Today driving down 101, I was surprised to see a full-size corporate commuter coach, the first one I've seen in over 14 months. When I passed it I noted that it belonged to WeDriveU, one of the big shuttle operators. Once it showed up in my rear view mirror, I could see that it was a training bus, not carrying actual passengers. And a few days earlier, I saw a smaller Bauer IT shuttle bus (they were early shuttle service providers for Google), probably also in training.
But it's coming. I'm sure a lot of the other big companies (Google, Facebook, etc.) will be asking their employees for more in-person facetime.
One of the freeway onramps had a sign indicating that metering would start in a few days, presumably because Caltrans expects more traffic when California opens up on June 15th.
Facebook is allowing remote work after the pandemic. Google is allowing 20% of its workforce to work remote. Twitter is going fully remote. Most tech companies are and it’s going to be harder moving forward for Apple to hire software developers if you have to come into campus.
I think if you would like to work remotely, at least most of the time, then maybe you need to look at working for one of these companies. I am a manager for a tech company and we hear the same complaint from employees. Our value lies in the fact that we benefit from the collaboration between employees. Being remote a significant amount of the time you do not get the cross-team pollination. There's generally no reason for some teams would need to interact as a normal process of business. When you get everyone into an office, however, you run into people at the "watercooler" and share stories, make friends, and really innovate beyond just doing the "same old" every day. I think my company, and Apple, can show that this is a good approach. Companies are proven to be more profitable and innovative when working FROM the office is the standard.
I would need to see some evidence from you that in person work is superior to remote work. When your a software developer, 90% of your time is coding and I can say from my personal experience, my productivity has almost doubled during the pandemic without the constant and useless distractions provided by the office. Are there in person benefits? Sure. But I think they are outweighed by the negatives. It will be interesting to see how Apple does moving forward in terms of hiring top software talent with all the remote options others are offering now.
I don't disagree that productivity increases when you have no distractions, and you certainly have that working remotely. You need to keep in mind that productivity is not the same as innovation and Innovation is not necessarily shown in a final product. Often innovation goes deeper into the function of the company and how it interacts internally. You get this from face-to-face interactions outside of your bubble.
That makes no sense. Innovation does not require people meeting face to face.
When you get everyone into an office, however, you run into people at the "watercooler" and share stories, make friends, and really innovate beyond just doing the "same old" every day. I think my company, and Apple, can show that this is a good approach. Companies are proven to be more profitable and innovative when working FROM the office is the standard.
First, most "watercolor" talk is of the "whatcha do last weekend/watchca doing next weekend" variety.
As to, "Companies are proven to be more profitable and innovative when working FROM the office is the standard.", citation please. Otherwise it just sounds like something someone pulled from some dark place just to "prove" their point.
When you get everyone into an office, however, you run into people at the "watercooler" and share stories, make friends, and really innovate beyond just doing the "same old" every day. I think my company, and Apple, can show that this is a good approach. Companies are proven to be more profitable and innovative when working FROM the office is the standard.
First, most "watercolor" talk is of the "whatcha do last weekend/watchca doing next weekend" variety.
As to, "Companies are proven to be more profitable and innovative when working FROM the office is the standard.", citation please. Otherwise it just sounds like something someone pulled from some dark place just to "prove" their point.
First, I will apologize
for the repeat posts. I thought I had done something wrong but it held back my
posts and released them all at once
It's much easier to have a conversation standing
right in-front of someone versus through some sort of messaging app or on the
phone. Would you date someone 100% virtually and expect to have a meaningful
relationship? Sure, maybe you travel a lot, and you must have a long distance
relationship, it will work for a while but it does strain a relationship. Working
remotely is really no different: you may be able to be productive, but at some point,
you must have that face to face in order to be more effective.
Look, I don't disagree, working from home is nice
and occasionally is good for a good work life balance. Some companies are
implementing these policies in the most effective way possible for their
company. A reasonable example mentioned earlier was a 20% work from home
schedule with additional flexibility as needed. 100% remote does not seem
reasonable.
I don't need to prove anything, there’s plenty of
studies out there by MIT, Harvard, and UW which prove this for me. I am not sure
if ok to link it so I encourage you to look it up yourself. Each one basically
proves that human face-to-face interactions help to promote more effective
communication and team collaboration and in turn leads to more innovation. I
don't disagree that productivity increases without having disruptions at work
but has anyone ever considered that these "disruptions" could be
good? I mention "watercooler" as an example because I can't tell you
how many times this has led to my job being easier. Talking about shenanigans from
the weekend leads to a conversation about what you're doing at work and BOOM
there's something you didn't consider before to make your life easier.
Comments
As to, "Companies are proven to be more profitable and innovative when working FROM the office is the standard.", citation please. Otherwise it just sounds like something someone pulled from some dark place just to "prove" their point.
First, I will apologize for the repeat posts. I thought I had done something wrong but it held back my posts and released them all at once
It's much easier to have a conversation standing right in-front of someone versus through some sort of messaging app or on the phone. Would you date someone 100% virtually and expect to have a meaningful relationship? Sure, maybe you travel a lot, and you must have a long distance relationship, it will work for a while but it does strain a relationship. Working remotely is really no different: you may be able to be productive, but at some point, you must have that face to face in order to be more effective.
Look, I don't disagree, working from home is nice and occasionally is good for a good work life balance. Some companies are implementing these policies in the most effective way possible for their company. A reasonable example mentioned earlier was a 20% work from home schedule with additional flexibility as needed. 100% remote does not seem reasonable.
I don't need to prove anything, there’s plenty of studies out there by MIT, Harvard, and UW which prove this for me. I am not sure if ok to link it so I encourage you to look it up yourself. Each one basically proves that human face-to-face interactions help to promote more effective communication and team collaboration and in turn leads to more innovation. I don't disagree that productivity increases without having disruptions at work but has anyone ever considered that these "disruptions" could be good? I mention "watercooler" as an example because I can't tell you how many times this has led to my job being easier. Talking about shenanigans from the weekend leads to a conversation about what you're doing at work and BOOM there's something you didn't consider before to make your life easier.