
Google, Facebook make statements to staff about working from home for 2020 - ericzawo
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-08/internet-giants-to-staff-plan-to-work-from-home-for-the-year
======
dijit
Ubisoft is going to start letting people return to the office starting from
the 11th of May (this Monday).

It will be in stages, where people who use specialised equipment (such as high
end artistic systems such as well calibrated touch displays, or people who
have sound design rooms) will return first, and they will be required to keep
at least a seat of distance from their nearest neighbour. I believe we will
rapidly return to the office assuming nothing bad occurs following the first
wave.

To say we as a company are not truly ready for remote work would be a major
understatement, our entire security model depends on us being on premises, in
fact, if it weren't for our recent migration to office365 (and AzureAD) it
would not have been possible _at all_. File shares are inaccessible, along
with HR resources, basically nothing except outlook is available externally.

That said: this has been a fantastic experience for me, my backlog of tasks
has become anemic, I attribute this to the fact that I have a home office with
real visual and auditory privacy, we aggressively pursue even denser open
office landscapes in our studios.[0] I wonder if it's the same in Google,
though I somehow suspect not...

I really hope there is some permanence to the remote working situation for us.
Does anyone have a similar experience to me?

[0]: Our office:
[https://youtu.be/Nse-7cJhxpQ?t=92](https://youtu.be/Nse-7cJhxpQ?t=92)
(screenshot:
[https://i.imgur.com/km0UcVk.png](https://i.imgur.com/km0UcVk.png))

~~~
Figs
How is Ubisoft planning to handle wrongful death lawsuits if their employees
-- or their families -- get sick and die as a result of returning too soon?

~~~
rukittenme
Probably by citing government easement of lock downs and making common sense
workplace decisions to hamper the spread of coronavirus as recommended by the
CDC.

The coronavirus isn't magic. You can take sensible precautions and not catch
it.

~~~
mikejb
> You can take sensible precautions and not catch it.

A bit nitpicky, but significant: you can take sensible precautions and _reduce
the risk of transmission_ \- but there's no reasonable strategy to not catch
it.

~~~
eanzenberg
Correct. Even lock-downs haven’t slowed this down much.

~~~
analognoise
What? Lockdowns are having a tremendous and mathematically obvious impact.

------
ghaff
The headline overstates the body of the article a bit although it's not really
inaccurate.

It is an interesting question to ask, come fall or winter, whether--if plenty
at some companies can work from home and life/productivity goes on for much of
a year--what does office life look like going forward?

Most companies will still have offices but I wonder if things shift to more of
a hoteling type system with conference rooms and other collaboration spaces
with people coming in a couple days per week or so.

~~~
xwdv
As WFH becomes the norm, office life will become shittier over time. Less
budgeting will go into fancy offices, they will become more spartan unassuming
buildings. People who have to go to offices to work will be seen as second
class citizens too poor or too unequipped to do any work from home. They will
be seen as slow, old school workers who become more of a liability for
workplace harassment policies or accidents. If you have an excellent home with
a great internet connection then why go to a dirty, _nasty_ , public office
where you sit in an uncomfortable chair using cheap equipment and even risk
being groped in a hallway or break room? Not to mention the risk of being
killed along your commute twice a day. All while the remote workers sit gently
in their favorite spot by the warm glow of a sunlit window, quietly getting
tasks done as they listen to soft music coming from their home speakers. When
the workday ends the office worker has to make a mad rush and brave traffic to
get home. The remote worker can end the day whenever the time is right, with
all the ceremony of an index finger bringing their laptop lid down to a close;
_what’s for dinner honey?_

Very few people will choose to go to an office, working from home is a status
symbol and a sign of being a well educated knowledge worker. This is even the
case now during the pandemic where plenty of people boast they would be fine
staying home all year while the poor and destitute are _begging_ to go back to
an office or worksite because it’s the only way they can put food on the
table. Their value is mostly in their physical bodies, not their pure
knowledge.

And if you can’t work from home, you’ll choose to work from some communal
workspace or cafe of your choosing before ever choosing to make a dreaded
commute to an office.

~~~
ghaff
You're overstating it. I gave up a dedicated space in my local office before
all this. But I'd be happy to go in a day or two a week if there were good
reasons to do so. But most of my team is very distributed and (during normal
times) most of us travel a lot so there aren't going to be a lot of
serendipitous encounters.

What is probably true is that those who thrive with office socializing and
activities will find the norm at companies where coming into an office becomes
more about having scheduled team meetings and collaborative work on specific
days less pleasant than in the past.

