Google's ex-CEO U-turns after saying staff 'going home early' killed winning
- Reference: 1723728730
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/08/15/googles_exceo_steps_back_from/
- Source link:
Stanford Online uploaded a video of Schmidt's talk to students at the top US university to YouTube earlier this week, as reported [1]by the WSJ . The video explained, from Schmidt's perspective, why Google had slipped behind when competing with companies such as OpenAI.
Schmidt said: "Google decided that work-life balance and going home early and working from home was more important than winning.
[2]
"The reason startups work is because the people work like hell."
[3]
[4]
The video has since been made [5]private following a request from Schmidt to take it down, although clips are still [6]circulating online . In an email to the Wall Street Journal, Schmidt said: "I misspoke about Google and their work hours."
"I regret my error."
[7]
As well he might. The Alphabet Workers Union, [8]via X , gave an alternative explanation for a slowdown in the work of Google staffers: "Understaffing, shifting priorities, constant layoffs, stagnant wages and lack of follow-through from management on projects,
"These factors slow Google workers down every day."
While Schmidt might, publicly at least, regret his words, Google's actions alongside many of its tech peers speak differently as executives seek to cram the working-from-home genie released during the pandemic back into its lamp.
[9]
In 2023, Google announced [10]plans to cut 12,000 employees and [11]suggested those that remain should spend more time in the office or face the consequences in the form of a sinister suggestion of "next steps" from HR.
The search giant even went as far as to say it would track the office badge of employees – at intervals – to confirm attendance, with chief people officer Fiona Cicconi saying the three days a week in office metric would be a part of performance reviews. Managers were told to send reminders to staff "who are consistently absent from the office."
Other companies, such as Amazon, [12]have also mandated a return to the office for staff amid fears that a lack of in-person interaction was harming company profits opportunities for learning and mentorship.
Setting aside the fact that many staff prefer working from home to the extent that workers will actively seek employers that offer flexibility – [13]just ask Dell – there is compelling evidence that Return To Office (RTO) mandates can [14]stunt innovation and data published at the end of 2023 indicated that the RTO initiative [15]was pretty much dead .
[16]Half of Dell US staff reportedly opted for remote work
[17]'Return to Office' declared dead
[18]WFH mandates bad for staff morale and stunt innovation
[19]'What's the point of me being in my office, just because they want to see me in the office?'
Schmidt is reported as saying, "If you all leave the university and go found a company, you're not going to let people work from home and only come in one day a week if you want to compete against the other startups."
Blaming the Chocolate Factory's AI woes on flexible working seems a bit of a stretch. The [20]recent privacy furor over its Gemini assistant has less to do with workers in an office and more to do with corporate decision-making.
Still, staffers preferring flexible working conditions can be a useful scapegoat when identifying reasons why a company might not always match its peers in innovation. ®
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[1] https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/google-eric-schmidt-ai-remote-work-stanford-f92f4ca5?st=klf0i3ukcs984cy
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Zr4mIyxwD3vAPIL68YM9AQAAARA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zr4mIyxwD3vAPIL68YM9AQAAARA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Zr4mIyxwD3vAPIL68YM9AQAAARA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxDM8io4lUA
[6] https://x.com/alexkehr/status/1823480786349383879
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zr4mIyxwD3vAPIL68YM9AQAAARA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://x.com/AlphabetWorkers/status/1823821807671005567
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Zr4mIyxwD3vAPIL68YM9AQAAARA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/20/google_to_chop_12000_employees/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/08/google_three_day_week_enforcement/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/20/amazon_mandates_return_to_office/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/20/half_of_dell_us_staff_wfh/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/12/wfh_mandates_bad_for_staff/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/03/return_to_office/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/20/half_of_dell_us_staff_wfh/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/03/return_to_office/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/12/wfh_mandates_bad_for_staff/
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/29/wfh_report/
[20] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/22/google_workspace_gemini/
[21] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Yep yep, the priviledged attitude
If it's good it is because of me.
If it's bad it is because of you.
Narcissistic Me-generation politics has penetrated the board room.
Re: Yep yep, the priviledged attitude
"Narcissistic Me-generation politics has penetrated the board room."
Nah, I'm Gen-X ,and that has always existed...
Re: Yep yep, the priviledged attitude
Uhhhh, Snake, That happened back in the 80's man, its been there all along, curled up under the boardroom table snacking on the occasional intern-mouse that accidentally wanders in off-hours to wipe down the CEO's boardroom chair. Its just getting fatter and fatter every year. Eventually it will end up swallowing several Board members.
Re: Yep yep, the priviledged attitude
As opposed to what ever clearly above narcissistic generation you are from that never ever had these issues?
