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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

#231
post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.. ;)

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

#232
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…

It's our duty as human beings to resist any normalization of remote working. Loneliness is a far worse problem in our society than commuting. We need to make sure everyone has a baseline level of social contact.

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

#233

the problem was never remote vs colocated. it was commuting. offices are fine (though not required). travelling for > 15-20 mins to and from work is what sucks the most. we need local office hubs. work around your local community for your employer near your home.

Sort of. Commuting is one side of it.

There’s also the issue many people have of not being able to do deep work in a busy open plan office.

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

#234
post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Or you can take the bus or train?

Then you are polluting, wasting people's time, and spreading diseases

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

#235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see that it is sarcastic in form, but it doesn't address the meaning of the initial comment, which was about sitting down for a meal and chatting, not about food.

That's the joke....

It wasn't funny.

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

#236
post #215

Just in case you were operating under the illusion that tech giants are run by forward thinking executives who are immune to the usual politics and problems of corporate life. Nope, most of their exec layer is a bunch of people who cut their teeth the industry in the 90's, and are operating within a thick fog of local workplace politics. I guarantee that behind this move is an executive who believes that developers n…

Have you considered the possibility that executives in charge of tens of thousands of developers might have some data you don't regarding its impacts on productivity in aggregate?

If they do then why don't they share it?

I mean they must realise this is a pretty unpopular decision so why not share their justification.

Otherwise it's just an appeal to authority - "Ours not to reason why.."

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

#237
post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you considered the possibility that executives in charge of tens of thousands of developers might have some data you don't regarding its impacts on productivity in aggregate?

If they do then why don't they share it? I mean they must realise this is a pretty unpopular decision so why not share their justification. Otherwise it's just an appeal to authority - "Ours not to reason why.."

I don't know, but I think it's reasonable to assume that their primary concern is productivity, and that at a company like Google, that concern will be analyzed in a data driven way. Perhaps they don't want to insult their developers by implying their productivity dipped, or something.

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

#238

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

It would make sense, they don't want to stop the appreciation of their real estate assets. How much is google's campus worth?

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

#239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

It's our duty as human beings to resist any normalization of remote working. Loneliness is a far worse problem in our society than commuting. We need to make sure everyone has a baseline level of social contact.

You can have social contact outside of work though. WFH gives people back time to explore hobbies, join clubs, meet people etc.

The social contact you have at work often feels forced and artificial - you can choose your friends, your colleagues not so much.

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

#240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's our duty as human beings to resist any normalization of remote working. Loneliness is a far worse problem in our society than commuting. We need to make sure everyone has a baseline level of social contact.

You can have social contact outside of work though. WFH gives people back time to explore hobbies, join clubs, meet people etc. The social contact you have at work often feels forced and artificial - you can choose your friends, your colleagues not so much.

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