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There’s a reason why companies like google jumped on the covid thing earlier than most. Imagine an SRE group that got hit by a covid cluster. Now imagine that g

There’s a reason why companies like google jumped on the covid thing earlier than most. Imagine an SRE group that got hit by a covid cluster. Now imagine that group handles... oh I dunno YouTube. Or search. Even for mild cases of covid, the recovery can look like the flu. That means 1-2 weeks off work. And reduced ability for weeks after that. Now half of your team gets it at once. Efficiency and resiliency are in opposite tension.

ddingus 6y ago
Truth. I survived Covid. Caught it very early in the year. Just unfortunate time and place. Short story? Was down hard for a few weeks. Still struggling with a general lack of energy that has slowly been improving. Brain fog is a thing. Better now, but during and for the few weeks after Covid? Rough. Would walk into a room only to realize I had no idea why. Again, all improving, but for some of us Covid has a longer term impact beyond possibly losing a month being sick. Very true. Valuing this risk properly seems to be the major disconnect. With it valued reasonably, the extra head count makes perfect sense! I wonder why people don't just work in the opposite direction? Rather than run too lean, run properly, risks managed as they should be. Then be opportunistic! Every so often, when things are favorable, take work that matters an nail it for a nice payback! Works about the same over a longer period, and the big costs are totally off the table.
SulfurHexaFluri 6y ago
Google and basically all tech companies will still exist after this. Its probably preferable to take a hit once in a disaster situation than to be constantly paying to avoid it. Its the same with large companies not having insurance because its cheaper to not pay it and then if one building burns down they take the hit but they still saved more in the times where nothing went wrong.

ddingus 6y ago

Truth. I survived Covid. Caught it very early in the year. Just unfortunate time and place. Short story? Was down hard for a few weeks. Still struggling with a general lack of energy that has slowly been improving. Brain fog is a thing. Better now, but during and for the few weeks after Covid? Rough. Would walk into a room only to realize I had no idea why. Again, all improving, but for some of us Covid has a longer term impact beyond possibly losing a month being sick. Very true. Valuing this risk properly seems to be the major disconnect. With it valued reasonably, the extra head count makes perfect sense! I wonder why people don't just work in the opposite direction? Rather than run too lean, run properly, risks managed as they should be. Then be opportunistic! Every so often, when things are favorable, take work that matters an nail it for a nice payback! Works about the same over a longer period, and the big costs are totally off the table.

SulfurHexaFluri 6y ago

Google and basically all tech companies will still exist after this. Its probably preferable to take a hit once in a disaster situation than to be constantly paying to avoid it. Its the same with large companies not having insurance because its cheaper to not pay it and then if one building burns down they take the hit but they still saved more in the times where nothing went wrong.