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

cnbc.com

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

#161

Post by muro »

nlitened wrote: post #152
noisy_boy wrote: post #142

I think this is mostly driven by management's insecurities / needs to see their "subjects" right in front of them and their typical need to "show" their activities in an obvious/noisy way. Typical managers tend to be extroverts and find allies in other extroverts or in people who happen to work in/enjoy the social interaction in office. Unfortunately there is not much representation of introverts in the decision maki…

I would imagine that in Google most managers would be former engineers. If that is true, there might be more to the story rather than introverts/extraverts split.

I don't think a decision like this is made by "most managers". This is probably a CEO decision.

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

#162

Post by enriquto »

gregkerzhner wrote: post #109
sundaeofshock wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are making some interesting assumptions about non-work interests. I don’t mind working in the office 3-4 days/week, and have plenty of Non-work interests: restaurants, photography, dancing, live music, hanging out with friends. I live, work, and play in the city. I can pursue my social activities within minutes of leaving work.

Thats great that you work and play in the same location, you are lucky! Now imagine if your office moved to a tiny, faraway town with no food, nightlife, or dancing. Does remote work seem more appealing?

This sounds like a problem with the location of that particular office, not with the discussuion of in-place work/work from home. I live a nice bike trip from work and I cannot stand working at home anymore. And I'm an extreme introvert: I don't yearn for social contact, it's just that my office is very comfortable.

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

#163

Post by oblio »

hyko wrote: post #140

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 hea…

> When will introverts realise that their working conditions are being dictated to them by extroverts.

Majority rule :-)

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

#164

Post by asdff »

lmilcin wrote: post #34
justaguy88 wrote: post #28

"I spent all this money on offices, better force the minions to sit in them"

If that was really the case Google would just sell all these. Do you understand how costly it is to maintain offices?

Google has signed like 16 year leases in some offices and has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into them already. For the playa vista office alone at least.

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

#165

Post by runawaybottle »

I say what’s up to most of the team till about noon, and unless I have meetings I mostly nap a bit. I wake up early and do my work.

Before the pandemic I used to goto work and not do shit. Wake up early on one or two days and do my work.

It’s the same exact routine except now I have to pretend in the office when I could just be napping and doing better work later.

:shrugs:

I’ll find a way around whatever bullshit the suits come up with.

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

#166

Post by jeffbee »

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?

In this sense I'd imagine.

https://finance.yahoo.com/chart/GOOG#eyJpbnRlcnZhbCI6IndlZWs...

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

#167

Post by JackPoach »

As a person who has first-hand experience working with dedicated Google managers - this is great news. I used to be able to get answers very quickly, but even the simplest issues nowadays can take up to 3 weeks to get resolved. "Everyone is remote, you understand" - is the usual reply. I can any guess how terrible it's for regular businesses that don't have assigned dedicated account managers.

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

#168

Post by heterodoxxed »

tudorconstantin wrote: post #159
hyko wrote: post #140

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 hea…

I'm totally not an introvert: I love being around nice people, I love playing table tennis and having lunch with my colleagues. But wasting 1h-2h daily on commuting to/from work is in absolutely no way worthy of this. It's our duty as human beings to resist going back to the office as much as possible. To gain back some of the life we otherwise would spend on commute. Work is for work, not for socializing, or having…

Yes, two non-introvert reasons for remote work: Commuting is hell and deep focus is near impossible in modern offices.

For the latter, there are times when you need to think about working, and when you're doing that, being in the office with a group of people and a whiteboard is invaluable. But at some point, you know what you need to do, you just need to get into a flow and do it. And that is near impossible in modern offices. That is especially important for engineers, but it also applies to accountants and designers and carpenters and any productive labor that isn't management.

Introvert/extrovert doesn't come into play, all productive labor needs to get into states of deep focus.

Maybe if engineers all had doors that closed, but for some damn reason we haven't had those since the 1960s.

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

#169

Post by doktorhladnjak »

dividefuel wrote: post #90
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, opinions are my own) I don't think Google has really justified why the return to the office is necessary for all employees, beyond saying that it's a key part of the culture. Obviously the office is a part of the culture, and most employees want to be in the office at least some of the time. But to me, that doesn't explain why you can't offer a remote option for the employees who want it. A charitable expla…

Google has some of the best offices in the world. They’ve built up these offices as a clear differentiator from their talent competitors. It’s lead to many companies offering free lunch and other perks tied to their physical space.

Giving it up would mean changing the culture and the value prop of working there. I can’t say I’m surprised they don’t want to do that.

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

#170

Post by boatsie »

jayavanth wrote: post #120
UncleMeat wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not true. The article is not correctly describing the policy. I don't know if the journalist just didn't get the entire email from their source or if they put this out too fast but what is written in the article isn't correct.

What is the policy?

Someone above referenced 14 days in a row, working from home. In other words, they don’t want you to rent an apartment in Bali for a month while not on vacation.
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