"It's free and it always will be" disappeared back in 2019.
[1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2019/08/27/facebook-no-l...
[1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2019/08/27/facebook-no-l...
Still kind of upset that that immediately obvious lie back in back in 2009 paid off.
I was there in the background noise in that first reddit post, saying the obvious.
It would not surprise me one bit if it turned out that the reddit founders manipulated that one post to make it go the right way.
1. https://gizmodo.com/google-removes-nearly-all-mentions-of-do...
> Preface
“Don’t be evil.” Googlers generally apply those words to how we serve our users. But “Don’t be evil” is much more than that. Yes, it’s about providing our users unbiased access to information, focusing on their needs and giving them the best products and services that we can. But it’s also about doing the right thing more generally – following the law, acting honorably, and treating co-workers with courtesy and respect.
The Google Code of Conduct is one of the ways we put “Don’t be evil” into practice. ...
So really, you're implying the article claims something more extreme than it _actually_ claims... which is a little like starting your _own_ clickbait urban legend - how meta!
Google’s unofficial motto has long been the simple phrase “don’t be evil.” But that’s over, according to the code of conduct that Google distributes to its employees. The phrase was removed sometime in late April or early May, archives hosted by the Wayback Machine show.
Unless you feel the content at the end of documents doesn't count, because no one would ever actually read it...? Bit of a trap there!
That was too low hanging to leave and I know I'm being a total asshole there, which I'll try to stop -- but come on, having to read to the end isn't at all like the article is straight up lying.
The status of "unofficial motto" was conferred by the preferential position the concept was given in the doc, a symbolic gesture of corporate culture, and that entire block was removed for a much lesser reference at the end. It is made motto no more, because that specific phrase which started the doc was removed, as was reported.
Now, I grant you: a lot of people have the wrong impression of what precisely happened here, and I agree, the article is just here for the clicks. It could start off by clarifying that the idea isn't totally erased, and that might have served the precise truth better.
But the world is complex and nuanced! The thing called Google changed into a thing called Alphabet, and at that time, Alphabet dropped the phrase completely, while Alphabet's new child company (now called Google) seriously demoted the phrase+idea. Some web journalists then editorially simplified their titles about it all to get more clicks, while providing the full facts inside.
In spirit, at that time, Google kicked the ethos into a hole, and that's what people broadly understand. It's not at all like Google and its entire code of conduct are just what they ever were, and it's similarly disingenuous to claim the whole idea here is some crazy urban legend as it would be to claim that Google and friends have e.g. purged any and all references to good moral conduct from official documents -- neither is true.
But in the long view, Google stopped caring about this idea, and that popular understanding is roughly correct. That's the story, and it is not an urban legend.
Don't Be Evil was relegated to a weird basement desk and had its stapler taken off it back in 2018.
(I don't care, and don't think "don't be evil" really ever meant much, but urban legends drive me a little batty.)
Elon canceled WFH for a multitude of reasons. Mainly to encourage willing employees to leave and those that remained to work harder.
They spend time commuting. They suffer constant distractions. They deal with physically relocating in the office multiple times per day. They experience physical discomfort in an environment they cannot control.
What in office employees don’t do is deliver more value per minute to the company because they waste energy just trying to exist in an office.
> What in office employees don’t do is deliver more value per minute
Isn’t this contextual?
> They spend time commuting
Also this. Commute can be productive especially in cities where people can safely cycle to the office.
> They suffer constant distractions.
Lots of the folks I meet in the office currently, have more distractions at home.
> They experience physical discomfort in an environment they cannot control.
“home” is not the opposite for many people.
WFH is productive only if you are single. Or have single like benefits. Like kids who are off to school and a spouse who doesn't talk to your for hours.
Other wise you are better off working at office. At home you get peppered by spouse/kids/chores tasks during your working hours.
Also, think about those on an H-1B. Their options are limited.
For older more mature people who have families it’s an amazing gift to be able to work from home, for some it absolutely isn’t. The point is that you can decide how to run things in your company and try to be flexible.
I've worked for a company who had to go full remote due to covid and productivity increase a lot because people were not being bothered by senseless interruptions and calls.
When asked why move back to the office in a meeting where people could ask "anything", the CEO just said he doesn't believe in working from home and he does not want that for the company but provided zero reasons for his beliefs. :/
Also commuting is such a pain that it makes me feel depressed. I took about 2h each leg and sometimes it was even worse. I usually get so much earlier in the office to avoid not being late and I had to simply not do anything as I could never leaver earlier too :(
Don't be a reactionary. Think about things more and you'll be right more often than you are now.
This has been my experience as well. Also, not every company is the same. When COVID hit, I started working remote, and the company was very poorly equipped to deal with work from home. Communication disappeared and culture died out. I stopped being interested in my work and left the team, and later, the company.
Fast forward to my new company. It’s remote-first. More than half the workforce is remote and it saves the company what I’d imagine to be a pretty sum in office supplies, rent, etc. I’m hybrid now, but 90% of the time is remote. I’m much happier now than in my old remote experience. I don’t have to commute and I haven’t missed out on any of the perks of an office because of the company structure and techniques, and a few other decisions by myself.
The things I think are game changers:
- Slack, or similar. My old company used Teams. It was slow and buggy and I disliked it. Having channels is a game changer for remote work! Being able to have channels with many people creates a place for banter and common, shared experiences. That makes a remote team feel much more personal.
- Having a good home office. My first stint with remote work, I was ill prepared. I had no desk and was working at the dining room table. I had no good peripherals, no good chair, etc. Not a good environment. Now I have a standing desk, a mouse and keyboard I enjoy, nice monitors, a good chair, a separate area of the house dedicated to work. This has made a huge difference in my mindset. I’m “at work” by being in an area of my home I reserved exclusively for work, and I’m comfortable in it. I dread going into the office where the water doesn’t taste as good, the air is stale, there’s little natural light, I have limited control over my environment. I’m now much more productive at home. As a bonus, I get back an hour (or more, depending on traffic) of my day, and save myself all the accompanying stress of commuting.
1. the leadership and most important employees meet at the office 3 to 4 days a week.
2. less important employees are allowed to work from home
The workers in group 2 are in direct competition with outsourcing firms in India, Vietnam, Brazil, etc. If you are just an average frontend programmer, and allowed to work from home, there is a good chance that your work can be sent overseas. So workers in this group are seeing more downward pressure on their wages, and have a more precarious position.
This is absolutely unhealthy behavior, but my WFH problems have never been because I'm slacking off since I'm at home.
People with integrity will work. People without integrity will find ways of avoiding work. Location doesn't matter. Hire or work with the former; avoid the latter.
- Apple: https://www.fastcompany.com/90781330/apple-return-to-office-...
- Amazon: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/17/amazon-employees-asked-to-be...
- Microsoft: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/14/technology/microsoft-rto....
Why should your anecdote be stronger than this?
Building stronger ties with teammates is part of work. Progressive companies encourage this, and this is why some progressive companies have pushed people to return to the office.
To be clear, I'm showing up to be seen and available.
Imagine being able to rename your company to exempt yourself from the terms you wrote, because your new name isn’t in the terms.
It's signal they'll stop bothering the anonymous Facebook accounts my friends have. Why not let those few people wanting Facebook verification have it?