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They want an office that matches their personality. And apparently, that means beer on tap and lots of it. The office looked like the lobby of a hipster hotel.
by nathanaldensr 9y ago
They want an office that matches their personality. And apparently, that means beer on tap and lots of it.
The office looked like the lobby of a hipster hotel.
Over the next few weeks, we showed up each day and tapped away on MacBook Airs to the sounds of Portuguese house music and old-school hip hop piped in through speakers. (“Rap is urban, and so is WeWork,” the company explains online. “But more profoundly, the common themes of rap are in tune with the company’s mission.”) While we created, cleaning crews in WeWork T-shirts quietly restocked the citrus water and wiped up our spilled drinks.
If this is the future of tech work, then I guess I'd better find another career--perhaps gardening or wood-working?
- BoorishBears 9y agoI mean really, developers tapping away on MacBook Airs? ... Don’t let Jony catch wind of this, he'll use it as fodder to abolish MacBook Pros and their ungainly fan noises
- gambiting 9y agoI can't imagine worse environment for a tech job than the one where you have music playing out of speakers. Also - working on your laptop? Without proper monitors and upright sitting position? Nope, thank you.
- howard941 9y agoI'll trade my great guy who's hard of hearing telephonic tech support dude in adjacent cube for your music but you're right about the lappie.
- munificent 9y agoTwo of the most productive times in my life were when I had a tiny office to myself and was able to play music on speakers instead of through headphones. I got a lot less ear fatigue that way, and the ambient background music really helped me get in the zone. Having a space to myself certainly helped too. Of course, this only worked because the work I was doing during those times also required very little coordination and communication with other people. I'm introverted enough that if I have my own space but need to get out of it to talk to someone, I'll find myself procrastinating doing that. Having a shared open plan office makes it harder for me to focus, but easier for me to interact with people. I'm not sure if that's a net win for my productivity or not.
- bluGill 9y agoThat depends on what level you are. If you are the best developer on a medium sized project, or among the best on a large project then it is a win for the project even if it is a loss to you. The best people on a project should be on the least important parts. The second best people lead the important projects, and thus grow to the best. In the mean time the best people are on something that isn't that important anyway, so if someone has a question there is no reason not to interrupt them and ask. This also leaves your best people free for when marketing has another "great idea" so they can ask before promising the impossible (and in some cases they can get something now instead of waiting for the entire project cycle)
- enolan 9y agoCoworking spaces do not have a magical force field stopping you from bringing equipment or furniture in FYI
- rorykoehler 9y agoI got an ipad pro (larger one) and a clamp so I can use it as a second monitor at eye level anywhere. I do get a few funny looks from time to time but considering how much time I spend travelling it's been a worthwhile investment.
- reificator 9y ago> If this is the future of tech work, then I guess I'd better find another career--perhaps gardening or wood-working? Exactly. I can't imagine working in an environment like that. You don't want to hear me playing Smooth by Neil Cicierega[1], and I don't want to hear you playing rap. A work environment is not the place to be playing music for everyone around you. Constant generic music is the worst part of retail, and that's saying something. If your goal is to foster creativity and productivity, but all I hear is thump-thump-thump drilling into my head, I'm not going to be either. Even when it's music I love (or music I love working to) I'll still pause it when I'm trying to really understand what's going on in a complex system. [1]: https://youtu.be/8D-WVlRohQk https://youtu.be/8D-WVlRohQk
- ryandrake 9y agoAlso alcohol flowing at work? I’m no teetotaler but isn’t that a recipe for trouble? Assuming we’re not just talking about sharing a few beers after hours. I’ve worked with people who drank on the job to the point where they were working totally shitfaced, and it’s not pretty. If they’re meeting with other teams or customers, they’re going to be an embarrassment, and if they’re checking in code... let’s not even go there. Not to mention how Silicon Valley is now all wrapped around the axle in “harassment this” and “inclusion that” and sexual bad behavior and so on. I doubt alcohol would help with any of that. Just seems like an overall bad idea.
- reificator 9y agoAgreed. I don't drink, I don't mind if you drink, even in public. But please, not at work.
- ramphastidae 9y agoDrinking at work is one of the absolutely worst traits of tech. Not only is it totally unprofessional, but things like ‘Friday beers’ are actually presented by companies as a benefit, and you face major social and professional consequences for not participating. It’s obscene.
- 9y ago
- azemetre 9y agoI never forget when I had an interview at a WeWork location, my first exposure to "co-sharing" workspaces, it was in Boston and the place was so loud and annoying I honestly thought I was in a mess hall for a university. It was an immediate pass. I can see the benefits for small teams/companies but at that point why not just commute from home and save the money?
- imartin2k 9y agoFittingly, from the recent NYT WeWork feature: "More than most companies, WeWork promotes the consumption of alcohol as an inherent virtue. " https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/17/business/the-wework-manifesto-first-office-space-next-the-world.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/17/business/the-wework-manif...
