
Google recommends all North America employees work from home - apaprocki
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-google-north-america-employees-work-from-home-2020-3
======
bitL
One pandemics and FAANG learns about advantages of remote work. I can imagine
FB's productivity goes way up as people wouldn't need to share the same huge
open office. Maybe they'll even figure out some useful ideas in the end...

~~~
MperorM
I don't know I'd measure it, but if someone can provide a good measure, I'd be
willing to bet against wfh increasing productivity.

I have a feeling a lot of value is created during casual lunch conversations.

~~~
grumple
Yeah? Name a product to come out of FB or Google in the past 5 years that has
been a major financial success - and acquisitions (like IG, Oculus) don't
count. Name anything that has fundamentally changed about those companies in
that time.

~~~
samtheprogram
For Google, the Pixel phones?

~~~
adrianmonk
That doesn't entirely get by the acquisition test. Google acquired the HTC
smartphone design team for $1.1 billion.

See [https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/30/16949366/google-htc-
smart...](https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/30/16949366/google-htc-smartphone-
pixel-design-team-deal-closed)

~~~
Guidii
The first Pixel phone was released in 2016. Your linked article is dated 2018.

~~~
adrianmonk
It does also say: "Google worked with a subset of its new HTC hires on a
contract basis for the Pixel and Pixel 2".

This suggests they at least partially outsourced the work initially and then
acqui-hired their way into in-housing it.

Though, yes, it is possible that some of it was done in-house from the
beginning. Just because they leaned on external resources to some extent
doesn't mean they developed no internal capability on their own.

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realityking
Being based in Europe, Germany specifically, it seems like the reaction to
this situation is much more intense in the US than in Europe. I haven’t heard
of any employers going full WFH or universities closing outside of Italy.

And theories why the reaction in the US is or seems to be more intense?

~~~
bitL
Given that Merkel today said that 60-70% of German population will likely
contract Covid-19 within next 2 years, assuming the mortality rate is 1%, that
would translate into half a million deaths; I am wondering why nobody over
there is panicking already... Germany went from 20 diagnosed cases to 1600 in
about a week.

~~~
woutr_be
Having lived through it for the past month here in Hong Kong, please do not
panic. I've seen what panicking does, and it really doesn't help anyone. A
simple rumour triggered a run on toilet paper, we even had a toilet paper
heist, and for what, only to realise there is in fact enough toilet paper.

One recommendation I would make, buy a box of face masks and some hand
sanitiser, but only buy the minimum amount you need. I found it absolutely
ridiculous that some people here bought all the stock, so that they could keep
themselves and their family safe for years, obviously that doesn't help
prevent the spread if other people don't have access to those goods.

It seems the measures Hong Kong has taken works, with only around 160 cases so
far. I was surprised how quickly it spread over in Europe.

~~~
pico303
Don't buy face masks. Face masks are useful for keeping germs from others, not
to protect you from them. You should wear a face mask if you're sick to limit
the amount of saliva you spread when you cough or sneeze. But if you think a
face mask is somehow protecting you from others' coronavirus, it's not.

~~~
tonyztan
"Professional and Home-Made Face Masks Reduce Exposure to Respiratory
Infections among the General Population"

"All types of masks reduced aerosol exposure, relatively stable over time,
unaffected by duration of wear or type of activity, but with a high degree of
individual variation. Personal respirators were more efficient than surgical
masks, which were more efficient than home-made masks. Regardless of mask
type, children were less well protected. Outward protection (mask wearing by a
mechanical head) was less effective than inward protection (mask wearing by
healthy volunteers)."

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440799/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440799/)

"A more specialized mask, known as an N95 respirator, can protect against the
new coronavirus, also called SARS-CoV-2."

[https://www.livescience.com/face-mask-new-
coronavirus.html](https://www.livescience.com/face-mask-new-coronavirus.html)

~~~
lorenzhs
A properly worn face mask, maybe. But it's good only for 20-30 minutes, then
it's soaked from the moisture in your breath and no longer does its job.

From the CDC website: " _If you are NOT sick: You do not need to wear a
facemask unless you are caring for someone who is sick (and they are not able
to wear a facemask). Facemasks may be in short supply and they should be saved
for caregivers._ "

~~~
hnaccount141
> But it's good only for 20-30 minutes, then it's soaked from the moisture in
> your breath and no longer does its job.