~~~
xwdv
If it becomes less pleasant those people will cease to exist, nobody will be
left to pine for the days of jocular office socialization.

~~~
SpicyLemonZest
It's about socializing with your coworkers, not the office environment itself.
Many of us just really like to personally know the people we do business with.

~~~
A4ET8a8uTh0
That and my boss' boss really likes 'managing by walking around'. He tries to
make up for it now by sending weekly updates, but just like he says, it is
just not the same.

------
twblalock
Some of this is due to local coronavirus lockdowns and the uncertainty around
when they will be lifted, but there is also uncertainty about when schools and
day cares will open again. Providing child care will keep a lot of people at
home even if they aren't required to be.

On top of that, a lot of people won't want to go back to the office, not
because they enjoy working from home, but because they will still be afraid of
getting the virus. Being at the office probably won't feel normal anyway due
to continued social distancing and the use of masks.

Combine that with concerns that the virus may surge again in the Fall, maybe
necessitating another lockdown, and you have a recipe for working at home much
longer than what might be legally required.

~~~
drspacemonkey
>On top of that, a lot of people won't want to go back to the office, not
because they enjoy working from home, but because they will still be afraid of
getting the virus. Being at the office probably won't feel normal anyway due
to continued social distancing and the use of masks

That's where I'm at. My workplace put out a survey to see how people felt
about going back to the office next month, and I don't think anyone was
willing to risk it. We'd be wearing masks, taking public transit to/from the
office, and sanitizing our hands every 15 minutes.

Having spoken to some management people, this survey is mostly being done just
to confirm that we should discuss getting rid of the office entirely. Which
would be a huge cost saving for us.

~~~
meesles
Same discussion happening at my company. Makes me wonder if office real estate
is going to crash and burn...

~~~
cheez
yes it is

------
CPLX
As someone who has been closely engaged in the tech world, but is outside of
the culture of Silicon Valley, one cultural pattern I've noticed over and over
again is the tendency for people in SV to state with utter confidence and
conviction that we'll all be living our lives completely differently than we
have been by this time next year, and it will be a permanent and culturally
sweeping change.

The fact that inevitably only about 10% of those transformations turn out to
be sort of true, and happen 10x slower than predicted, never seems to break
this cycle of breathless certainty.

Maybe it's true, maybe this is really it, and the whole idea of closely
clustered cities around shared commercial goals and people working closely
together in the real world is finally ending. We shall see.

~~~
economicslol
Seen an anecdote saying we overestimate the impact of a technology over 5
years but underestimate it over 10 years. Seems relevant here

~~~
pmiller2
I'd say it's more akin to how fusion power is always 30 years away.

~~~
CPLX
And self driving cars, and augmented reality, and personal assistant robots,
and so on and so forth.

------
thatsenough
If my company announces WFH for the rest of the year, I'll be moving out of
San Francisco in a heart beat. The office has been the only thing keeping me
here for a long time now.

I imagine SF natives might say, "Good riddance, don't let the door hit you on
the way out," and I completely agree. I don't have issues with the city
itself, but the value you get for your money here is completely abysmal if
you're a renter or potential home buyer.

~~~
echelon
Come to Atlanta!

There are satellite offices for many of the major tech companies (some of them
not so "satellite" at 200ish engineers).

The cost of living is cheap, it's not cold in the summer, and there's so much
culture. Atlanta is in a forest, so if you like outdoors stuff, you'd be in
the right place.

~~~
aceperry
What's the political situation like there? I hear about things like voter
suppression by the Republicans and other shenanigans in those states.

~~~
echelon
The city and (most) of the suburbs are very blue. Atlanta itself is rated as
one of the most LGBT-friendly cities in the country [1].

Unfortunately, the state is still red due to the population living outside of
the MSA. The city and the suburbs are resoundingly blue, though [2].

The governor pulled some very shady voter suppression tactics in the last
election. [3, 4] They're afraid, and they know their time is short.

We need more blue voters. We're close to turning the state, and that would be
a huge victory.

[1] [https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/top-places-for-lgbtq-
fol...](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/top-places-for-lgbtq-folks-to-
live/)

[2] [https://www.ajc.com/atlanta-
neighborhood-2016-presidential-e...](https://www.ajc.com/atlanta-
neighborhood-2016-presidential-election-results-map/)

[3] [https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/10/30/did-
racia...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/10/30/did-racially-
motivated-voter-suppression-thwart-stacey-abrams/)

[4] [https://www.vox.com/policy-and-
politics/2019/3/6/18253689/vo...](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-
politics/2019/3/6/18253689/voter-suppression-georgia-kemp-investigation-
cummings)

~~~
RhysU
Why are the red suburbs red?

