<story><title>Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4</title><url>https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-mandates-workers-back-silicon-valley-other-offices-april-4-2022-03-02/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>carom</author><text>Lonely is an incredibly accurate way to describe working at Google. Everyone says the office perks are there to trick you to stay, but our work area was quieter than a library and no one hung around. If people were talking they&amp;#x27;d legit catch themselves and be like, we should grab a conference room. Incredibly polite but also an uncomfortably quiet environment.&lt;p&gt;I think a lot of people just wanted to put in their hours and get home to their families. I love pool but never played with anyone on the table one floor down because it just wasn&amp;#x27;t a make-friends environment. I think I shot the shit with someone when I got into work a handful of times in the more-than-a-year that I worked there. Huge reason I left.&lt;p&gt;This isn&amp;#x27;t even coming from a social person. I prefer WFH. I don&amp;#x27;t particularly like going out. However, if I&amp;#x27;m gonna be forced to be around people I&amp;#x27;d at least like it to be pleasant.</text></item><item><author>skybrian</author><text>I&amp;#x27;ve worked at a startup where everyone being there was essential in how we worked. (We were all pair programming.) It was great. It beats code reviews any day. I learned a lot.&lt;p&gt;But when I was at Google, we would schedule VC meetings with people in a different part of campus just to avoid the walk. Also, I worked on teams that had people worked out in many offices, mostly not Mountain View. I was surrounded by Googlers in an open-plan office, but it was often lonely. I ate alone sometimes. It was often not worth the commute.&lt;p&gt;I think Google having a company-wide policy on this is nuts. Teams vary a lot. They should probably be left to make their own decisions.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>closeparen</author><text>That sounds amazing, I dearly wish for &amp;quot;library rules&amp;quot; on the floor. The office has plenty of social and collaborative spaces that aren&amp;#x27;t where my keyboard&amp;#x2F;monitor&amp;#x2F;charger are, and switching to one of those spaces when you&amp;#x27;re going to have a conversation is a good norm.</text></comment>
<story><title>Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4</title><url>https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-mandates-workers-back-silicon-valley-other-offices-april-4-2022-03-02/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>carom</author><text>Lonely is an incredibly accurate way to describe working at Google. Everyone says the office perks are there to trick you to stay, but our work area was quieter than a library and no one hung around. If people were talking they&amp;#x27;d legit catch themselves and be like, we should grab a conference room. Incredibly polite but also an uncomfortably quiet environment.&lt;p&gt;I think a lot of people just wanted to put in their hours and get home to their families. I love pool but never played with anyone on the table one floor down because it just wasn&amp;#x27;t a make-friends environment. I think I shot the shit with someone when I got into work a handful of times in the more-than-a-year that I worked there. Huge reason I left.&lt;p&gt;This isn&amp;#x27;t even coming from a social person. I prefer WFH. I don&amp;#x27;t particularly like going out. However, if I&amp;#x27;m gonna be forced to be around people I&amp;#x27;d at least like it to be pleasant.</text></item><item><author>skybrian</author><text>I&amp;#x27;ve worked at a startup where everyone being there was essential in how we worked. (We were all pair programming.) It was great. It beats code reviews any day. I learned a lot.&lt;p&gt;But when I was at Google, we would schedule VC meetings with people in a different part of campus just to avoid the walk. Also, I worked on teams that had people worked out in many offices, mostly not Mountain View. I was surrounded by Googlers in an open-plan office, but it was often lonely. I ate alone sometimes. It was often not worth the commute.&lt;p&gt;I think Google having a company-wide policy on this is nuts. Teams vary a lot. They should probably be left to make their own decisions.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>mrosett</author><text>100% agree on this.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;ve attended the weddings of multiple friends from my first job. I&amp;#x27;m still in touch with 4-5 people from my second job. I haven&amp;#x27;t spoken to anyone from my team at Google since the day I left. I had good, cordial relationships with all of them, but it was also incredibly impersonal. I don&amp;#x27;t even recall learning anything about anyone&amp;#x27;s spouse, for instance.</text></comment>