Apple asks staff to return to office 3 days a week starting in early September • Hacker News Board

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

#821

Post by twobitshifter » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 1:01 PM UTC

londons_explore wrote: post #809

ls15 wrote: post #617

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Private transport is also one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing daily commute seems like a good way to improve our carbon footprint. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200317-climate-change-c...

The way to reduce carbon footprint is to put a zero on the price of gasoline, diesel, natural gas and all other forms of carbon-based fuel. A 900% tax should do just fine. Just nobody is brave enough to do it, because it would be political suicide. Even if you gave the money back to the people in the form of tax breaks and social programmes, it would still be political suicide.

I don’t know - a carbon tax and telling everyone they’re required to come to the office just seems like it’s punishing workers even more. For many people transit it’s not available or odd fossil fueled powered. WFH should be preferred over a carbon tax on commuting - eliminating the consumption altogether is far better than sending tax money to the government and hoping that people change behaviors based on pricing.

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

#822

Post by ashtonkem » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 1:01 PM UTC

threeseed wrote: post #501

ashtonkem wrote: post #382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My coworkers are great, but do you know who is better? My family and friends.

Most engineers don't have a family. And some don't have close friends. Don't assume that your view of the world is the same for everyone.

> Don't assume that your view of the world is the same for everyone.

Please point out where I did that.

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

#823

Post by tru3_power » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 1:03 PM UTC

I hope to continue wfh for the rest of my career.

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

#824

Post by OJFord » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 1:03 PM UTC

DrBenCarson wrote: post #755

benrbray wrote: post #725

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is yet to be determined, but even if you're right, it still promotes a different kind of inequality. Remote work is strongly biased in favor of those with the resources to have a nice, distraction-free office setup at home, and towards those who are already established in their careers.

Not to mention how it advantages people who can afford after school child care. An all-remote workforce is on its way to being an all-male workforce. Female employment is already decades behind where it was pre-pandemic. The single male echo chamber on here is unnerving.

> Not to mention how [wfh] advantages people who can afford after school child care.

What? Surely if anything it's the opposite - if you can't afford it wfh allows you to be at home to 'multi-task', what're you going to do if you're supposed to be in the office?

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

#825

Post by yawnxyz » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 1:03 PM UTC

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.

lol I'm doing a bootstrapped startup. I ate: a can of tuna, peanut butter, greek yogurt, protein powder-based shake, and watermelon yesterday... maybe at a total cost of $3-5??

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

#826

Post by thrwyoilarticle » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 1:07 PM UTC

slavapestov wrote: post #191

themacguffinman wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everyone spends a significant amount of time commuting by personal car to the office. I see a lot of angst about hypothetically long 1-2hr commutes when the average commute in major tech cities is ~30 mins, and of course you can always control it by living closer to the office. Sure, not everyone is willing to make sacrifices for commute, which is one reason why it can be a competitive advantage.

How much do homes cost within a 30 minute commute radius of FAANG HQ?

There's the rub. The salaries look huge but they don't take into account the mental cost of commuting or the negative externality placed on people whose environments are rearranged to accommodate people from outside that region. Of course, the salaries are the reason it's so expensive (fueled by the few who choose to live that close) but that indicates that the housing surrounding the HQs won't accommodate a workforce with a reasonable commute.

This isn't just some unimportant whining. It's the source of a large chunk of your carbon footprint. And electric or autonomous cars won't make that go away.

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

#827

Post by thrwyoilarticle » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 1:09 PM UTC

yakubin wrote: post #812

tootie wrote: post #437

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will always prefer WFH for a critically important reason no one else seems willing to mention. I get to use my own bathroom. Sitting in a stall next to someone noisy is my daily hell. The worst is if the seat is still warm. I think may have actually avoided using a public restroom for 15 straight months.

When I'm at home, I wash my behind after using the toilet. At work that's impossible. Not looking forward to getting back to the office.

It's a shame. In the West, even the flashiest, most employee-attractive offices won't have a bidet.

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

#828

Post by vultour » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 1:12 PM UTC

reverend_gonzo wrote: post #202

BrissyCoder wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand how so many people in this thread are saying they spend more on food while working from home. How is this possible? Does it vary by country? In Australia at least it is orders of magnitude less expensive to prepare food at home purchased from a supermarket than it is to buy food whilst out an about. Or are these people working for companies that provide food or something. I just don't get it.

My work pays for my food. Also, I’m busy working, so I don’t actually have time to cook my lunch, so it’s either eating something frozen, which is unhealthy and gets old, or get delivery, so that $30 for a meal. Also, my commute is a fifteen minute walk, because I absolutely optimized for not having to drive anywhere. The only benefit to wfh was seeing my kid more often, but that had its own caveats because it is hug…

My work doesn’t even pay for coffee.

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

#829

Post by ashtonkem » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 1:14 PM UTC

randomsearch wrote: post #589

ashtonkem wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Commutes also cost the one thing we can't get back; time.

If you use public transport, you can regain that time. In the UK you can get a seat on most rush hour trains, and even standing up on the Tube you can read a book, listen to a podcast, do your email etc. It's also good thinking time. Driving a car yep you're absolutely right, but if you commute via car a long distance for a considerable amount of time I think you're crazy.

Disagree strongly. I commuted solely via public transit for years, and it isn’t time you’ve regained in a meaningful way. Reading a book on a crowded train is superior to driving, and vastly inferior to reading a book in my hammock before working hours start. I also can’t work out, hang out with my family, or do all kinds of activities when I’m on public transit.

For the record, I’ve commuted via public transit (both bus and train), bike, and foot for long stretches of time. All beat driving, all are much worse than just not commuting at all.

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

#830

Post by capableweb » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 1:15 PM UTC

ryanSrich wrote: post #448

Elora wrote: post #319

Some here are being honest, so I'll be brutally honest: Covid has upset the master-slave relationship, and they're realizing they're giving up too much control. Yes, even the supposedly forward-thinking, progressive tech world. It's so much easier to ignore the BS of "company culture," "a new family" and other such nonsense when working remote. Plenty of people here have outright stated they work as a way to fund the…

100%. A lot of the people here commenting that they like forced in person work don’t realize they’re indoctrinated.

Yeah, for sure it's impossible that people have different opinions without being indoctrinated, simply impossible.

This way of thinking is why people who disagree cannot even talk anymore. If someone says they believe something, don't jump to conclusions that they are manipulated or indoctrinated, there are plenty of things that are simply _difference of opinion_, but somehow that thought seems pretty wild today, for some reason.