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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

#481

Post by vostok »

wikibob wrote: post #424
gnicholas wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Jesus Christ. I eat well and spend maybe $400 a month on groceries and food. I’ve heard that Google recruiters attempt to con potential employees into some ridiculous assessment of the “free” food as a compensation benefit with numbers like those that you posited above. I can’t imagine valuing daily meals that highly.

It sounds about right to me if you don't like cooking. Note that the cost is for prepared food.

Buying raw ingredients and cooking them yourself is cheaper in terms of explicit dollar costs, but if you don't enjoy cooking then you also need to assign some monetary value for having to do something that you don't like.

I think I would enjoy taking a break and cooking so free food is probably not worth $60 to me personally. It's not crazy to think that my employer gets a benefit of more than $60 through increased productivity by providing me with free food though.

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

#482

Post by tmpz22 »

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…

Right but a Google employee living in SF and commuting to Mountain View will spend 3 hrs/day commuting give or take. Are Google employees worth $20/hr?

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

#483

Post by stjohnswarts »

calvinmorrison wrote: post #321
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:…

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.

Only if you're an extrovert. As an introvert I love people throwing stuff over the wall to me and I never have to deal with office gossip, politics, or other shenanigans.

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

#484

Post by pjerem »

nojito wrote: post #153
k-mcgrady wrote: post #60

"Cook wrapped up the memo by saying that he's looking forward to seeing employee faces. "I know I'm not alone in missing the hum of activity, the energy, creativity and collaboration of our in-person meetings and the sense of community we've all built," he wrote." CEO's all spout the same nonsense. The majority of people work because they need to earn money. They're not working to make a new 'family' or change the wo…

Not at Apple but my company's internal data shows productivity is better as a hybrid vs pure WFH/In Office for many departments

In my company we are now in some unofficial hybrid approach where everyone works where they want or where they need to. It works really well. There is enough people at the office for it to be a sufficient socializing place, and enough people who WFH to « force » the remote way of work.

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

#485

Post by perl4ever »

I may go back to the office soon. Currently it is optional for anyone who wants to, but I know only one person who volunteered so far, so I've thought it would be lonely.

What changed my mind? The cable company, which appeared to give me a really good deal on switching my cellular service to them, jacked up my internet rate by $15 and notified me they will increase it by $10 more soon.

I only have cable internet because I needed the bandwidth for remotely attending meetings, so I feel like they are trying to extort me. An unlimited cellular plan with some other provider may be cheaper now.

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

#486

Post by xvector »

perl4ever wrote: post #485

I may go back to the office soon. Currently it is optional for anyone who wants to, but I know only one person who volunteered so far, so I've thought it would be lonely. What changed my mind? The cable company, which appeared to give me a really good deal on switching my cellular service to them, jacked up my internet rate by $15 and notified me they will increase it by $10 more soon. I only have cable internet beca…

I mean, I guess that makes sense if you don't like WFH.

But it would take hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars per month extra for me to even consider voluntarily going back to the office.

It's the same thing with free dinner at work - the $10-20 I'd save simply isn't worth the 2 extra hours I'd need to stay.

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

#487

Post by ryandrake »

lsllc wrote: post #456
k-mcgrady wrote: post #60

"Cook wrapped up the memo by saying that he's looking forward to seeing employee faces. "I know I'm not alone in missing the hum of activity, the energy, creativity and collaboration of our in-person meetings and the sense of community we've all built," he wrote." CEO's all spout the same nonsense. The majority of people work because they need to earn money. They're not working to make a new 'family' or change the wo…

If Tim's "missing the hum of activity, the energy, creativity and collaboration" then he's not paying attention to his employees.

Whenever an exec waxes poetically about the “hum of activity, the energy, creativity and collaboration,” I can’t help but believe what he’s really enamored with is the physical act of surveying his fiefdom, watching and hearing all his serfs shuffling to and fro acting busy and looking like they are doing things. That’s what these guys get a rise out of. The vast number of soldiers under their command and behold! There the army is in all its glory!

This is also why open offices are so popular with the exec class but nobody else. Cubicles and offices hide all those glorious bodies shuffling about visibly doing work.

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

#488

Post by tdeck »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #60

"Cook wrapped up the memo by saying that he's looking forward to seeing employee faces. "I know I'm not alone in missing the hum of activity, the energy, creativity and collaboration of our in-person meetings and the sense of community we've all built," he wrote." CEO's all spout the same nonsense. The majority of people work because they need to earn money. They're not working to make a new 'family' or change the wo…

I wonder if some part of this is the ego trip of seeing your workers in your building working for you. As an executive, that's got to be more fulfilling than looking at some OKR slides and an employee roster. I don't believe this is the only motivator but it's surely somewhere in the mix.

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

#489

Post by whiskyant »

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…

>If you weigh this against spending an extra hour or two commuting, then it looks like a lousy bargain.

How about if your commute is <20 minutes one way?

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

#490

Post by KingOfCoders »

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…

$60? Wow, happy to not be in the US.

I'd say I spend <$10 a day on food with good quality organic local ingredients.

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