<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>BurningFrog</author><text>This is of course true.&lt;p&gt;OTOH, WFH people living alone can go many days without any human interaction.&lt;p&gt;There is no arrangement that is &amp;quot;best&amp;quot; for everyone.</text></item><item><author>headmelted</author><text>To extend this, more &lt;i&gt;useable&lt;/i&gt; time with family.&lt;p&gt;For many people with younger children (and therefore early evening bedtimes), having or not having a commute is &lt;i&gt;not&lt;/i&gt; a difference of an hour or two of your day - it&amp;#x27;s the difference between spending time with your family during the week versus not at all.  I&amp;#x27;ve heard this from &lt;i&gt;many&lt;/i&gt; friends (and some family) across different industries - hardly any have wanted to stick their heads above the parapet and single themselves out as being a problem.&lt;p&gt;I already empathised, but this whole thing has really thrown a light on what working parents (specifically those with primary care responsibilities like school pick-ups and drop-offs) in the workplace have been dealing with this whole entire time.&lt;p&gt;tldr; A great many people have had an increase of 150% of the time they care about the most by working from home - this proposal takes that away from them.</text></item><item><author>com2kid</author><text>&amp;gt; Some people love the lack of commute and less semi-forced hanging out, some people hate onboarding on a new company as a remote person and so on and so on.&lt;p&gt;My team has been able to hire people from all across the country, gaining access to talent that we normally would not have been able to reach.&lt;p&gt;Because my entire company has gone fully remote, if someone on the team has to take a trip overseas, they can choose to continue working if so desired. If someone wants to bail to a seaside town during the worst of winter, no problem.&lt;p&gt;People aren&amp;#x27;t forced to live in overpriced urban areas, they can live where they choose to!&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;  I think that an environment where someone can tap me on the shoulder when they need help leads to overall higher productivity, even if individual productivity suffers temporarily.&lt;p&gt;I agree, but I am getting 1&amp;#x2F;8th of my waking hours back from commuting.&lt;p&gt;Since the pandemic began I have been putting under 3000 miles a year on my car. I am eating home cooked meals every day. Mid day I can walk down to the local grocery store and pick up food to cook later for dinner.&lt;p&gt;My QoL is insanely improved.&lt;p&gt;If I need maintenance work done (Late last year I bought a house that was built in the 1950s, so, yes, lots of that happening) I am here all day long if need be. I don&amp;#x27;t have to worry about when expensive packages are delivered, I am always here to pick them up. I can have someone come by and cut my cat&amp;#x27;s claws whenever need be. I can schedule doctors and dentists appointments at any time of the day and not have to take a day off of work to make them.&lt;p&gt;And so on and so forth. WfH rocks.</text></item><item><author>librish</author><text>I think anyone who&amp;#x27;s claiming that remote work has been &amp;quot;proven&amp;quot; to be better or worse is wrong. There are some studies but they use estimations and proxies, carrying the same flaws as doing performance reviews based on lines of code.&lt;p&gt;We&amp;#x27;ve proven that the big tech companies can go fully remote and not completely crash and burn, that&amp;#x27;s about it. Some people love the lack of commute and less semi-forced hanging out, some people hate onboarding on a new company as a remote person and so on and so on.&lt;p&gt;I personally prefer a company where everyone&amp;#x27;s on site. I want to be able to quickly resolve any issues in person, not over voice call or slack, and I think that an environment where someone can tap me on the shoulder when they need help leads to overall higher productivity, even if individual productivity suffers temporarily.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>StevePerkins</author><text>If you&amp;#x27;re going many days without any human interaction, then the issue isn&amp;#x27;t your inability to force your colleagues into the same physical space with you.  The issue is that you&amp;#x27;re confusing your colleagues for a personal social support network.&lt;p&gt;Remote or in-office, that&amp;#x27;s not healthy.  Go outside.  Make real friendships with people you don&amp;#x27;t work with.  And if you&amp;#x27;re struggling with that, then seek help.  But don&amp;#x27;t force me into a car for 10 hours per week, just to help you fake a social support network.