Well, looks like we are in 2023 and maybe the rumor made in 2019 will be true.
Where "Google Brass Set 2023 as Deadline to Beat Amazon, Microsoft in Cloud"
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/google-brass-set-202...
Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing
91–100 of 214 posts
Re: Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing
#92It seems like each day there's an article lately about reasons _not_ to work at Google. Sad to see how they went from an enviable place to work to a place to avoid these past years. (Although internally, things might be better than it looks from the outside of course)
I'd work from a toilet stall for a Google L6 comp band I doubt any Googlers actually care about this stuff
Not a chance. Toilet stalls are in higher demand (during peak hours) than desks.
Re: Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, that could be justified as maintaining the health of the employees by forcing one of two to stand up at any time.
It would have to be timed so each employee got equal stool time. IIRC standing all day isn't necessarily healthier than sitting all day. You want to alternate.
That would be incentivised with this system, no? Employees would fight the other off the stool constantly, to get their share of sitting.
Re: Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing
#94I am sitting at a Google desk and there are 5/6 people not here in the desks in my vicinity. I would prefer fewer desks and to actually get to sit next to people rather than being scattered among a sea of mostly empty desks due to people WFH.
I am sitting in a sparsely populated open plan and it’s nice because it nearly fixes the noise/overstimulation problems as well as walls would.
Re: Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing
#95When I was at Google (Kirkland), the offices were basically open-plan fishbowls. WFH was massively better. I once worked at a startup (pre-covid) that had an open-plan setup with a significant portion of people using standing desks. They provided one stool for 2 standing desks justifying it because "if you use a standing desk you should be standing most of the time". Pure cheapskate short-sightedness.
Well, that could be justified as maintaining the health of the employees by forcing one of two to stand up at any time.
Yeah, that's "amazing" for those employees with very common conditions like plantar fasciitis.
Re: Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing
#96Really tough to imagine micro-optimizations like this having any visible effect at all on costs for a company Google's size (except by way of employee frustration)
You have to wonder what's going on inside those executive conference rooms
Re: Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing
#97Look... if you want people to RTO, maybe make it so that there's less overhead? Reading this article made me just want to stay at my own desk at home.
Agreed, I have the perfect setup at home, I paid for everything (except laptop) and I pay for all of the electricity, bandwidth, accessories and upgrades, and furniture and upgrades. Saving the company a lot of money and I'm at my desk way longer!
I never bothered but it's definitely easy at google to expense your internet and I remember hearing about someone successfully expensing some amount of their electricity
Re: Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
I used to say something similar to this but then I worked at Google. It turns out I care a lot more about working on interesting problems than I do about fat checks.
Google still has interesting problems to work on? I thought they just printed money with adsense and launched projects just so they could cancel them 2 weeks later. /s
I think he's saying they don't have interesting problems to work on.
Re: Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing
#99Remember how all those Gen X movies depicted cubicles as the embodiment of the soul crushing rat race. If only we still had it that good!
I had low-wall cubicles at one job and thought it was great. Could still see the eyes and noses of my coworkers around me, and it was easy making conversation or asking for help.
Re: Google asks some employees to share desks amid office downsizing
#100Remember how all those Gen X movies depicted cubicles as the embodiment of the soul crushing rat race. If only we still had it that good!
Damn idk which I'd rather have. Some cube farms are next-level depressing. When I was younger, I think part of what made the prospect of moving out of my hometown more compelling was the fact that a giant mega-insurance company ended up being the main endpoint for CS grads. I got to visit once and it was _not_ pretty. Tightly enclosed cubes with tall aging white walls, one source of sunlight if that. They must of rea…
Well if you get a cube by the window, there's always a chance of seeing some merry squirrels.