- Havoc 9y agoStrange notion of inherent virtue...
- matte_black 9y agoI know you may have meant it sarcastically, but woodworking has a lot of traits that appeal to a software developer. I do it as a hobby and if I wasn’t a software engineer I would probably have a woodworking business of some sort. Better to be a programmer in a woodworking shop than woodworker in a WeWork.
- bajablast 9y agoI'd prefer to be a blacksmith personally
- conesus 9y agoWoodworking on a CNC is very much a software job. I built a wooden remote and for the most part it’s software with a woodshop component. I explored how I made it in detail in a series of blog posts if you’re interested. https://medium.com/@samuelclay/everything-you-need-to-build-your-own-turn-touch-smart-remote-1689da664d62 https://medium.com/@samuelclay/everything-you-need-to-build-...
- matte_black 9y agoWow!
- conesus 9y agoConsidering your reply and because I now have a lot of opinions to share, I think I might write a Joy of Software and Woodworking article. I feel like I can condense it down to how I figured out how to piece together the parts (cad, cam, cnc, wood) to make the whole.
- matte_black 9y agoI’d certainly read it. I don’t own a wood CNC but I’d like to in the future to build some really cool stuff. Anything that lets me do more with software beyond building web apps is always fun.
- collyw 9y agoI always wonder what Apple Mac coffee shop workers are actually working on. The closest I got to seeing someone working, it looked like cutting some parts out of a photo using something like photoshop. (Not exactly rocket science.)
- maccard 9y agoI wrote my masters thesis in coffee shops on a MacBook. I proofread it in the library, but 95% of the writing wsd done in a local cafe.
- Piskvorrr 9y agoOne summer, I've done my usual job (programming) in public - parks, squares, on trains, etc., gravitating towards cafés (read: WiFi+power); mostly for the change from sitting at a desk for the whole shift, and for a bit of travel, too. Very few things are rocket science, I guess ;) but wouldn't want to work this way permanently.
- chowyuncat 9y agoComplex kernel code updated monthly via the cloud to millions of Windows, Linux, and Mac boxes?
- reaperducer 9y agoI built a web site at a Barnes & Noble Cafe on a MacBook Pro. Sold it and made enough money to not have to work for most of the following decade. The only people I see at coffee shops not using Macs are day traders and people playing video games.
- ja27 9y agoI don't really like coffee or the burnt smell so I mostly work from places like the library, sports bar, McDonalds, mall food court, etc. but I'm at one or the other a couple times a week, chipping away at iOS, Android, or macOS apps.
- kerkeslager 9y agoOr you could try working in one of the many environments that fit your work style.
- iamben 9y agoDifferent strokes for different folks, right? I'm at a WeWork now and I'm far more productive than the time I spent working in a quiet home. I speak to people here who love it, I speak to people here who hate it. One of the best things about being in 'tech' is unless you're terrible, you can probably find somewhere to work that better fits how you like to work :-)
- nathanaldensr 9y agoAgreed. I'm certainly not knocking extrovert-tailored work environments for their own sake. I am expressing frustration that the huge differences between extroverts and introverts are nearly universally ignored, especially, it seems, in tech workplaces. I hate to be reminded that such insensitive places still exist.
- iamben 9y agoI hear ya. I suppose it's just 'cool' to be able to say "we have beer! We have ping pong!" but I can understand the frustration if you're not looking for an extrovert-tailored work environment. Do any of the bigger tech companies offer quiet space? As in somewhere you can work without all the 'cool'? Seems like it would be quite a selling point for some.
- vl 9y agoNotice that you have two excellent start-up ideas here: * Shared gardening start up. * Shared space for wood-working start up (ok, these already exist). If developed properly, both are great acquisition targets for WeWork.
- s73v3r_ 9y agoCommunity gardens also exist.
- coldcode 9y agoIf you play music in the office, count me out. I am a musician, if I hear music my brain will focus on that and forget coding. I can deal with talking and stuff but not music.
- yesenadam 9y agoSame. I can't watch youtube instructional videos with background music—I'm used to listening to music, learning from it, and can't help doing so.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- s73v3r_ 9y ago"But more profoundly, the common themes of rap are in tune with the company’s mission." I guess, at least as relates to the tech industry, given the treatment of women, this isn't far off?
- mnm1 9y agoOr you could just work from home where you can set up your own office with whatever equipment you want blasting music you want (or not) and dictate the quality of your working space yourself. And save a few hundred bucks a month...
- loadedanvils 9y agoFrom that description, it seems that WeWork is to work what Planet Fitness is to fitness.
- gascan 9y agoRap is urban, and so is WeWork What do you call it when real life looks like satire? Maybe Silicon Valley will pick up on this.
- tachyoff 9y agoNothing quite as urban as grapefruit water and side parts, right? ;) I haven’t caught up on Silicon Valley, but I do hope this makes it in. I live in a rather “urban” city and I’m sorry, but other than the zip code, there is nothing urban about WeWork.