The study linked in GP seems to directly refute this.

"Overall protection factors calculated per type of mask were stable over time,
and did not change statistically significant with prolonged wearing."

The quote from the CDC makes no claims about efficacy, only that supply is
limited and healthcare workers should be given priority.

------
miguelmota
It's interesting that Google only recommends it but doesn't make it mandatory.
I also wonder how many of those people that do want to work remote end up
going to coffee shops and/or order food from postmates where the delivery guy
is all around town and the employee still ends up getting contaminated with
the virus and spreading it in their household.

~~~
cmrdporcupine
My job (at Google) would be pretty damn hard if I couldn't duck into the
office to do certain tasks. I work on hardware devices. I can get by working
remotely for a bit, but there are certain things I need physical access to. I
will commute in for a short visit tomorrow to pick up and flash some devices,
etc. then turn around and come home. I suspect others will be doing similar
things. Mandatory WFH at this point would be very tricky.

But as others have pointed out, we really are being messaged to stay home if
possible, and I think that's very responsible.

~~~
Cthulhu_
Honestly, going into work should be fine - as long as precautions are taken.
Everyone washes their hands, things get cleaned more often (especially shared
things like handrails, door handles, bathrooms, HVAC systems, etc).

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meditativeape
Not just NA, all EMEA employees are recommended to WFH as well, with the
exception of Italy, which is mandatory WFH. Anyone know how other companies in
FAANG are handling EU offices? Situation there seems direr than the U.S...

~~~
benkuykendall
What does EMEA stand for?

~~~
theDoug
Generally "Europe, the Middle East and Africa"

------
htrp
Does anyone at google actually have food in their fridge?

~~~
Xorlev
I'm sure this is tongue in cheek, but Googlers are just people who also go
grocery shopping and have families to feed.

~~~
ehsankia
Obviously with a company that large you can't generalize either way, but many
are fresh out of school living either alone or with other Googlers, and most
definitely don't have much in their fridges. Freezers though are probably
packed.

~~~
cbhl
I usually go grocery shopping regularly, but this past weekend included me
helping some friends stock up on the basics (driving them to and from the
store, walking them through the aisles).

Buying food at restaurants is still an option for now, although not every
Googler budgets for that. In my opinion, it feels like a lot more food service
workers are wearing gloves, too.

------
Mountain_Skies
In the US, if you catch the virus while at a mandatory work event, would that
qualify you for workman's compensation during your recovery?

~~~
gwright
An interesting thought experiment but I would suspect that there needs to be
some additional fact pattern there before you could show liability: knowledge
that some employees had recently travelled to hot spots or were symptomatic,
the meeting was in violation of official public health directives, etc.

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scrumbledober
Does anyone know the largest employer to have recommended all employees work
from home?

~~~
eigen
MSFT has 144k FTE
([https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/MSFT/profile?p=MSFT](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/MSFT/profile?p=MSFT))

GOOG has 118k FTE
([https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/GOOG/profile?p=GOOG](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/GOOG/profile?p=GOOG))

APPL has 137k FTE
([https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/AAPL/profile?p=AAPL](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/AAPL/profile?p=AAPL))

AMZN has 798k FTE
([https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/AMZN/profile?p=AMZN](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/AMZN/profile?p=AMZN))
Note: this seems incorrect.

INTC has 110k FTE
([https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/INTC/profile?p=INTC](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/INTC/profile?p=INTC))

HPQ has 56k FTE
([https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/HPQ/profile?p=HPQ](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/HPQ/profile?p=HPQ))

~~~
dbliss
The AMZN number includes FT fulfillment center workers, so that number is in
the ball park.

~~~
usrusr
I predict that one of the mid term outcomes of the pandemic will be that all
those people in (food) production, logistics (including retail), care and
infrastructure that require personal presence will be far more aware of the
non-bullshit nature of their jobs than before. Particularly in contrast to the
mind workers who can switch to WFH and who, with few exceptions, could stop
work for an entire year and society at large would hardly notice. Expect those
still leaving their homes for work in two weeks to end the year far more aware
of relative pie slice sizes than they were a year earlier.

