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Google won't be mandating a strict return-to-office plan

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Re: Google won't be mandating a strict return-to-office plan

#31

Post by gwbas1c »

blackeyeblitzar wrote: post #5

I applaud Microsoft and Google for not going with a full RTO. But hybrid work still requires you to live near an office. True remote work enables an economy that is spread out, resilient, and lets people live the way they want. We have this capability so why not do it?

> But hybrid work still requires you to live near an office

Not as close as a daily commute, though.

I live 60 miles from my office. It's just not practical to go in every day, so I go in once a week. I can also go in as needed, such as if there's a special guest, event, ect.

I wish I could go in every day, but where I live is a compromise with my wife, and we have kids.

If I were to go in everyday, I'd need to be much, much closer to the office. It wouldn't work for my family: Single incomes don't work very well near my office.

Re: Google won't be mandating a strict return-to-office plan

#32

Post by ENGNR »

skzv wrote: post #18

I go to the office almost everyday by choice. Free food, snacks, and coffee, gym, and medical clinics on campus. And it's just nice to get dressed and leave the house. But it's really nice to have the flexibility to WFH when I need to, especially just mornings to skip traffic.

Same! Tech job, my co-founder and I are only a 5 minute drive or bike ride from the office. It’s nice to get dressed and have that separation from home.

I feel like the commute is what people are actually feeling the worst, because it’s unpaid time that they just straight up lose. Being close to the office resolves it for us.

Re: Google won't be mandating a strict return-to-office plan

#33

Post by mushufasa »

sethhochberg wrote: post #26
mushufasa wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We have this capability so why not do it? sortof yes, sortof no. Aside from all the conversation about work culture, state taxes are a big barrier to fully remote work. States hate losing tax revenue. Notoriously, it is easier to register to do business in a state than to unregister. This is even harder internationally. For large organizations, remote can be the difference between one state's paperwork + regs + tax…

We see this all the time working at the intersection of the insurance / fintech space. I've had several big, legacy vendors make requests for multiple physical signatures on a piece of paper (printed and mailed or faxed, can't just annotate a PDF) from people who haven't even met eachother in person let alone ever worked at the same address. The kicker? These papers are access authorization forms to APIs. Your averag…

is this your startup? I'd love to chat about what you've found work. we're in the intersection of fintech / wealth (which overlaps with insurance).

I've gotten by just fine for the past few years but we are starting to see more questions about this that require us to change our legal address away from a residence. I think we got away without much trouble solely because of the pandemic, and now it's over we're going to see a lot more questions about this.

It's not worth the future of the whole business to fight big vendors/customers over addresses.

Re: Google won't be mandating a strict return-to-office plan

#35

Post by macintux »

sbrother wrote: post #25
xyst wrote: post #12

They say this now. But in 12 months (or the next layoff period), they will move from hybrid to full RTO. Still a shitty move to mandate RTO. Most people (IT folks) have spoke with do this routine: 0) daily routine to prepare for day 1) 1 hr commute to shitty office 2) login to computer, do calls with cross regional (and international) teams over Zoom/Teams/Webex or whatever conferencing system 3) teleconferencing wit…

I think the worst part is 9) at night, do more work that requires focus time while no one is bothering you, since expectations got calibrated to when everyone had a private office and more control over their own time.

Yep. Many of my days are 4-6 hours of meetings in the morning, 2 more hours of paperwork/email/coordination activities, go get dinner, then work another 2-3 hours.

Thank goodness I can work from home. I know in some ways that makes my flexibility more damaging to my work/life balance, but the tradeoff is worth it to me.

Re: Google won't be mandating a strict return-to-office plan

#36

Post by shaftway »

blackeyeblitzar wrote: post #17
makestuff wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO the downside of being that spread out is the infrastructure. Cities subsidize the suburban infrastructure because of the population density benefits. If everyone spreads out then infrastructure will suffer.

Do cities actually subsidize suburban infrastructure? I am skeptical but I don’t know all of the details on how people come to that conclusion. What happens if the economy is more spread out? Also a lot of the people that own and run companies that give a city its tax base live in the suburban areas. It might even be reasonable to say that they are the ones subsidizing the city and not the other way. How do you think…

Strong Towns does a lot of discussion in this area. But here's a video that breaks it down well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nw6qyyrTeI

Re: Google won't be mandating a strict return-to-office plan

#37

Post by sitkack »

worstspotgain wrote: post #34

Google proving that they remain a less Xitty company than Amazon. Yes, the bar is low, and yes, we'll see if it lasts.

No they have to alternate with the RTO policies, if they did this at the same time, it would trigger a recession.

Re: Google won't be mandating a strict return-to-office plan

#38

Post by mrangle »

There's going to be a significant exodus of Amazon employees once the mandate kicks in fully. A percentage aren't able to come into the office every day, due to unrealistic commute logistics. Google making this headline sets them up to catch a lot of talent at once, to the point that I suspect this may be part of the policy's intent.

Re: Google won't be mandating a strict return-to-office plan

#39

Post by worstspotgain »

xyst wrote: post #12

They say this now. But in 12 months (or the next layoff period), they will move from hybrid to full RTO. Still a shitty move to mandate RTO. Most people (IT folks) have spoke with do this routine: 0) daily routine to prepare for day 1) 1 hr commute to shitty office 2) login to computer, do calls with cross regional (and international) teams over Zoom/Teams/Webex or whatever conferencing system 3) teleconferencing wit…

In the Bay Area, 1-hour commutes are generally for older and apartment people. Younger family people are in the 2+ range.

Re: Google won't be mandating a strict return-to-office plan

#40

Post by sitkack »

scarface_74 wrote: post #2

Hybrid is RTO. If I can’t live where I want to live and work from anywhere, it’s a non starter for me. In my little neck of the woods - cloud consulting/professional services - Google is worse than Amazon where I just left last year. AWS ProServe never had a RTO mandate and from former coworkers I’ve talked to, still doesn’t. Google’s Cloud Consulting division does force a hybrid office schedule which is really dumb…

Well. Being tied to any one cloud is not a great position to be in. Not patronizing.
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