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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

#301

Post by tremon »

oblio wrote: post #163
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 :-)

Hardly. Extroverts just have an easier time getting heard.

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

#302

Post by qbasic_forever »

ohthehugemanate wrote: post #199

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…

Talk to your coworkers outside work--organize. Be united and push back. You can bend management in any direction you want. You truly own the means of production, not them--never forget that.

The cynic in me thinks that this back to office push is out of fear that it's far, far easier for remote workers to organize outside the view of the company. They are terrified and want to nip that in the bud as soon as possible.

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

#303

Post by TeMPOraL »

darawk wrote: post #215
ohthehugemanate wrote: post #199

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?

Maybe they have. Maybe it's even good data, and analyzed correctly[0]. "We have data" has been the go-to excuse of companies in the past decades - a way to whitewash doing whatever it is they want to do anyway. Maybe Google is better than this[1].

But that still assumes the executives making these decisions prioritize employee well-being and work productivity. No amount of correctly collected, analyzed and understood data on WFH productivity will help if the change isn't driven by concerns about productivity. In that case, this data is just irrelevant. I believe this is the concern GP is expressing - that the goals of the management are not well aligned with the goals of the employee (which is obvious), and the well-being of the company (which is plausible).

--

[0] - I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt here to Google, at least in areas where it matters. I'm not usually giving it to a typical company, Internet or otherwise: just because you have data, doesn't mean you have the right data, have analyzed it correctly, or even employ anyone who could analyze it correctly (or employ decision makers who could understand and vet the conclusion of the people doing the analysis). In my experience, these failures are very common.

[1] - I have my doubts where it comes to their product decisions.

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

#304

Post by irq »

izacus wrote: post #179
tudorconstantin wrote: post #159

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 going back to the office as much as possible. Please don't talk for all of us. If you're miserable in the office that's fine, but it's noones duty to support your preferences. This is why we have this amazing free market - everyone can work at a company that respects their preferences.

Just in terms of reduced CO2 emissions due to fewer people commuting because they can work from home, and the impact this has on climate change, he is correctly speaking for all of us, if by all of us you mean life on Earth.

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

#305

Post by beforeolives »

me_me_me wrote: post #298
austinjp wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about those who _do_ want a friendly workplace with some element of social interaction?

hybrid model, let your workers decide how they work as long they deliver.

In a hybrid model the people who choose to be remote are damaging their own impact and career development. That's a tradeoff they're free to make if they want but it's the reason why I think hybrid models won't last for too long.

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

#306

Post by kmlx »

wu_187 wrote: post #197
skocznymroczny wrote: post #186

I enjoy working from home. If reopening offices means going back to the office and having to sit in a mask for eight hours a day, no thank you.

This is why we need unions. Do employees get to sue Alphabet if they get covid from the office?

isn't it easier just to move jobs? having google on your resume means you can get hired anywhere.

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

#307

Post by ficklepickle »

tootie wrote: post #36
bilal4hmed wrote: post #13

After spending more than a year remote, full remote is difficult ( not impossible ) . Most of us have settled on 3 days at home, 2 days at work, so we can socialize, make new connections or just simply have lunch. Going back to in office 100% is a thing of the past unless you are a team that has to be there - making hardware etc. For ex I cant imagine the Pixel team working 100% remote.

I'm a senior manager and also a hardcore introvert. In my many years of office work I would actively avoid having lunch around anyone from the office as much as possible. Lunch is my only alone time when I'm crammed in an office all day.

I completely agree. I have to talk to these people all day, now I'm supposed to talk to them while I eat? Never mind the fact it isn't socially acceptable to actually talk while eating.

I just want to walk, read something interesting and eat.

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

#308

Post by beforeolives »

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…

This is way more nuanced than introverts-extroverts. I'm not a massively social person and I prefer working in an office over working from home by a very large margin.

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

#309

Post by kmlx »

gfxgirl wrote: post #252
ohthehugemanate wrote: post #199

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…

Disagree completely. All metrics at my company, gamedev, show throughput is down ~66% since WFH Me, I want to go back to the office. Like hanging out with my work friends.

same for my clients. the drop in productivity was huge and forced some of them to start letting people go.

and all of these companies are now asking their employees back to the office full time in a week or so.

i am sure that if productivity hadn't dropped during WFH then there wouldn't be such a big issue. but when the whole company stops producing, then it's pretty clear what needs to be done...

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

#310

Post by kmlx »

qbasic_forever wrote: post #302
ohthehugemanate wrote: post #199

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…

Talk to your coworkers outside work--organize. Be united and push back. You can bend management in any direction you want. You truly own the means of production, not them--never forget that. The cynic in me thinks that this back to office push is out of fear that it's far, far easier for remote workers to organize outside the view of the company. They are terrified and want to nip that in the bud as soon as possible.

neah, it's productivity related. when no one is working after WFH, then it's pretty clear the experiment failed and people need to be back in their offices.

if productivity stayed the same, no-one would have said anything.

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