~~~
bnjms
That would be wonderful. One of the reasons I liked recent UBI proposals is
because it jury are nonwage replacing but would do a lot to balance out the
understood value of low-training-&-skilled-physical jobs.

------
ineedasername
My workplace had a ban on WFH. The virus is forcing them to reconsider that,
at least temporarily.

~~~
greenpizza13
A ban? What do you do?

~~~
ineedasername
Data analysis, some related programming. All stuff I could do from home. And
have done from home: For my first kid I was allowed to work from home a few
days a week. Then at some point a single employee, literally one, was found
abusing WFH (had a second FT job) and the whole practice was banned.

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Jam-B
According to The Atlantic, 4384 people have been tested in the U.S. for
Coronavirus, as of 4 p.m. Monday. Source :
[https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article...](https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/607714/)

------
cosmodisk
It's interesting how suddenly remote work becomes so attractive.Just yesterday
I sat in the management meeting, where calls for remote work were getting much
louder from the side of the company that'd previously refuse to even entertain
such an idea.

------
colordrops
If we are able to contain the coronavirus this way, can we take advantage of
the quarantines around the world and eradicate the flu and cold at the same
time?

~~~
OscarTheGrinch
Nice thought, but we would also have to quarantine all other mammals. Maybe
birds and reptiles too just to be on the safe side.

------
adreamingsoul
My employer here in Norway is encouraging people to WFH.

------
pico303
I honestly don't understand why people think hiding out at home is the
solution. How can we possibly hunker down and hide in our four walls for the
6-12 months it would take for this to maybe fade?

~~~
JMTQp8lwXL
If the disease is only communicable for a few weeks after a person gets the
virus, and everyone hunkers down for a month, then it should seriously impede
an exponential rise in infections.

~~~
crazygringo
Serious question: how does it impede it at all, rather than simply delay it
for a month?

How is the situation a month from now going to be any better than the
situation right now?

~~~
gundmc
The idea is that by reducing density (and thus community transmission), you
flatten the curve and minimize the number of people concurrently infected.
This reduces strain on a fixed healthcare resource pool and avoids situations
like we saw in Wuhan.

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beamatronic
Why any tech company is resisting this, I don’t know.

~~~
vlovich123
Which ones are? I believe last week they quarantined their Seattle offices &
this week they've done Bay Area (& it sounds like Google is taking this even
further). I'm sure the reason it's "slow" is that it's logistically
challenging to figure out policies for this as its totally unprecedented
(policies here include figuring out how to handle all the special/unique cases
they didn't think through originally because it's so rushed).

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bobobob420
Why are comments saying no more paywall links getting downvoted. Some of the
top comments are always hating on sources not to post from and no one mentions
paywall linked.

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justlexi93
This is for the health safety of their workers, a lot of companies have
implemented the same working set-up due to Covid-19.

~~~
tempestn
Yes, obviously.

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brianpgordon
I'm excited to be starting in Mountain View soon but I'm pretty apprehensive
about having an effective orientation and getting up to speed if everyone's
working from home. I've read that orientation is supposed to be a big event
where you meet tons of people from around the world and learn together about
internal Google tech and culture. I would hate to miss out on that experience
because of the coronavirus fears.

~~~
jeromegv
You would miss on that experience because of the risk of contamination within
your peers, not because of the "fear".

~~~
brianpgordon
I didn't mean to imply that such precautions aren't prudent.

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jumpinalake
Can people please stop posting paywall’d links? It’s annoying to only being
able to read the headline. If this is just a thing because I’m in Canada then
that’s different.

~~~
mtmail
See 'Are paywalls ok?' in the FAQ. Article text:
[https://outline.com/f9FLAD](https://outline.com/f9FLAD)

~~~
sfj
I still think they suck. They should really change their policy on this.

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pfdietz
So, how many Google employees (especially on the west cost) will now move to
low living cost places?

~~~
tempestn
Why would they move due to a temporary WFH measure?

