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Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

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Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#351

Post by mtnGoat »

lozaning wrote: post #249
swiley wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess I wasn't clear, I work on the east coast of the US but having EU employees means people are used to some of their coworkers not being available all the time.

I worked on a project for a big Korean company that required me to work onsite with a team in Dusseldorf. I happened to be there over Easter weekend and the project was behind. I inquired as to when we would meet up to keep working, and they told me the office would be closed, so naturally I asked what coffee shop/cafe/space or whatever we'd work at instead. The team there was shocked and maybe offended even, and I w…

I’d say that’s a company culture thing, not a German thing. I lived and worked in Austria and my teams in Austria and Germany were both willing to work extra and on holidays when needed.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#352

Post by Supermancho »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #147
hwbehrens wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm obviously an outlier, but I live an 8 minute (peaceful) bike ride from work. I hate commuting, so I optimized for that for this job, and working from home last year was absolutely a net negative for me. Distracting kids, poor work-life balance, more expensive (AC, food, water, etc). I think the lesson here is, some companies can be remote-first, some companies can be in-person, and different employees will prefer…

I don’t think you’re an outlier. I think online comment sections in general attract people whose preferred communication and socialization style is digital. That’s why at times HN comment sections feel like everyone unanimously agrees that in-person work universally bad. It’s great that we have more remote work opportunity post COVID, but it was never realistic to expect every company or even most company to abandon…

> I don’t think you’re an outlier.

Not sure what inspired you to make a claim from a position of ignorance. Definitely an outlier. The vast majority of people have commutes that are not within 8 minutes by any means. 1 Google search and see the US - https://blog.batchgeo.com/commute-times-and-transportation/ or Europe - http://ftp.iza.org/dp12916.pdf

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#353

Post by ghaff »

gnicholas wrote: post #296
heavyset_go wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I save money by spending less on food, drinks, and electricity. For those of us who have to commute, it's not exactly the norm to be saving money while commuting. Commutes are responsible for a 10% drop in hourly wages[1], and the median commute time results in spending 10 full days commuting a year. The average commuter in one of the largest metro areas in the country will spend over 13 full days commuting a year:…

The food/drink part could be the most of it. A Google employee enjoying free food and drink could save $60/day versus buying prepared food ($10 for breakfast, $20 for lunch, and $30 for dinner). If you drink much coffee or other beverages, that could be another $15/day. If you weigh this against spending an extra hour or two commuting, then it looks like a lousy bargain. But if you are like many people, and ended up…

To a first approximation, no one is spending $60/day on restaurant meals unless they're traveling.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#354

Post by gscott »

dm8 wrote: post #65

I maybe in the minority in this comments section but I genuinely enjoy working from office. I enjoy the social aspects. And commute never bothered me, albeit max commute for me was 45 mins (in the bay area). The only downside that I always felt was parking situation. Lot of my friends feel the same about office work. I believe going forward there will be companies (and employees) in 2 camps -- remote first and hybrid…

This makes we wonder what happened to Google employees living in box trucks in the Google parking lot.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#355

Post by calvinmorrison »

lamontcg wrote: post #333
calvinmorrison wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I spend 150$+ per month on AC and heat because of the pandemic. I spent ~30$ in gas a month commuting. I could even walk if my bike didn't work. Personally I like the free AC. Once you optimize your job to be close to your home, many of the benefits of wfh disappear.

If you're paying rents/mortgages close to your work, those savings from AC probably disappear pretty quickly.

I live in a medium/low col city. Not everywhere is NYC or Cali

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#356

Post by ghaff »

httpsterio wrote: post #345
mFixman wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A Google Employee working from home could save $200/day versus getting a fancy limousine to go to work. Nobody buys prepared food every day, and the costs of food are negligible for a Google employee.

Yeah if I made Google wages I would not want to waste an hour or more a day on commuting. Plus, you can easily make food for 10-20 dollars a day so saving by eating the company food will cost you more just by colmuting and losing your time (or potential wages).

I certainly don't worry about what I spend on food and I spend a few dollars a day on breakfast and lunch. Maybe $10-15 typically on dinner (if that). Most people don't have the free breakfast/lunch/dinner some tech employers do. And my utilities might differ a few dollars per day if I'm home or not.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#357

Post by easton »

astrange wrote: post #214
jolux wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Less stress probably, but don’t they pay pretty well?

Software pays less than other FAANGs but there also aren’t constant exec sex scandals like other FAANGs. CPUs pay slightly better than other places.

Why are there less sex scandals?

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#358

Post by insaneirish »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #101
Nbox9 wrote: post #51

I work for another company that is going to do a partial return to office. I will be looking at options for companies that offer full in person office (or 90% in person office) after things settle down. I have worked full remote for a total of 5 years of my career, and I believe working in the office is a competitive advantage. * Overhearing hallway conversations (and joining them) helps spawn invocation. * I often d…

My enjoyment of remote work has varied heavily based on the company culture, the type of work, and even my own evolving life circumstances. Having gone back and forth between in-office and WFH and between IC and manager in both circumstances, I have no doubts that in-office work is more productive than WFH. The only exceptions are when the office environment is truly terrible. WFH is more productive than being in an…

> The only exceptions are when the office environment is truly terrible.

Given that the trend is to open floor plans with limited personal space, I suspect that "truly terrible" is a fair--if not flat out generous--description of a lot of office space.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#359

Post by area51org »

Nbox9 wrote: post #51

I work for another company that is going to do a partial return to office. I will be looking at options for companies that offer full in person office (or 90% in person office) after things settle down. I have worked full remote for a total of 5 years of my career, and I believe working in the office is a competitive advantage. * Overhearing hallway conversations (and joining them) helps spawn invocation. * I often d…

If it's good for you, that's fine. But most of your ideas here are dead wrong. Things like "oh yeah real innovation happens because of hallways conversations" come from pervasive myth, not actual reality. Oh BTW pair programming is much easier over a shared screen, remotely, than it is trying to squish people in front of a single monitor.

Re: Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September

#360

Post by viraptor »

musicale wrote: post #270
jjeaff wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely there are other reasons to leave your home than work and other people to socialize with in person than co-workers.

> Surely there are other reasons to leave your home than work and other people to socialize with in person than co-workers. I wouldn't be surprised if people who don't have local family or established friends in the area and live in cities where talking to strangers is considered threatening behavior tend to socialize primarily, if not exclusively, with co-workers.

But that's a really limited view. If you live in a city, there are likely loads of activities, clubs, meetups you can go to at least weekly.
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