tech

Google's new California offices bank on in-person work

7 Comments
By Glenn CHAPMAN

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Work areas are divided into "neighborhoods" with homey touches and even "courtyards" with cozy furniture.

Such details are important especially for people working in this industry.

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It may be more environmentally friendly to have your workforce under one roof (covered in solar panels) with optimised air con, than all sitting at home, each with their own air con on, very few (if any) with solar panels.

Travel to work, using mass transit, has a fairly low environmental impact.

Doing the sums on the ecological hit is very difficult, because everyone behaves differently. Averages tend not to work, and environmental impacts can be insanely complex if you consider the entire supply chains behind each act of consumption.

In an office building with a canteen, lunch may involve less waste, less energy and less plastic than if each individual stocks their fridge, cooks their own meal or buys a bento that has come through a longer supply chain.

Home schooling was a disaster for most pupils and students (and many parents), although it worked for a small number who were well supported or didn't cope well with school. Homeworking depended more on the individual and the nature of the job. Some loved it, some hated it. For some it damaged their home life. For some it boosted productivity, for some it caused isolation and was not a success. For many, it simply didn't work, either because of their job or their need for specific resources, or because they could not work and be a parent or carer at the same time in one property.

It's not accurate to suggest that all FB work can simply be done at home. Some design work requires more team interaction, and FB moderators may need group support after staring at unpleasant stuff for hours at a time, rather than being locked away in a room alone, so family members don't see what they see. Work has a social aspect that can easily be lost working at home.

Going forward, some flexibility would be good, to ensure folk are happy and productive. Staff are in short supply, so employers would be well advised to keep them sweet by being sympathetic and flexible.

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A company that could have their whole work fleet work from home. Unbelievable

No, it is believable. Take it from a two and a half year telecommuter it is very hard to inculturate new employees, train them up and get them into the mindset necessary for the job when everyone is working from home. Just being able to yack with the old timers is a valuable way for newer staff to learn. Coaching matters greatly and it is tough to do in a 100% telework environment.

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@Lamilly True unbelievable but here you have a large corporation who purchased land in California at a very high price. No one saw Covid coming and now that they spend all of this money on this property they are pushing to have employees return to work so that the property will not become a total loss. FB did the same thing built these unbelievable playgrounds to make every young mind want to work at their Disneyland. I agree the work they do can be done anywhere including home!

A company that could have their whole work fleet work from home. Unbelievable

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Correction: gal/she

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"it's more the vibrant", huh? Either this guy is not a native speaker of English, or he's been misquoted.

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