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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. B
by _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 agoI 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 agoYeah. 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 agoIs it though? The way I see it it saves me a lot of time which means I can end my day earlier.
- TeMPOraL 8y agoPlus, 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 agoHow 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 agoTo 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 ago8-13 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 agoDrive? I don't think I've ever driven anywhere for lunch
- tokyodude 8y agoWell, okay, walk if you live somewhere you can walk. Here in Tokyo I would do that. When I was in SV there was nothing in walking distance.
- magduf 8y agoWow, that's weird. I personally never go out to lunch with coworkers, unless the company is paying (which they do once a quarter or so, for "team building"). My coworkers would want to go to places I don't want to eat, plus I don't want to waste so much time out of my day with them; I'd rather go home earlier. The problem with catered lunch is that it can frequently be something I don't want to eat, like cheap pizza. For me, the less time I have to spend at work with my coworkers, the better. I already spend 8 hours/day with them, I don't want to spend more.