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Google cuts office space in Bay Area by more than a million square feet
11–20 of 205 posts
Re: Google cuts office space in Bay Area by more than a million square feet
#12How does this fit with return to office?
Re: Google cuts office space in Bay Area by more than a million square feet
#13Google looked at how sailors share space on a sub and were like "yeah, that's the ticket".
Hot-desking is the worst way to be in-office, on top of the worst way of working which is in-office.
What happened to being a forward thinking and innovative company? These "geniuses" can't use their superior big brains just barely hiding under those infantilizing propeller hats to figure out a way to make remote work effective? You're literally a tech company, you make all kinds of collaborative technology.
I'm selling my Google stock. They've gone full IBM and are legacy tech.
Re: Google cuts office space in Bay Area by more than a million square feet
#14Google looked at how sailors share space on a sub and were like "yeah, that's the ticket". Hot-desking is the worst way to be in-office, on top of the worst way of working which is in-office. What happened to being a forward thinking and innovative company? These "geniuses" can't use their superior big brains just barely hiding under those infantilizing propeller hats to figure out a way to make remote work effective…
>What happened to being a forward thinking and innovative company?
Google went public is what happened. You literally cannot make good decisions when you have to base everything around what will make the most profit for the shareholders this quarter.
Re: Google cuts office space in Bay Area by more than a million square feet
#15"Return to office, what's left of it"
You thought it was bad before, now we're going to cram you into an even smaller open floor plan.
About 6 months ago my manager, who happens to prefer RTO told me how if I only visit office sometime, I should not expect to have a desk. I was amused, but I did not ask if that means I can just stay home then.
Clearly management class figured out a fun little plan. Announce RTO so that people can 'self-select' thus reducing headcount ( lower cost ), introduce hybrid ( so that you can claim you are flexible in posting even if you offer 1 remote day out of 5 and save real estate at the same time ), sell non-performing real estate ( lower cost ) and cramming employees into rotating cubicles ( efficiency ).
What does it all translate to? Bonuses.
I am not exactly a revolutionary type, but its now or never if you are on a particular side of the fence. Whatever window is there to establish a normal, it is closing now.
Re: Google cuts office space in Bay Area by more than a million square feet
#16can anyone speak to: a) how dense was google office space in the before times? b) what their remaining portfolio of office space is?
Google floor plans were ridiculously dense. I don’t have hard numbers on my fingertips but I recall that the sf business press systematically underestimated the number of employees in San Francisco based on industry average floor space per employee that was far too high. They constantly moved us from one floor to another always with smaller desks.
As for question B, Moffett Place alone was 1.9 million square feet, so shedding 1.4 million square feet is not that big of a deal. It’s about what the press reported them acquiring in 2019.
Re: Google cuts office space in Bay Area by more than a million square feet
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
It'll enable collaboration
Being forced to sit on co-workers lap while desk-sharing (and chair-sharing) will enable even closer collaboration
It isn't exactly "innovative". I expected google to be on the cutting edge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wUOUmeulNs
Re: Google cuts office space in Bay Area by more than a million square feet
#18How does this fit with return to office?
my guess is that they planed to grow previously, and built/leased bunch of offices, but growth didn't happen, and they cut many jobs, so now they shrink office space.
Re: Google cuts office space in Bay Area by more than a million square feet
#19Re: Google cuts office space in Bay Area by more than a million square feet
#20They're getting rid of real estate yet force people to work from the office at least n days a week. Why not embrace remote and get rid of even more real estate.
Company I work for did this. Our CFO said he never wants to deal with real estate again. I will follow this man to the depths of hell and back.