[HN Gopher] Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putt...
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Google is accelerating reopening of offices and putting limits on
remote work
Author : richardknop
Score : 29 points
Date : 2021-03-31 22:21 UTC (39 minutes ago)
(HTM) web link (www.cnbc.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.cnbc.com)
| jlawer wrote:
| I find this interesting that the new economy Google is so set on
| office work where as Shell (at least in .au) is planning on staff
| having an office / work from home mix. They have even reduced
| overall office space so that they don't have enough spaces for
| all employees to work from some local offices.
| 0xy wrote:
| Remote work is terrible for productivity especially if the
| company was not already remote first. In my employer, we've
| noticed a 30-40% productivity dip across the board. Not only
| that, but people are reporting more stress and are working
| unhealthy hours. Replying to emails at 9pm, etc.
|
| The communication breakdowns are constant. Previously you'd
| absorb information through osmosis, but the watercooler chat
| about projects and upcoming initiatives has outright stopped.
|
| If in person meetings are 10 in terms of information bandwidth,
| video calls are less than 6. They're just terrible. Oh, I
| accidentally interrupted someone yet again because of lag despite
| us all having fiber internet. Amazing.
| briga wrote:
| I'm guessing they found that employees aren't as productive when
| they not obliged to show up to the office every day. Not to
| mention when they're not provided with a steady stream of free
| food and coffee.
|
| Fourteen days a year seems pretty limited--weren't Googler's
| working from home more often than that before the pandemic?
| lupire wrote:
| That's quite speculative, considering how open offices are
| terrible for productivity but the companies still require it.
| Most likely it's just management bias.
| briga wrote:
| I mean, could it be anything other than speculative when I
| opened with "I'm guessing"?
| BrissyCoder wrote:
| Found that my productivity - and that of the team I'm on -has
| gone through the roof since WFH. I'm on a fairly small team
| though (2-3 devs). I suspect that productivity changes are
| different in larger, more corporate settings where it is less
| conspicuous when a worker abuses the circumstances.
| person_of_color wrote:
| God no.. remote wirk advocates needed Google
| tyingq wrote:
| That's interesting, since my assumption is that Google would be
| fairly data driven. I'd be curious if Googlers feel like this is
| because they are really seeing reduced productivity, or if
| there's a different motivation.
| d3ntb3ev1l wrote:
| Google HR told me "data showed remote doesn't work" I asked for
| the data and never got it.
|
| I don't work their anymore
| dmitrygr wrote:
| > Google would be fairly data driven
|
| That _was_ Google. No longer.
|
| Xoogler (2012-2019)
| grillvogel wrote:
| damn i guess all the megacorps decided to announce today
| castlecrasher2 wrote:
| As someone who's worked only remotely for several years, this
| makes sense. I know many will disagree with this assertion but in
| my estimation in-person collaboration is far better than online-
| only.
|
| I think the best balance is at least a couple days per week in
| the office and the rest remote.
| voxl wrote:
| It's easier, I agree, but I would not say its better.
| Collaborating online requires documentation, its more effort,
| but the artifacts you produce can be a lot more useful for
| everyone involved.
| TeMPOraL wrote:
| "Couple days per week in the office" kind of defeats the whole
| point of going remote in the first place.
| mciancia wrote:
| You can still save some time on commute that way ;)
| mgkimsal wrote:
| For some people, yes. For others, no.
|
| I've been 'remote' for... 12 years now, but do travel to
| offices sometimes, and do enjoy being able to do some face to
| face time with folks, even sometimes for multiple days or
| weeks at a stretch. The core matter is who decides when I
| need to be in an office. If it's me or mostly me, it's great.
| If it's solely at the discretion of others, that's where
| problems often are (regardless of whether it's full time or
| not).
| caniszczyk wrote:
| did everyone starting leaving the hell hole known as Mountain
| View?
| lupire wrote:
| What does "accelerating" mean?
| maxerickson wrote:
| They are opening the offices earlier in the year than they had
| planned.
|
| Presumably the increasing availability of vaccines factors into
| it, lots of new information between Nov 1. and the last few
| weeks.
| bilal4hmed wrote:
| After spending more than a year remote, full remote is difficult
| ( not impossible ) . Most of us have settled on 3 days at home, 2
| days at work, so we can socialize, make new connections or just
| simply have lunch.
|
| Going back to in office 100% is a thing of the past unless you
| are a team that has to be there - making hardware etc.
|
| For ex I cant imagine the Pixel team working 100% remote.
| paulcole wrote:
| > just simply have lunch.
|
| I thought I had to be in an office for this as well then
| discovered this entire room in my apartment full of mostly
| unassembled food.
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