Funny how putting all the blame on "not my generation" also comes across as narcissistic.
Re: generational narcissism
I'm Gen-X and there's a reason for the "OK Boomer" meme :p lol Sure it was present by the '80's...they did a very good job even by then, didn't they? They're the ones who destroyed corporate loyalty reciprocity - it's only about [their] company now, they feel they don't owe you a thing.
Pfft. Microsoft is ahead of the pack despite being the most lax about working from home of any of the big techs.
I misspoke about Google and their work hours. I regret my error
Translation : I said what I really thought about Google and their work hours. Now I'm embarrassed because it got out and everybody thinks I sound like an asshole.
Re: I misspoke about Google and their work hours. I regret my error
For once someone at Google was honest.
Re: I misspoke about Google and their work hours. I regret my error
They weren't honest, just merely somewhat unguarded because they thought they were in a "safe space". Big difference between the two!
Re: I misspoke about Google and their work hours. I regret my error
Interpretation: You are an asshole and deserve a public flogging.
Re: I misspoke about Google and their work hours. I regret my error
Flogged by who? Google? Or the people who love WFH?
Re: I misspoke about Google and their work hours. I regret my error
Why not both? Double the fun!
Baloney from an ad-slinger (but that's saying the same thing twice)
> Schmidt is reported as saying, "If you all leave the university and go found a company, you're not going to let people work from home and only come in one day a week if you want to compete against the other startups."
Such baloney... If you go found a company, you'll be a startup and thus have to be careful with how you spend your first ${CURRENCY} ${AVAILABLE_CAPITAL}. Spending that money on office space while you could have your people work from a place they already pay rent for/have purchased anyway, so that they can void the commute and thus be happier, more product employees, would be madness, managerial incompetence and an inability to 'read the room'. A startup should be spending that money on other things rather than an office space.
This individual has become detached from reality, and grown accustomed to "do as I say, because I say so". The arrogance is not only palpable, it's all-encompassing; and it is disgusting.
Re: Baloney from an ad-slinger (but that's saying the same thing twice)
I, personaly, subscribe for hybrid.
two or three days in the office, and 3 or two at home.
personally I'd take 3@ the office and 2 at home, but that's me (mostly to set the example). To each (team member) his/her own.
Sometimes y'all do need the face to face time to generate rapport intra and inter team (among other things).
JM2C
YMMV
"If you all leave the university and go found a company, you're not going to let people work from home"
Because google famously started out from Susan Wojcicki office block ???
I remember years ago someone posting a comment here about how they hope this clown “chokes to death.” It was on one of those interviews where he said it was just peachy that none of us have privacy any more.
I thought, yeah, that would be nice. Still waiting unfortunately.
Schmidt is reported as saying,
"If you all leave the university and go found a company, you're not going to let people work from home and only come in one day a week if you want to compete against the other startups."
You mean like all the current global economy warping massive companies... Oh wait. They all started in garages and homes... Working from homes if you will.
An Ex-Googler says...
Google's productivity issues stem from constant reinvention of the wheel and lack of corporate discipline. Our product was a hit but was primarily located in one of the non-Mountain View offices. So, naturally, corporate shenanigans had it consumed by a Mountain View team, retaining none of the original members, whereupon they decided to ditch all the existing code and reimplement the same functionality as part of some other piece of software. Subsequently nobody ever heard of it or its replacement again.
Upon the corresponding wind-down of my team, top transfer options were: that year's winner in the chat-application lottery, based in Seattle at least until the next chat application comes along to displace it; and the latest rewrite of a shared whiteboard, which is also now long dead due to the arrival of some other Google shared whiteboard.
How many extra hours could Google have spent on AI without the annual rewrite of Hangouts to ever-diminishing returns? How about if they'd skipped Google Wave, or just kept Wave and not written it again as Google+? Etc, etc.
Our employees failed us because of "work-life balance"
Not that the US particularly has much of that in the first place...
From a corporate perspective, it makes perfect sense to blame "lazy labor" for your project and financial shortcomings. It's clearly not an issue of incompetent management, understaffing, unreasonable expectations or competitors with an unrelated edge; those can't be re-packaged as failures of personal responsibility that the employees themselves have to address through discipline, introspection and a 30% off coupon for time management & productivity courses they can take in their spare time.
Because your employer cares about you, and you should care about yourself as much as they do. That the aforementioned coupon is only valid to a service provider your employer has an under-the-table business relationship with is unrelated, this is about what _you_ can bring to the table, and what _you_ can do to be a better person for the company. Maybe see your kids a bit less often. Maybe work a few extra hours every weekend. It's really you that is holding us back from success, and that's not very fair, is it?