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Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing

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Re: Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing

#121

Post by acchow »

shmatt wrote: post #51
Insanity wrote: post #31

It seems like each day there's an article lately about reasons _not_ to work at Google. Sad to see how they went from an enviable place to work to a place to avoid these past years. (Although internally, things might be better than it looks from the outside of course)

I'd work from a toilet stall for a Google L6 comp band I doubt any Googlers actually care about this stuff

When you get there and find yourself with other companies clambering to hire you, with better perks and pay, you may think differently.

Re: Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing

#122

Post by jlarocco »

brundolf wrote: post #96

Really tough to imagine micro-optimizations like this having any visible effect at all on costs for a company Google's size (except by way of employee frustration) You have to wonder what's going on inside those executive conference rooms

Respectfully disagree - I can see it having a big impact. It cuts their office space requirements roughly in half, which could mean reduced rent, more teams in the same amount of space (real estate runway), or potentially leasing out the extra space.

Difficult to pull those off in the short term, but this could be the start of a bigger plan.

Re: Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing

#123

Post by at-fates-hands »

toastercat wrote: post #99
pram wrote: post #35

Remember how all those Gen X movies depicted cubicles as the embodiment of the soul crushing rat race. If only we still had it that good!

I had low-wall cubicles at one job and thought it was great. Could still see the eyes and noses of my coworkers around me, and it was easy making conversation or asking for help.

I came here to say the same thing.

I worked at a company where a smart manager got low profile cubes for the dev team. We were located in an area that had access to a host of large whiteboards, and large monitors for video conferencing. It was really great. If a dev ran into a problem, it was easy to ask for help. Then you could start working at a whiteboard a few feet from your desk.

Whether you were working something out alone or with some other dev, chances are within a few minutes several other devs were there working the problem out with you. I mean the collaboration was really cool and we blasted through so many bugs and bad code, it was really refreshing.

Likewise, we had a large portion of the floor dedicated to CSR folks. Again, some smart manager got them 7ft. high cubes so the noise the devs were making wouldn't interrupt what they were doing. They even had a few spare CSR cubes for anybody who really wanted to be heads down and working in absolute quiet.

Re: Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing

#124

Post by brundolf »

jlarocco wrote: post #122
brundolf wrote: post #96

Really tough to imagine micro-optimizations like this having any visible effect at all on costs for a company Google's size (except by way of employee frustration) You have to wonder what's going on inside those executive conference rooms

Respectfully disagree - I can see it having a big impact. It cuts their office space requirements roughly in half, which could mean reduced rent, more teams in the same amount of space (real estate runway), or potentially leasing out the extra space. Difficult to pull those off in the short term, but this could be the start of a bigger plan.

Even then- what percentage of Google's costs is office floorspace? I guess I don't know, but I'd be surprised if it was a significant portion

Re: Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing

#125

Post by sct202 »

dgacmu wrote: post #92
shmatt wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd work from a toilet stall for a Google L6 comp band I doubt any Googlers actually care about this stuff

Not a chance. Toilet stalls are in higher demand (during peak hours) than desks.

My company switched to hot desks and didn't add any restroom capacity even though the peak building population was much higher. It was pretty terrible on days where everyone was there for all hands/townhalls.

Re: Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing

#126

Post by Ancalagon »

ren_engineer wrote: post #58
ndneighbor wrote: post #24

Look... if you want people to RTO, maybe make it so that there's less overhead? Reading this article made me just want to stay at my own desk at home.

whole thing makes no sense, just feels like leadership is flailing. Is RTO just sunk cost fallacy due to these big companies having spent billions on real estate and fancy buildings? There seems to be minimal benefits to mandating it, it shrinks your talent pool, makes employees less efficient due to commute, forces you to pay more in tech hubs, and makes you spend more on office stuff. The only benefit is the comple…

Makes perfect sense if they’re trying to downsize without paying severance/unemployment.

Re: Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing

#127

Post by amf12 »

astrea wrote: post #66
amf12 wrote: post #13

I don't understand the negative sentiment with this. Do people expect employers to assign everyone a big desk, which is not completely open office and also have the flexibility to come to the office 1-2 days a week? I hope there are exceptions for people who come in everyday, but otherwise it's a win-win the way I see it.

The negative sentiment is in the being forced to return to office then, in the same stroke, diminishing the quality of the in-office experience.

Google let's you apply for remote work, and Hybrid RTO isn't being enforced.

Re: Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing

#128

Post by suby »

dwrodri wrote: post #17

Google's South Lake Union campus cost $802 million[1]. Google's parent company, Alphabet, spent $70 billion on stock buybacks[2]. I know I'm drastically oversimplifying the complexities of accounting required for a trillion-dollar empire, but this comes across as more of a punitive measure than a cost-saving measure. I acknowledge that being able to take the force of money and apply in a direction that results in gro…

Right. I want to know how much money this initiative could possibly save, especially in comparison to the scale of their revenue/profitability/spending on other things. It seems like they don't consider the well being of workers and how mistreating them will impact the well being of their company. People thinking along these lines should not be leading these trillion dollar companies.

Re: Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing

#129

Post by amf12 »

turtlebits wrote: post #78
amf12 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is an easier solution?

Hot desks? A reservation system? I work for a remote optional company and employees can reserve desks ahead of time and/or you can get an assigned seat if you come in daily.

This is assigned hot desk which is better than just hot desk + reservation, which doesn't guarantee teams sit together.

Re: Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing

#130

Post by amf12 »

temp2022account wrote: post #18
amf12 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is an easier solution?

WFH, it's a religion for some people. I personally absolutely must have my in-person work, but I understand the desires.

And that is an option too.
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