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Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

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Re: Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

#131

Post by mech422 »

drewg123 wrote: post #115
0xy wrote: post #22

Remote work is terrible for productivity especially if the company was not already remote first. In my employer, we've noticed a 30-40% productivity dip across the board. Not only that, but people are reporting more stress and are working unhealthy hours. Replying to emails at 9pm, etc. The communication breakdowns are constant. Previously you'd absorb information through osmosis, but the watercooler chat about proje…

In the last 21 years, I've worked 2 years in an office, for Google. Those were by far the least productive I've ever felt. I resorted to getting into the office at 5:30 am to have some quiet time before the obnoxious group next to us in the office arrived and started joking around and flying RC helicopters in the building.

I'm another one with 20 years WFH... Its amazing how much controversy it engenders. I think a good part of it, might be having consciously made the decision vs. having to 'fall into' it during the pandemic.

Re: Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

#132

Post by azemetre »

0xy wrote: post #73
perardi wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your feelings are very much not shared in regards to productivity. https://www.pwc.com/us/en/library/covid-19/us-remote-work-su... I will grant you that multi-person video meetings are subpar. Which is a blessing, because now we have smaller meetings.

Would Google be doing this if they thought it would reduce productivity?

You should never assume businesses, corporations, and people are rational actors. Corporations make irrational decisions all the time, often to their demise. Why do we think Google is exempt?

Re: Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

#134

Post by frongpik »

throwawaysea wrote: post #42

This focus on returning to work or a hybrid model really seems like a missed chance to pivot the economy in a new direction. It would be great if these companies let employees work remotely full time if they choose. That'll allow people to have more freedom in where and how they live, and also distribute the economy more evenly. Right now, working for big tech companies means having to live in one of a few big city c…

This also proves that the climate change initiative is a wash. They can't take co2 emissions seriously and at the same time demand 100k employees to spend 1 hour a day driving to offices. That's like what, 100 millions gallons of gas per year, or 1 gigaton of co2, burned needlessly, only to improve some corporate metrics.

Re: Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

#135

Post by executive »

carlivar wrote: post #124
person_of_color wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Today is a big disaster for those who foresaw changes in the workplace. Now we have only tier 2 companies (Dropbox/Spotify) who have gone full remote.

Tier 2 in what exactly?

Spotify Samsung app is still audio only

Re: Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

#136

Post by beisner »

jpeg_hero wrote: post #49

I feel like the "max 14 days per year " put the slam down on 2 days home / 3 days office everyone said would happen.

The article is ambiguous about that. One interpretation is "max 14 days of remote work per year where you can't be in the office 3 days a week" (which is separately mentioned later in the article).

Re: Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

#137

Post by smabie »

ryandrake wrote: post #74
6gvONxR4sf7o wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're only coming in a few days a week, you don't need to live as close to the office. Like the difference between a 30 minute commute twice a day five days a week versus a 90 minute commute twice a day once a week.

It's certainly better than nothing. I agree that different people like WFH for different reasons. For my job, anything that lets me move farther from the Bay Area would be better. 1 day WFH per week doesn't let me do that, but maybe 3 days WFH per week would. My current commute is 4 hours, so maybe Id be willing to do an 8 hour commute if it was only twice a week. A week per month would be even better: I could move o…

4hrs? Why/how do you survive. I don't think I could live like that.

Re: Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

#138

Post by mantas »

bradlys wrote: post #110
gregkerzhner wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curious, do the members of your team have activities, hobbies, and relationships they are involved with outside of work? From what I have seen the folks itching to get back to the office are the ones that don't have many outlets outside of work. On the other hand, for many of us who do have significant non work passions (rock climbing for me) as well as social circles around these activities appreciate remote work be…

It sounds more like your friends lived somewhere different than where you lived. You were traveling to see your friends and now you don't have to travel because you live closer to them. Remote work can be good for that scenario but you could've also just fully embraced your true destiny to become a dirtbag. Remote work basically doesn't change anything for the activities I'd like to do. Mine are centered around major…

> If I want to go skiing 7-times a week then I'm SOL because work hours are work hours and they overlap with the hours that resorts are open

Start work at 6:00 and head out at 15:00. Hardly doable when in office, but if you work remotely close to lifts.. ;)

Re: Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

#139

Post by danans »

tyingq wrote: post #4

That's interesting, since my assumption is that Google would be fairly data driven. I'd be curious if Googlers feel like this is because they are really seeing reduced productivity, or if there's a different motivation.

Googler, but opinions are my own. A lot of employees like me would like to go back to the office, but would also like to have a few days at home for personal reasons (exercise time, kids school events, etc), fewer hours of exhausting commuting, and even just to have lunch at the restaurants in my own neighborhood. This would reduce the exhaustion one can feel at the end of a 5 day office week and leave you feeling fresher next time you come in to the office.

The 3-in-office/2-at-home week referenced would work well in this regard.

Re: Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on remote work

#140

Post by hyko »

When will introverts realise that their working conditions are being dictated to them by extroverts? The pandemic-driven remote working is hell for some people, and unfortunately they call the shots.

I don’t mind coming into your office now and again (there’s a special dimension to IRL connections), but the reason I don’t want to work there full time is that it’s crap for knowledge work. I outspend you by 10x per head in my home office, and everything there is to my exact specification. The whole field of modern office design should be a discredited pseudoscience; management is addicted to it because of the real estate crisis though.

This is also kind of terrible, because a lot of people use FAANG as their North star for every policy decision.

“Well Google use primary colours in their logo, Brian”

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