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Is the tech bubble popping? Ping pong offers an answer

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Re: Is the tech bubble popping? Ping pong offers an answer

#71

Post by steverb »

ElKrist wrote: post #53

Last time I went through a series of interview to find a new job, I systematically asked to go to the bathroom. I believe male's toilet cleanliness is a good indicator of how employees perceive their workplaces. Said simply, if it's not clean then I expect employees to give poor considerations to each other or to the work they produce. You can be fooled by what recruiters tell you in the interviewing room, the perks…

Funny, I use the quality of the toilet paper as a proxy for how the company treats its regular employees.

Re: Is the tech bubble popping? Ping pong offers an answer

#72

Post by toomanybeersies »

cylinder wrote: post #40
jychang wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes sense in terms of cost to benefit. A ping pong table is a few hundred dollars at most. An employee performing well is $100,000 at minimum. Little things like free food and ping pong tables actually offer a massive return on investment.

Who are these people who play ping pong during work hours? I want to finish my work and go home. If I have a break, I want to go outside and get some sun and air because I hate being inside all day. I'm not looking for a frat.

My attitude to a T. My workplace is for working, it's not a playhouse.

Re: Is the tech bubble popping? Ping pong offers an answer

#73

Post by toomanybeersies »

zeemonkee3 wrote: post #39
bnegreve wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only if having a ping pong table (or free food) improve productivity. That's a rather strong assumption.

Agreed: 1) Playtime is for after hours, with friends and family. Ping pong's a fun game but it's noisy and disruptive when you're trying to get work done. 2) Don't care about your free food, I have a strict diet and don't usually eat lunch. Ditto free booze which is frankly a dumb idea (see 1). Free non-alcholic drinks is fine.

Free booze during meetings is a great in my opinion, makes them tolerable.

Re: Is the tech bubble popping? Ping pong offers an answer

#74

Post by duaneb »

zeemonkee3 wrote: post #66
lmm wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not like having B makes A harder.

No, but it's when they are used as substitutes. "Hey, we have a dysfunctional CEO, a runway shorter than the one at Hong Kong airport, and a legacy codebase that reduces the most experienced developer to a gibbering wreck. But look - we have foosball and whiskey tasting nights!"

Ok, so I agree with you that ping pong isn't a replacement for a salary, benefits, or interesting problems. I'm also sure this is a straw man.

Re: Is the tech bubble popping? Ping pong offers an answer

#75

Post by banku_brougham »

ElKrist wrote: post #53

Last time I went through a series of interview to find a new job, I systematically asked to go to the bathroom. I believe male's toilet cleanliness is a good indicator of how employees perceive their workplaces. Said simply, if it's not clean then I expect employees to give poor considerations to each other or to the work they produce. You can be fooled by what recruiters tell you in the interviewing room, the perks…

That works for restauraunts as well.

Re: Is the tech bubble popping? Ping pong offers an answer

#76

Post by banku_brougham »

I work at a big tech company. They don't provide table tennis, but every building has one or two, or more. I find that a game is better for me to get a boost than the coffee. But i still drink the coffee.

Interestingly, I rarely played when I was in a business role, but ever since I switched to a tech role I've played every day. I bought two paddles as well, it's some kind of metamorphosis.

Re: Is the tech bubble popping? Ping pong offers an answer

#77

Post by zeemonkee3 »

duaneb wrote: post #74
zeemonkee3 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, but it's when they are used as substitutes. "Hey, we have a dysfunctional CEO, a runway shorter than the one at Hong Kong airport, and a legacy codebase that reduces the most experienced developer to a gibbering wreck. But look - we have foosball and whiskey tasting nights!"

Ok, so I agree with you that ping pong isn't a replacement for a salary, benefits, or interesting problems. I'm also sure this is a straw man.

Sure, it's a semi-facetious example. But I'm suspicious of job ads that mention things like foosball tables or climbing walls and other such frivolities - it suggests either a juvenile working environment or that the company has to provide gimmicks to entice people to work there because it doesn't have anything solid to offer.

Re: Is the tech bubble popping? Ping pong offers an answer

#78

Post by TrevorJ »

michaelpinto wrote: post #2

This blew me away: "Venture capitalist Michael Cardamone, the tournament’s co-organizer, approves of young companies buying tables with venture funds. “You absolutely should,” he says. “It’s part of building culture.”"

That's cargo cult thinking if I've ever heard it.

Re: Is the tech bubble popping? Ping pong offers an answer

#79

Post by Terretta »

snarfy wrote: post #65

These cultures are all artificial. I've worked at a handful of companies that all brought in the ping pong/foosball/shuffle board, and nobody plays them. It's always a ghost town. Instead, employees will bring in their own toys like card games and basketball hoops, because that's what they like. The culture happens because the employees themselves have the latitude and money to make it happen. The foosball table that…

Hmm. We play the shit out of our ping pong tables.

Engineers, product guys, engineering managers, department heads, everyone together, usually four up plus some onlookers. Not artificial at all.

We play the card and table games at each others' homes, usually after sous vide steaks or barbecue.

Our hangouts are nothing like Billions. :-)

Re: Is the tech bubble popping? Ping pong offers an answer

#80

Post by lmm »

zeemonkee3 wrote: post #77
duaneb wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, so I agree with you that ping pong isn't a replacement for a salary, benefits, or interesting problems. I'm also sure this is a straw man.

Sure, it's a semi-facetious example. But I'm suspicious of job ads that mention things like foosball tables or climbing walls and other such frivolities - it suggests either a juvenile working environment or that the company has to provide gimmicks to entice people to work there because it doesn't have anything solid to offer.

The ROI on those "gimmicks" is huge - to my mind it's the company that wouldn't spend a small amount of money on something fun that's suspicious. That suggests a company that's more bothered about appearances/"professionalism" than just getting on with things.

Juvenile, shrug - I guess I like a juvenile working environment.

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