Modern office space

 Posted by on 29 January 2009  Modern Life
Jan 292009
 
Where do you think I got the logo? Yahoo?

Where do you think I got the logo? Yahoo?

Grant posted not so long ago about office layouts.  I’ve never been one with an eye towards interior design of any sort, so I hesitantly admit to having only skimmed that post.

What I am currently interested in is how the current economic downturn (I refuse to use the word ‘recession’) is affecting the business world.  It is really quite scary:  Sprint-Nextel cutting 8,000 jobs; GM cutting 2,000 (no suprise there, though); Home Depot losing 7,000; and Caterpillar a whopping 20,000 job cuts (source).  The numbers are astounding and mesmerizing in a horrid car-crash sort of way.

Reading all of these numbers, I started to think about the tech boom of the 1990s and the extravagance that was said to have taken place in those offices.  (Maybe it was fact, but I never saw it firsthand…)  My idle thoughts led me to the wonder of the Internet where a few seconds of research brought me up short:  Google is cutting staff.

“But that can’t be right,” I said to myself.  “Not Google.”

Which brings me back to Grant’s office design post.  Here are some shots of Google’s offices.  While I admit it would be kick-ass to work in such an environment, how does a company justify such frivolity while laying people off work?

It is something I’ll never understand.

T. Keith Edmunds

  • http://www.absurdintellectual.com/ Grant Hamilton

    Gotta respectfully disagree here. I think there are really good reasons for Google to tart up its offices — and they don’t have to be considered frivolous.

    First of all, these kinds of perks are normal in Silicon Valley — and they’re necessary for businesses that want to attract the best and the brightest. Google goes further than most companies because they want the VERY best and the BERY brightest.

    And, honestly, why shouldn’t every company be like this? I hate the business mind-set that cost-cutting to the bone is some kind of virtue. Not every workplace has to be drab and conformist.

    Also, think about how much unpaid overtime Google gets — because it provides a nice work environment. Most people I know can’t wait to go home after work. That’s because all of their recreation happens outside of work. I’ll bet lots of Google employees work 14-hour days and weekends, simply because going to work is a fun place to be — and it’s where all their friends are.

    Finally, I wonder if it’s really as expensive as it looks. Sure, if this was one person’s home, it might be over-the-top, but Google shares these toys among thousands of employees. Maybe it’s just more cost-effective to buy a Wii and television for 20 people in a software team and let them share it — instead of bumping their salaries a bit so that they can each afford their own Wii.

    Look, I know we all toil in drudgery — but this is a very different sort of corporate expense than gilding the executive washroom. I’m all in favour of businesses that provide worker perks.

    Go Google!