5 ms·

I wouldn't say exactly that, but I think there is a reason that many tech companies do invest in to office environments. I don't think employees really care abo

by enra 8y ago

I wouldn't say exactly that, but I think there is a reason that many tech companies do invest in to office environments. I don't think employees really care about having all kinds of entertainment or "fun" at the office anymore, or ever did, which seems like the the banks in the article don't get (they are about 15 years behind as usual). I do personally do care lot about the environments where I spend most of my time (my home, office, places I hang out). People are visual and many prefer nice and comforting environments over bad ones. Imagine being a candidate and interviewing few companies. One company is low ceilings office space style place from the 80s, and other one is nicely designed one and see yourself coming there each work day. Each of them offer you about the same role and compensation, then which one do you choose? Obviously its probably never the main reason but can be a reason to tip someone over.

_bxg1 8y ago
I was in this exact situation and chose the one that looked like office space. We don't really have a dress code and there's a reasonable selection of snacks. But the other place was all open and glass and they had lunch catered every day. Not that I don't like those things, but I'd say all the amenities in the world aren't worth more than a $5k salary difference to me at the most (excluding the monetary value of the actual lunches in this specific case). My priorities are to 1) like my work 2) like my coworkers 3) make a good salary, and 4) work in a nice place, in that order. Of course we can't know what exactly the survey in question asked, which is key. If someone offered me a prettier office for a $100 a year pay cut, then, sure.
- tokyodude 8y ago
  I find catered lunch a mixed blessing. Plus = free lunch. Minus = spend less time at lunch getting closer to co-workers (drive/line/wait/food/drive-back). Spend more time at office instead out around town. To put it another way catered lunch = just another meeting except with food going out to lunch = break/mini social event with friends
  - _bxg1 8y ago
    Yeah. I mean I only go out with friends for lunch on fridays anyway, but the purpose of the free food is definitely to keep you working longer.
    - rbjorklin 8y ago
      Is it though? The way I see it it saves me a lot of time which means I can end my day earlier.
      - TeMPOraL 8y ago
        Plus, a socializing lunch break in the middle of a day cuts your space for deep work in half, which means you'll often not get any done in either half. That's why I always brought my own lunch and/or ordered stuff to the office to eat at my desk, and went with people to lunch only every now and then.
        tomrod 8y ago
        How productive is 8 to 13 hours of deep work? Personally I need a break every so often to celebrate the incremental wins, else life becomes one long problem to solve.
        rypskar 8y ago
        To me it seems like it is the companies that have "cool" offices with ping pong tables that try to get you to work 13 hours instead of 8
        TeMPOraL 8y ago
        8-13 hours of deep work are unsustainable on most jobs. My problem with breaking day in half is that deep work tends to require some runway; 3.5 hours is not much if you account for the time it takes to achieve full concentration.
  - circlefavshape 8y ago

by enra 8y ago

_bxg1 8y ago

I was in this exact situation and chose the one that looked like office space. We don't really have a dress code and there's a reasonable selection of snacks. But the other place was all open and glass and they had lunch catered every day. Not that I don't like those things, but I'd say all the amenities in the world aren't worth more than a $5k salary difference to me at the most (excluding the monetary value of the actual lunches in this specific case). My priorities are to 1) like my work 2) like my coworkers 3) make a good salary, and 4) work in a nice place, in that order. Of course we can't know what exactly the survey in question asked, which is key. If someone offered me a prettier office for a $100 a year pay cut, then, sure.

tokyodude 8y ago
I find catered lunch a mixed blessing. Plus = free lunch. Minus = spend less time at lunch getting closer to co-workers (drive/line/wait/food/drive-back). Spend more time at office instead out around town. To put it another way catered lunch = just another meeting except with food going out to lunch = break/mini social event with friends
- _bxg1 8y ago
  Yeah. I mean I only go out with friends for lunch on fridays anyway, but the purpose of the free food is definitely to keep you working longer.
  - rbjorklin 8y ago
    Is it though? The way I see it it saves me a lot of time which means I can end my day earlier.
    - TeMPOraL 8y ago
      Plus, a socializing lunch break in the middle of a day cuts your space for deep work in half, which means you'll often not get any done in either half. That's why I always brought my own lunch and/or ordered stuff to the office to eat at my desk, and went with people to lunch only every now and then.
      - tomrod 8y ago
        How productive is 8 to 13 hours of deep work? Personally I need a break every so often to celebrate the incremental wins, else life becomes one long problem to solve.
        rypskar 8y ago
        To me it seems like it is the companies that have "cool" offices with ping pong tables that try to get you to work 13 hours instead of 8
        TeMPOraL 8y ago
        8-13 hours of deep work are unsustainable on most jobs. My problem with breaking day in half is that deep work tends to require some runway; 3.5 hours is not much if you account for the time it takes to achieve full concentration.
- circlefavshape 8y ago