4 ms·

From my visits to Google's offices in Manhattan, I don't expect many who reside within the city, to resist this change. People will accept leaving their small c

From my visits to Google's offices in Manhattan, I don't expect many who reside within the city, to resist this change. People will accept leaving their small city apartments and visiting the vast offices, with a plethora of services available as a welcome alternative after two years. It's those who've moved on from that lifestyle, and may have physically relocated, who will resist this change. They will be inclined to make an argument for working remotely, or work elsewhere, whatever works.

dsl 5y ago
It is vastly different in the bay area where public transit is a horrible mess and the freeways are all at 300% capacity. A friend who is a Googler is looking at a 30 minute commute to a GBus stop for a 90 minute ride each way. Going to the office is cutting productivity basically in half.
- xanaxagoras 5y ago
  That 4 hours to and from work doesn't come out of "his time"? e.g. leave at 7 to get there by 9, leave at 6 to get home at 8.
  - teaearlgraycold 5y ago
    Some Googlers might choose to live like that - but I don’t think they can make Googlers give up their entire lives to work.
- yupper32 5y ago
  Honestly that's their issue that can be fixed. There's no reason someone with a Google salary needs to be 2 hours commute from the office.
  - Thrymr 5y ago
    Unless of course they have family/spouse/SO who also need to be somewhere else.
  - DataJunkie 5y ago
    - joshuamorton 5y ago
      To rephrase this: For the most junior (engineering) employees, a starting salary allows you to spend under the recommended maximum of 25-30% of your salary on rent to live in a decent 1BR apartment minutes from your office. You then receive significant bonus and stock on top of this. It's...not a problem.
      - whimsicalism 5y ago
        It is a pain to relocate from SF to South Bay, and pretty depressing at that.
        joshuamorton 5y ago
        I don't disagree! (I've lived in SF the entire time I've worked at Google, first it MTV, then SVL, then remote, now SVL again).
      - morgante 5y ago
        L3 salary is $140k (from levels.fy). 30% of $140k allows for rent of $3.5k/m which is not actually all that generous. You're lucky to get a studio for that these days in Manhattan.
        whimsicalism 5y ago
        > $3.5k/m which is not actually all that generous. You're lucky to get a studio for that these days in Manhattan. Pshh.
        yupper32 5y ago
        Salary doesn't mean much. Total compensation for L3 should be around 180k in the bay area these days I believe. When I was at Google, my final salary was only half my total compensation.
  - adam_arthur 5y ago
    Maybe they want to own a house that's not $3m dollars
    - deanCommie 5y ago
      Maybe you can't have all three of: 1) a super highly paid tech salary 2) an affordable house 3) a short commute There are options for any 2/3 all over the world. Nowhere has all 3. You can't pick the two you chose and then get pity for not having the third.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
morgante 5y ago
I personally am really happy to go back to the office, but people who have physically relocated have an easy option to simply apply for permanent remote work. It's really not a big argument that needs to be made—the process is very simple.

dsl 5y ago

It is vastly different in the bay area where public transit is a horrible mess and the freeways are all at 300% capacity. A friend who is a Googler is looking at a 30 minute commute to a GBus stop for a 90 minute ride each way. Going to the office is cutting productivity basically in half.

xanaxagoras 5y ago
That 4 hours to and from work doesn't come out of "his time"? e.g. leave at 7 to get there by 9, leave at 6 to get home at 8.
- teaearlgraycold 5y ago
  Some Googlers might choose to live like that - but I don’t think they can make Googlers give up their entire lives to work.
yupper32 5y ago
Honestly that's their issue that can be fixed. There's no reason someone with a Google salary needs to be 2 hours commute from the office.
- Thrymr 5y ago
  Unless of course they have family/spouse/SO who also need to be somewhere else.
- DataJunkie 5y ago
  - joshuamorton 5y ago
    To rephrase this: For the most junior (engineering) employees, a starting salary allows you to spend under the recommended maximum of 25-30% of your salary on rent to live in a decent 1BR apartment minutes from your office. You then receive significant bonus and stock on top of this. It's...not a problem.
    - whimsicalism 5y ago
      It is a pain to relocate from SF to South Bay, and pretty depressing at that.
      - joshuamorton 5y ago
        I don't disagree! (I've lived in SF the entire time I've worked at Google, first it MTV, then SVL, then remote, now SVL again).
    - morgante 5y ago
      L3 salary is $140k (from levels.fy). 30% of $140k allows for rent of $3.5k/m which is not actually all that generous. You're lucky to get a studio for that these days in Manhattan.
      - whimsicalism 5y ago
        > $3.5k/m which is not actually all that generous. You're lucky to get a studio for that these days in Manhattan. Pshh.
      - yupper32 5y ago
        Salary doesn't mean much. Total compensation for L3 should be around 180k in the bay area these days I believe. When I was at Google, my final salary was only half my total compensation.
- adam_arthur 5y ago
  Maybe they want to own a house that's not $3m dollars
  - deanCommie 5y ago
    Maybe you can't have all three of: 1) a super highly paid tech salary 2) an affordable house 3) a short commute There are options for any 2/3 all over the world. Nowhere has all 3. You can't pick the two you chose and then get pity for not having the third.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

morgante 5y ago

I personally am really happy to go back to the office, but people who have physically relocated have an easy option to simply apply for permanent remote work. It's really not a big argument that needs to be made—the process is very simple.