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Remembering GitHub's Office, a Monument to Tech Culture

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Re: Remembering GitHub's Office, a Monument to Tech Culture

#51

Post by ghaff »

echelon wrote: post #10
KenArrari wrote: post #3

Looking back it really is funny how impressed people used to be by dumb office perks. Free food and coffee? Sure, for the convenience. But the slides, the ball pits, the scooters? Sure it might make the office a nice place to be but once the novelty wears off it's still really hard to beat working from home.

I want both. The office is energizing. Collaboration is amazing. Food and amenities take pressure off. White boards, conference rooms. Everything is always clean. Hanging out after hours with an open bar and video games helps with bonding. Working from home is comfortable. There's no pressure, no transit, and you can build it however you like. You can interleave your chores, focus without distraction, and be around t…

As many have said, a lot boils down to commute. If I can walk 10 minutes to an office--assuming I want to live close to the office--going in to people I work with on a somewhat flexible schedule is a nice change of scenery. An hour commute in a car (much less more than that) not so much.

Re: Remembering GitHub's Office, a Monument to Tech Culture

#52

Post by no_wizard »

KenArrari wrote: post #3

Looking back it really is funny how impressed people used to be by dumb office perks. Free food and coffee? Sure, for the convenience. But the slides, the ball pits, the scooters? Sure it might make the office a nice place to be but once the novelty wears off it's still really hard to beat working from home.

Yes, I live for this stuff. I love perks. Remote work killed perks en masse and I hate it. I found when I worked in the office I could just focus. No family members interrupting me because they can (though this has gotten better).

Never had to worry about food except maybe dinner. I could roam around free away from my desk and enjoy a quiet office park that allowed me to feel safe. I had access to a very nice gym that was quiet and well maintained. The on-site dentist and doctor was also nice, kept my costs down to virtually zero on both accounts.

Pay and stock options were just as good if not better.

I’m sad it’s gone to be honest. While I’d likely advocate for a true hybrid solution myself I don’t dismiss the upsides of offices like this at all

Re: Remembering GitHub's Office, a Monument to Tech Culture

#54

Post by stevesearer »

mtmail wrote: post #4

Photos (originally from user Manjuuu in a previous submission https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36107267 ) https://officesnapshots.com/2015/04/06/github-san-francisco-... https://www.officelovin.com/2014/05/inside-githubs-san-franc...

Office Snapshots here.

Thanks for the link, though for those interested GitHub had another office after the one posted in that link.

It can be seen on the design firm’s site:

https://raptstudio.com/work/github/

Re: Remembering GitHub's Office, a Monument to Tech Culture

#55

Post by Symbiote »

teepo wrote: post #53

And check out the old Slack HQ: https://www.officelovin.com/2019/07/a-tour-of-slacks-super-s...

Both this and the pictures of the Github office show people primarily working 'casually', lounging on a couch or sat at a normal table.

My office may be plain, but at least a proper monitor and an adjustable-height desk is considered essential.

Re: Remembering GitHub's Office, a Monument to Tech Culture

#56

Post by Apocryphon »

no_wizard wrote: post #52
KenArrari wrote: post #3

Looking back it really is funny how impressed people used to be by dumb office perks. Free food and coffee? Sure, for the convenience. But the slides, the ball pits, the scooters? Sure it might make the office a nice place to be but once the novelty wears off it's still really hard to beat working from home.

Yes, I live for this stuff. I love perks. Remote work killed perks en masse and I hate it. I found when I worked in the office I could just focus. No family members interrupting me because they can (though this has gotten better). Never had to worry about food except maybe dinner. I could roam around free away from my desk and enjoy a quiet office park that allowed me to feel safe. I had access to a very nice gym tha…

How did you somehow get your own office and not be forced to work in an open office plan

Re: Remembering GitHub's Office, a Monument to Tech Culture

#57

Post by antisthenes »

mym1990 wrote: post #18

Off topic, but is it not crazy that there are ads plastered on just about every possible place of this write up, yet there are 0 pictures of the actual office?

It's not off-topic and yes, it is crazy.

A picture is worth a thousand words. You may be Kurt Vonnegut or Stephen King, but even if you write a novella about Github's corporate office, it's not going to make me read it without a picture.

Re: Remembering GitHub's Office, a Monument to Tech Culture

#59

Post by no_wizard »

Apocryphon wrote: post #56
no_wizard wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I live for this stuff. I love perks. Remote work killed perks en masse and I hate it. I found when I worked in the office I could just focus. No family members interrupting me because they can (though this has gotten better). Never had to worry about food except maybe dinner. I could roam around free away from my desk and enjoy a quiet office park that allowed me to feel safe. I had access to a very nice gym tha…

How did you somehow get your own office and not be forced to work in an open office plan

I didn’t. We had high walled cubicles though and buildings / floors were designated (IE only product and engineering worked in my area), and we had plenty of meeting rooms and micro offices for meetings that people didn’t take them at their desk either.

I also had really good company paid noise canceling headphones and I’m hard of hearing, so that helped

Re: Remembering GitHub's Office, a Monument to Tech Culture

#60

Post by lordswork »

tootie wrote: post #33
mtmail wrote: post #4

Photos (originally from user Manjuuu in a previous submission https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36107267 ) https://officesnapshots.com/2015/04/06/github-san-francisco-... https://www.officelovin.com/2014/05/inside-githubs-san-franc...

I worked for a furniture store that did modern home and office furniture and decor. That was the nicest I'd ever seen. Horrible place to work though.

My back hurts just looking at most of those photos.
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