Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

entrepreneur.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

241–250 of 296 posts

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

#241

Post by fhdsgbbcaA »

wyclif wrote: post #223
fhdsgbbcaA wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know a person who is absolutely brilliant, first class intellect. They have two remote jobs and have gotten softly reprimanded at both for essentially making other people look bad because they get so much done. As far as I see it, both companies get an a-tier person who outperforms the rest of their staff. This person gets two paychecks. Everybody wins. But in the “we own your time and soul” employee relations mode…

That's why he should have kept it a secret. Envy is a pervasive effect. Do everything possible to counteract it.

It is a secret, they’ve been doing it since pandemic started!

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

#242

Post by worstspotgain »

spacemadness wrote: post #176
commandar wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The push for the 8 hour work day over a century ago was often accompanied with slogans to the effect of "8 hours work, 8 hours rest, 8 hours for what we will." 5 hours round trip commuting a day is giving up over half of your prerogative time to simply shuffling from one place to another. The Bay Area is lucrative monetarily and all, but there's just no world where that's worth it for me.

I’ve worked in tech in the Bay for over a decade and met a handful of people with that insane of a commute. It’s not normal.

That's because having children in SF is not "normal," a huge fraction of new workers are single male tech workers. SF is the city with the fewest children per capita in the country, Daly City is #6.

https://www.aaastateofplay.com/the-u-s-cities-with-the-most-...

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

#243

Post by Rinzler89 »

Foobar8568 wrote: post #235
epolanski wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it absurd how Americans can't give up on their suburbs and car centric development dystopia and then spend so much time in their cars.

I am at 2h30 total commute, and will be soon at 3h-3h30, in Switzerland. At least, I can work remotely 2days+what ever I need depending of the day.

Holy shit that commute is crazy. Have you requested to work fully remote?

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

#244

Post by shiroiushi »

doitLP wrote: post #204
epolanski wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it absurd how Americans can't give up on their suburbs and car centric development dystopia and then spend so much time in their cars.

I find it tiresome how someone who lives elsewhere thinks we can waive a magic wand and change trillions in infrastructure and a century of entrenched car culture. Unless you have workable solutions please keep the peanut gallery comments to yourself. There are solutions but they are the hard “get people to buck all incentives and change their behavior for the common good” kind that take a lot of work.

I'm not sure what other people can do, but personally I decided that instead of wishing in vain that the place I lived in was this way, I moved across the world to a new city and country where I could live car-free. Now I ride a bicycle to work and use subways and trains to get around on the weekends. Vote with your feet, I guess.

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

#245

Post by baq »

what wrote: post #234
nickjj wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how different things would be if there were laws where if a company required you to RTO then your commute time is included in your expected working hours. Some companies are asking to RTO for half the week even if you're 50 miles away. Depending on where you're at that could be a ~5 hour round trip commute. If you factor in parking in certain places like NYC you're almost forced into taking a train so having…

You could always move closer to the office, if you don’t like your 2.5 hour commute.

yes that's exactly what executives mandating those RTOs do with their 100x median TC.

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

#246

Post by dingnuts »

chii wrote: post #237
sbrother wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> since expectations got calibrated to when everyone had a private office and more control over their own time. which is why you should not be doing overtime to meet expectation. Expectation (aka, productivity) needs to drop when RTO is mandated.

the only thing I can do more efficiently in the office is socialize, so I assume that that's what they're talking about when they talk about collaboration and culture and all that shit, so how's the wife?

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

#247

Post by ktosobcy »

tesch1 wrote: post #149
epolanski wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it absurd how Americans can't give up on their suburbs and car centric development dystopia and then spend so much time in their cars.

Because door-to-door transport is faster than public transportation. Average American commute time is 26 minutes, what is it where you live? https://transportgeography.org/contents/chapter8/urban-trans... .

Well... in most cases in densely populated places you simply can walk to the job or ride a bike.

In BCN for example commute would be most of the time ~15-20 minutes (walking+metro). Car would easily take twice as much.

Of course if you are living in urban sprawl and nothing is close and even getting something to eat requires "a trip" then yeah - door-to-door car would probably be "better"

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

#248

Post by ktosobcy »

angmarsbane wrote: post #150
worstspotgain wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People would go for condos if there were cheap large ones nearby. Alas, the supply restrictionists blocked all vertical development decades ago in order to inflate prices 10x and capture tech wages. That left SFHs and townhomes in far away places.

+1 for family sized (3 bedroom condos) if they existed close to work we could have families and jobs - imagine!

I'm living in smaller-ish city in Spain, we rent ~120m2 2bedroom flat for ~650€ and it's city center so we don't even think about getting a car as it would be more hassle to take it out of the garage then actually walking to the nearest shop. Lots of squares / parks around usually full of kids playing :)

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

#249

Post by ktosobcy »

Foobar8568 wrote: post #235
epolanski wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it absurd how Americans can't give up on their suburbs and car centric development dystopia and then spend so much time in their cars.

I am at 2h30 total commute, and will be soon at 3h-3h30, in Switzerland. At least, I can work remotely 2days+what ever I need depending of the day.

Uhm... that's like almost getting from one side of Switzerland to another (Zurich-Basel is like 1h by train?)

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

#250

Post by worstspotgain »

Foobar8568 wrote: post #235
epolanski wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it absurd how Americans can't give up on their suburbs and car centric development dystopia and then spend so much time in their cars.

I am at 2h30 total commute, and will be soon at 3h-3h30, in Switzerland. At least, I can work remotely 2days+what ever I need depending of the day.

Holy Schweiz
Post reply on HN