------
myroon5
Amazon and Microsoft have announced similar plans through at least October
already as well:

[https://www.seattletimes.com/business/local-business/many-
bu...](https://www.seattletimes.com/business/local-business/many-businesses-
may-follow-amazon-in-stretching-out-work-from-home-policies-crimping-downtown-
recovery/)

[https://www.geekwire.com/2020/microsoft-updates-wfh-
policy-a...](https://www.geekwire.com/2020/microsoft-updates-wfh-policy-
allows-employees-work-remotely-october/)

------
tsycho
This is going to have a slow, but material impact on house prices in the Bay
area over the next few years.

~~~
wobbly99
Upward or downward?

~~~
economicslol
Clearly downward? If you don't have to work at an office in the Bay Area why
would you continue paying $3K/mo in Rent or praying your startup has a good
exit so you can pay $1M cash for a starter house?

~~~
exmadscientist
Not clear at all. Effective WFH requires a bigger house, which would tend to
favor remote areas. But partial WFH, where you're still in the office ~1
day/week on average, will push for _both_ larger and closer housing.

~~~
bradleyjg
An hour and a half commute five days a week is a brutal grind. Once a week it
doesn’t sound so bad.

~~~
ghaff
Definitely. The Bay Area is a bit tougher to get out of really expensive
housing depending upon where you work. But I'm (at rush hour) something like
90 minutes out of Boston whether driving or rail/subway. And housing is, if
not depressed Midwest cheap, pretty reasonable in many towns that far out.

That is, as you say, pretty brutal daily--which I never really had to do even
when I worked in the city. But it's only a mild PITA once a week or so.

------
dariusj18
I worry about offices that open but still allow people to work from home. I
think there will be pressures for people to go into the office, creating
density issues, or miss out on promotions, etc.

~~~
Hamuko
Our offices have been "open" but absolutely no one is going there. I actually
wonder when people will start going back because it doesn't really make much
sense to go there if no one else is there.

~~~
dariusj18
The C level will instruct the managers to work in the office, then the brown
nosers will follow, then everyone else will feel the need to ensure the brown
nosers aren't given a leg up over them.

~~~
trhway
>The C level will instruct the managers to work in the office, then the brown
nosers will follow

there is a risk that covid may turn that into a natural selection process ...

------
tssva
My employer has told us that no one will return until the 2nd week of
September. Starting then a few employees in certain roles will return to the
office. Over the following months the number of employees returning will
gradually be increased but even then it will only be for a couple of days a
week with a set schedule so that social distancing is maintained.

------
higeorge13
My company with 250 employees with offices in Europe and US announced last
week that it aims to be 100% remote after this. Of course there will be a
transition period, but i won't see myself in the office even after summer.

To be honest, i have worked remote for at least one year in the past, and i
can safely conclude it was way better and more productive than the last 2
months mainly because it was by choice, as well as it was part of an overall
remote culture (e.g. meeting regularly in cafes, doing fun activities as a
group). However, even after this perfect year i personally couldn't do it no
more.

People are probably making wrong assumptions of how nice the remote work might
be due to the last 2 months because there was an overall excuse for their drop
in productivity, or their lack of confidence (the world is collapsing how do
you expect me to perform 100%?), and some extra time for family, netflix,
spotify and social media due to the latter. IMO, in the wrong run the vast
majority of people will definitely hate it and beg their companies to return
to their offices.

With all the above i am not underestimating the health concerns. Of course
companies should take minimum risks while the threat is still ongoing. In the
positive scenario where it is eliminated companies should rethink their full
remote policies (if they apply such) which were imposed during this weird
period.

