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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

#921

Post by rantwasp »

biztos wrote: post #843
ulzeraj wrote: post #773

I don't want to go back. I've joined the company during the height of the pandemic. Hat to relocate. Then I've rented a very nice apartment just the other side of the street from the company building. Then the company moved to a presumably cheaper building which is on the other side of the city. And you guess it... because COVID and remote work. I've talked to my relevant managers (the ones that actually mange stuff…

> Large dogs shouldn't be left alone for more than a few hours. Why does the size of the dog matter for that? Serious question, I never had a dog.

the bigger the dog, the more destruction they can cause per unit of time.

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

#922

Post by rantwasp »

midasuni wrote: post #593
xtracto wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 2018/2019 discussions about open offices vs private spaces were all the rage. Bean counters (C*Os) were fast to position open offices as great promoters of interactions and teamwork. Fast forward 2 years and thankfully that conversation has moved to WFH vs office work.

Presumably bean counters will be on the side of WFH, as staff no longer need the massive subsidy of office space, and in most cases won’t charge more.

this was never about bean counting. it was about power. if you can put the drones in an open space while you have your own luxurious office that’s power. if you can force the drones back in office so that you can watch them and create synergies that’s power!

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

#923

Post by rantwasp »

dcolkitt wrote: post #895
rubyn00bie wrote: post #844

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gross. What a fucking horrible place to live.

The proof is in the pudding. Covid death rates were identical to California. I don't care about signaling, I care about results. Scientific research has consistently confirmed that school age children are responsible for a de minims fraction of Covid transmission.[1] [1] https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2006100

jfc. comparing yourself to CA? really? compare yourself with places that managed covid properly (even within the US)

also, you point at Iceland. Do you understand that the people there don’t have the generic diversity you normally have in other places? How would you feel if the parent of another kid at your school died of covid as a result of your little one passing it around?

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

#924

Post by mateo411 »

rblatz wrote: post #408
dcolkitt wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$150 extra from 40 hours of AC is insanely high. That's about what I pay total in the middle of summer in Florida for a decent-size SFH. Check the insulation on your house for a leak. Also maybe consider upgrading to a ductless heat pump mini split. That would almost certainly cut your marginal cost to near $30/month.

My electric hits $400+ a month in the summer and it’s just going to get worse when our pool is completed. I live in a new 2500 square foot house in Arizona, our insulation is fine. And we have two pretty nice heat pump/ac units.

Have you considered adding solar panels to your house?

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

#925

Post by elzbardico »

gspr wrote: post #661
marcyb5st wrote: post #610

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work for Google and live in Switzerland where food is really expensive so my situation doesn't generalize well. However, if 1) I cook all my food, and 2) try to have a healthy diet I spend easily the equivalent of 30USD/day. Going to a restaurant sets you back around the same amount per meal. So, assuming I work 200 days/year going to the office and get free food would save me 6k USD/year (also assuming I cook 100%…

And you live in a country with a really nicely developed public transport infrastructure, so you don't go through the nightmarish car commutes that most USians probably have in mind. When I lived in CH, I did not mind the days I had to commute – it was mostly a relaxed trainride where I could get work done 75% of the time. I really think a lot of this debate is colored by Americans thinking of the American commute.

On the other side, Europeans tend to think that there is only the US and Europe in the world. American-style long commutes are the reality in most of Asia, Latin America and the larger African cities. If anything, Europe is the exception.

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

#926

Post by elzbardico »

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.

If your kids are relatively older and self-sufficient, working from home is an advantage because you DON'T need to afford after school child-care. If you are in an office, and you need to commute, of course you're going to need it. On the contrary, if you are a single mom, you'd see that remote work is a blessing.

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

#927

Post by elzbardico »

matt-attack wrote: post #511
amyjess wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do not care about being competitve. I work so I can draw a salary to fund my life. That's it. I don't care about constantly climbing a ladder. I don't care about advancing my career for the sake of advancing my career. I just want to enjoy my life, and working for a living is just my means to that end. If I'm making enough to be comfortable, I don't care about chasing a promotion or getting ahead of people. I can't…

That’s because diversity and inclusion pretty much means “blacks” and “women” fullstop. I was recently hiring a developer and my massive media company insisted I ensure my recruiter is giving me diverse candidates. I selected an individual who is apparently Spanish Jewish. Some very rare tribe of Jews from Spain. Was that considered diverse? Nope. Needs to be black.

Not that I agree with those mandates too much, but I can see the logic: A group needs to have a story of oppression in your local community to be considered for that. Diversity is a somewhat misleading word here, the aim is equality for historically disfavored groups.

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

#928

Post by choeger »

deanCommie wrote: post #445
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:…

You don't have to commute. You chose to commute. You maybe did it for a larger house. Or maybe for cheaper rent/mortgage. We're not talking here about folks on minimum wage who can only afford to live 2 hours outside of the city they are working in. The highly paid software engineers on hackernews could absolutely afford to live 5 minutes from the office, 30 minutes from the office, or 2 hours from the office. They c…

That's just bulls... People have a live besides work. Kids, family, spouses, hobbies, ... a lot of things have an influence where people can realistically live.

And furthermore, even if everyone was that free-roaming, only-working, highly-paid software developer you seem to consider average, still there wouldn't be enough living space really close to many offices for all employees.

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

#929

Post by gvurrdon »

bloqs wrote: post #674
drstewart wrote: post #667

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I save 4 hours a day lost to transport being forced to listen to podcasts and have more meaningful work and play time as a result. Man, people are really starting to stretch their commute times. Actually no, I save 8 hours a day commuting! No, 16! No, 350395803 hours! Let's be 100% honest: you did not spend 4 hours a day commuting pre-WFH. You just didn't.

2 hours both ways is below average for me. I gave a conservative estimate. At my previous job it was an hour and a half. Pretty normal here in the UK if you dont live in London.

40-60 minutes each way for me, occasionally worse. One colleague did have 2+ hours each way (train via London) and so he was permitted to come into the office once per week, even pre-covid.

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

#930

Post by jbluepolarbear »

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…

I haven’t updated it in a bit, but I did a breakdown of how much money I saved working remotely for the last 2 years in December. Taking into consideration gas, insurance, food, time, clothes, etc saved almost $5k and 500 hours of personal time a year. I do miss the office a bit, but I’ll never go back.
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