Workers were probably developing too much independent thought away from the collective.
Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4
841–850 of 1001 posts
Re: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4
#842Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I want to be able to quickly resolve any issues in person, not over voice call or slack.. Isn't this the main problem? I hate everyone who comes barging in and wants to "resolve issues" quickly. Not saying I love remote work, but I cannot stand working a place where people are "allowed" to disturb me. I don't even log into Slack/Teams/Skype or any of that nonsense; I don't even want to be disturbed in my virtual wo…
If you're in a position of some power that's maybe what you'd prefer. I'm on the bottom rung and being able to walk up to someone's desk so they can't ignore me would be extremely helpful. Been WFH for a while and it is not uncommon for people to ignore requests, never reply to messages etc. Yes that is a problem with my current team, but I can't really do anything about it. Working from an office would mostly sidest…
> I'm on the bottom rung and being able to walk up to someone's desk so they can't ignore me would be extremely helpful. Been WFH for a while and it is not uncommon for people to ignore requests, never reply to messages etc.
TBF, that's not a problem with remote work. If the only way people will respond to a valid inquiry is through in person harassment there are much bigger issues at your employer.
Re: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4
#843Earlier quoted context omitted.
People should have an option to go fully remote, not be forced to do X number of days because reasons. This is the problem that remote work solves. It gives you some sense of autonomy so that you don't feel like a completely subservient slave. Also you said objectively it has not been proven but your subjective opinion is that it's better to be in office. What I will counter is that remote is almost certainly better…
Software developers are not completely subservient slaves. But some of them are certainly obnoxious prima donnas and like throwing tantrums about their oh so terrible working conditions.
Ironic that some of the highest paying jobs out there are also the jobs that are most easily performed at home. Software dev really seems to be one of those win/win/win scenarios when it comes to jobs. Of course, there will always be a litany of complaints online because there's always something to complain about, but still.
Re: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4
#844I wish I could afford a nice house close to the office. I do like to socialize. Until then, remote work is all I will do.
Re: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4
#845I 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…
People should have an option to go fully remote, not be forced to do X number of days because reasons. This is the problem that remote work solves. It gives you some sense of autonomy so that you don't feel like a completely subservient slave. Also you said objectively it has not been proven but your subjective opinion is that it's better to be in office. What I will counter is that remote is almost certainly better…
What I will counter is that remote is almost certainly better for the environment
Being forced to live in expensive cities … and suffer the misery of public transport, yeah no thanks.
In your attempt to throw everything against a wall to see what sticks you’ve contradicted yourself. Living in dense cities and taking public transportation is good for the environment.
You want to work from home—own that instead of trying to pretend you are fighting for some great moral cause.
Re: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4
#846Earlier quoted context omitted.
The comment you’re replying to has nothing to do with response time. They’re specifying their preference for in-person communication even though it may affect individual productivity. I 100% agree with them. I’m more productive as a remote employee, my coworkers seem to greatly prefer remote work, and there is a 0% chance the next job I pursue will be at a remote company. It’s just not my preference.
Same. I can't speak for personal productivity, because I think i'm waaay less productive, but I don't like remote at all. The hard part these days is finding interesting potential employers who aren't trying to lure me in with the remote hook, because it doesn't appeal to me. I was happy with the old norm of on-site, but with the ability to WFH on one-off days if something came up, like expecting a big delivery or so…
> So for me, working remotely has made me the most depressed, and physically unfit, I've ever been.
This was the state I was in and I tried medication for anxiety/depression for the first time in my life. It didn’t work well for me, but it gave me the impetus to change something.
I ended up going WeWork and it’s been great for me. Gives me people to talk to (all the staff there are friendly and some of the other people there like to chat) and a reason to get out of the house. I run/bike commute to get there so I’ve been much more active since I started going.
Good luck, and I hope you find something that makes it better for you. I know how rough it is!
Re: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4
#847Earlier quoted context omitted.
> People should have an option to go fully remote, not be forced to do X number of days because reasons. This.. this is exactly what Google did - everyone had the option to go fully remote.
Huh? From the article it seems that this was something you had to request and get approval for (with 15% denied). Somewhere else I remember reading this would also cut your salary by 10%.
The salary cuts depend on where you live. If you work remotely near your original office, there is no pay change.
Some people did have requests denied. In my org, every single person who applied was approved. It is easy to change teams at google, so people who really want to work remotely can make it happen.
Re: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4
#848Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I want to be able to quickly resolve any issues in person, not over voice call or slack.. Isn't this the main problem? I hate everyone who comes barging in and wants to "resolve issues" quickly. Not saying I love remote work, but I cannot stand working a place where people are "allowed" to disturb me. I don't even log into Slack/Teams/Skype or any of that nonsense; I don't even want to be disturbed in my virtual wo…
That's great, but I don't want to work with you, because something you're working on or something you're responsible for is blocking me and I have no way of making progress.
So distracting people who work on something that blocks you is "making progress"?
That's rich.
Re: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4
#849Earlier quoted context omitted.
Comparing highly paid office work with slavery is incredibly insulting.
Slavery is a strong word. But consider serfdom in Middle Ages. When some historian looked at it they found that on average a serf of a French baron say 700 years ago worked less than 40 hours per week on average. Perhaps even less than 30. And there was no commute. David Graeber in his «Dawn of everything» discussed that.
“Some historian” is a bad citation.
I’m very good friends with a medievalist professor. Something they said to me recently was interesting. Today, most medievalists don’t really like the term “feudalism” and instead see serfdom as an extension of Roman slave systems. Not chattel slavery, but definitely not a mutually agreed upon and beneficial economic relationship. I’m not so sure that “serfs didn’t actually work all that much” is aligned with current consensus.
Re: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4
#850Many people in comments write about difficulties with onboarding to remote-only companies, with establishing relationships with colleagues at work.
My close friend works remotely at a Finnish company (he is Fin himself), and every Friday at 14:00 they finish working, and have beer drinking session and casual chit-chat over teleconference. Every week. He likes the experience overall.
Of course, not everybody wants nor can drink, but it is some idea to get each other better.