------
mnm1
What's going to change Jan. 1st? Nothing. I read this as the companies
basically saying WFH in perpetuity till the corona virus ends. Or maybe that's
just common sense I'm reading into a press release where I shouldn't be. The
only question now becomes: if governors can shut down all businesses, why
would they allow anyone who can WFH to go into the office and endanger others?
At this point, we are definitely not ready to reopen safely, but a reopening
will happen soon (next few months). Why risk more lives than necessary? I bet
we will see this gamble though and thousands will die unnecessarily. Based on
the plans Clearly, companies like Tesla show that you cannot leave this in
corporate hands. How can governors be so shortsighted and callous with so many
lives?

------
avipars
It would be interesting to see how productive Google's employees are remotely
vs. in-office.

~~~
cameronbrown
There's an expectation that productivity will be lower while WFH and higher-
ups have said that's okay and expected. That being said... the people around
me at least seem to have adapted fully to the new working conditions despite
the rough start. I suspect this trend is similar across the company (and other
companies).

~~~
maccard
Honesy question. How many of those peoe have kids? On my team/in my
interactions with my company, the people with kids seem to struggle however
the people without kids are thriving.

~~~
code_duck
I find this to be a revealing time for people with children - as in, it's made
clear to them that their children are an incredibly annoying burden which they
only survived previously due to the system of offloading them to
professionals.

~~~
a_e_k
My wife is a SAHM. Usually during summer vacation she does just fine handling
the kids without their being offloaded to professionals.

The current situation is a lot tougher, though, since a lot of the things
she'd normally do with the kids during the day are denied right now: the zoo
is closed, museums are closed, playgrounds and parks are closed, gymnasiums
are closed, no play dates with friends, no visits from family, etc.

I think it's unfair to try to draw your conclusion from the present situation.

~~~
code_duck
That's a good point that we are experiencing exceptional circumstances. Many
people can't handle being home this long on their own, children aside. However
the zoo, playgrounds, museums, play dates and family are all systems for
offloading the burden of one's children onto something external.

------
claudeganon
I wish more companies could be this rational.

My partner’s team has been almost fully remote for two months, delivered all
their work on time, but is expected to be back in the office June 1st because
a higher-up wants an in-person meeting. There’s no other reason. It’s absurd.

------
brendanmcd
I wonder how 10-50 person startups companies will handle the move back to
working in the office, and how much more bullish they'll be than Big Tech

~~~
zaphod12
Work at a startup of about 70 - so just slightly larger than your ask. M n of
1 data is that we're out until Labor Day, for all of the same reasons as the
big boys

------
alpha_squared
This doesn't seem terribly surprising. If there's no vaccine anticipated for
2020 and office layout was never designed with social distancing in mind, it
seems like those who can work remote should. Personally, I know I rather work
in person with my teammates, but I also wouldn't want to risk my health or
theirs (or any of our loved ones') over it. This feels like the responsible
thing, to just allow the remainder of the year to be remote/from home.

I'm curious what this means long-term for other industries, though, and what a
potential recovery looks like. From real estate to hospitality to services, I
can't begin to comprehend the ripple effect that's currently taking shape.

------
anotheryou
I was asked to return to the office last week. Open office in Berlin :/.
Everybody of the company will be back in 2-3 weeks.

------
slowmovintarget
I have some personal items I'd like to collect from the office. A board game
or three, a bottle of ink, headphones... But beyond that, I'll likely work
from home until there's a vaccine and I've been vaccinated.

Time will tell though.

------
neonate
[https://archive.md/Gvsop](https://archive.md/Gvsop)

------
PHGamer
still from working from home here. our office is open but my side boss said
for the group to stay home. Im sure he will let us go in June but probably
wont pressure people so WFH will probably be extended.

------
stuff4ben
I've been WFH since March 3rd due to a persistent cough I had from a cold I
had the previous week. I really need to replace my recliner as my workspace...

~~~
DabbyDabberson
I've purchased a desk and workstation... But I'm still typically on the couch
with my laptop. Its difficult.

~~~
vorpalhex
If you can setup a dedicated work area, even if it's temporary, do it and
restrict work to that space. That means you only use that space for work, and
don't use the rest of your home.

Your sofa is for relaxing, don't let work ruin a perfectly good sofa.

CCP Grey [^1] has an excellent video on this.

[^1]:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAhsXyO3Ck](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAhsXyO3Ck)
(Video warning)

~~~
Operyl
I literally cannot stress how important this is. It's all fun and games until
you're working from your bed, and then find that you can not stop thinking in
bed and then never fall asleep.

~ Signed, someone working from home full time for the past 6 years.