</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>BurningFrog</author><text>This is of course true.&lt;p&gt;OTOH, WFH people living alone can go many days without any human interaction.&lt;p&gt;There is no arrangement that is &amp;quot;best&amp;quot; for everyone.</text></item><item><author>headmelted</author><text>To extend this, more &lt;i&gt;useable&lt;/i&gt; time with family.&lt;p&gt;For many people with younger children (and therefore early evening bedtimes), having or not having a commute is &lt;i&gt;not&lt;/i&gt; a difference of an hour or two of your day - it&amp;#x27;s the difference between spending time with your family during the week versus not at all.  I&amp;#x27;ve heard this from &lt;i&gt;many&lt;/i&gt; friends (and some family) across different industries - hardly any have wanted to stick their heads above the parapet and single themselves out as being a problem.&lt;p&gt;I already empathised, but this whole thing has really thrown a light on what working parents (specifically those with primary care responsibilities like school pick-ups and drop-offs) in the workplace have been dealing with this whole entire time.&lt;p&gt;tldr; A great many people have had an increase of 150% of the time they care about the most by working from home - this proposal takes that away from them.</text></item><item><author>com2kid</author><text>&amp;gt; Some people love the lack of commute and less semi-forced hanging out, some people hate onboarding on a new company as a remote person and so on and so on.&lt;p&gt;My team has been able to hire people from all across the country, gaining access to talent that we normally would not have been able to reach.&lt;p&gt;Because my entire company has gone fully remote, if someone on the team has to take a trip overseas, they can choose to continue working if so desired. If someone wants to bail to a seaside town during the worst of winter, no problem.&lt;p&gt;People aren&amp;#x27;t forced to live in overpriced urban areas, they can live where they choose to!&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;  I think that an environment where someone can tap me on the shoulder when they need help leads to overall higher productivity, even if individual productivity suffers temporarily.&lt;p&gt;I agree, but I am getting 1&amp;#x2F;8th of my waking hours back from commuting.&lt;p&gt;Since the pandemic began I have been putting under 3000 miles a year on my car. I am eating home cooked meals every day. Mid day I can walk down to the local grocery store and pick up food to cook later for dinner.&lt;p&gt;My QoL is insanely improved.&lt;p&gt;If I need maintenance work done (Late last year I bought a house that was built in the 1950s, so, yes, lots of that happening) I am here all day long if need be. I don&amp;#x27;t have to worry about when expensive packages are delivered, I am always here to pick them up. I can have someone come by and cut my cat&amp;#x27;s claws whenever need be. I can schedule doctors and dentists appointments at any time of the day and not have to take a day off of work to make them.&lt;p&gt;And so on and so forth. WfH rocks.</text></item><item><author>librish</author><text>I think anyone who&amp;#x27;s claiming that remote work has been &amp;quot;proven&amp;quot; to be better or worse is wrong. There are some studies but they use estimations and proxies, carrying the same flaws as doing performance reviews based on lines of code.&lt;p&gt;We&amp;#x27;ve proven that the big tech companies can go fully remote and not completely crash and burn, that&amp;#x27;s about it. Some people love the lack of commute and less semi-forced hanging out, some people hate onboarding on a new company as a remote person and so on and so on.&lt;p&gt;I personally prefer a company where everyone&amp;#x27;s on site. I want to be able to quickly resolve any issues in person, not over voice call or slack, and I think that an environment where someone can tap me on the shoulder when they need help leads to overall higher productivity, even if individual productivity suffers temporarily.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>SketchySeaBeast</author><text>But this doesn&amp;#x27;t remove the option for people to socialize or interact with humans.  If not for COVID there&amp;#x27;d be no reason that WFH people living alone couldn&amp;#x27;t have seen other people over the last two years.  In fact, without a commute people now have more time to be able to socialize if they so choose with the people they want to socialize with.&lt;p&gt;You can&amp;#x27;t really get time with your kids when you work from the office, but you can get socialization when you&amp;#x27;re not working.</text></comment>