the team decide when they want to be there?

Some teams might prefer being in office 5 days straight and then 25 days remote in their hometowns.

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

#494
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…

"I think that an environment where someone can tap me on the shoulder when they need help leads to overall higher productivity, even if individual productivity suffers temporarily"

Disagree, I think this leads to poor productivity, generally speaking. When I'm in the office, I'm honestly amazed anything gets done at all. There are so many disruptions, side conversations, etc. that I treat it as a "week off" on my schedule any time I have to go into the office. Once back in my home office, I can get back to writing code.

That said, it likely depends greatly on the job, but this is tech, and coders and engineers need a lot of uninterrupted time to think. It doesn't mean there can't be collaborative time, and in fact it can be helpful when scheduled appropriately, but I think productivity is better when you have a way to turn off interruptions when needed.

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

#495

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We've proven that the big tech companies can go fully remote and not completely crash and burn, that's about it. Agreed. We've proven that big tech companies can continue to be productive for up to two years going remote. I suspect that that doesn't generalize very well to being completely remote over the long term. It works well when you already have a bunch of personal relationships between teammates that were es…

> Agreed. We've proven that big tech companies can continue to be productive for up to two years going remote. This sentence amuses me a bit. Does that also mean that American Democracy has only been proven to work for up to 245 years? :-)

Depending on your perspective, it may have been working for considerably less time than that

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

#498
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…

>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. Not exactly. Some organizations have limits to how long historical chats are stored.

True, but still it seems like some records are preferable to no records?

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

#499
post #479

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.

As someone who watched KIR-D get constructed from his desk and later worked right next to the infamous desks-in-the-stairwell spot (and made it a point to detour around so as not to disturb the poor souls seated there), I find this thread wonderfully nostalgic.

Makes me want to drop by and crank that giant net up and down a few times just so everyone in the south wing can hear that soothing creaking sound again.

That said, let me know if you find yourself again stuck in KIR-D and want to escape while still working on the eastside.

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