https://archive.li/O1cSJ

‘Google decided that work-life balance was more important than winning’

OK Eric, but how do you win without employees?

  • Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    “I’m sorry to be so blunt,” Schmidt continued in the video posted on Stanford’s YouTube channel on Tuesday. “But the fact of the matter is, if you all leave the university and go found a company, you’re not gonna let people work from home and only come in one day a week if you want to compete against the other startups.”

    If I were going to found a company I’d make it remote only because I’d have access to a global labor pool, often in places with lower cost of living, and I won’t have to pay for an office. Seems like a win-win.

    • solsangraal@lemmy.zip
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      3 months ago

      if you want to compete against the other startups

      i’m guessing he offered approximately zero data to support the claim that WFH startups always lose against office-only startups?

    • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      I absolutely would do that, in point of fact. And, like, tons of successful startups started in a founder’s (or even founder’s parent’s) basement or garage. So I don’t know what this C-suite dipshit thinks he’s on about.

      • Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        He’s speaking to a bunch of Standford students and giving advice, so it’s not that absurd. But it is pretty absurd to tell potential entrepreneurs “Make sure you pay as much as possible for real estate in a big city, and then overpay for talent because your office is in a big city.”

        • Xenny@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          If his goal is for his company to win I wouldn’t be taking his advice.he has a financial incentive to sabotage future competition

        • synae[he/him]@lemmy.sdf.org
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          3 months ago

          Talking to students at Stanford about startups is fine. Projecting his concerns about WFH employees for his own company onto them is nonsense and disingenuous, as Google is about the furthest they could possibly be from a startup nowadays.

  • Shadywack@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    An ex-CEO dipshit who got ran off because he fucked around too much, and he pretends that his old stodgy ethically bankrupt perspectives mean shit. That’s hilarious.

  • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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    3 months ago

    The same asshole who said that you shouldn’t mind the privacy concerns if you’ve got nothing to hide. That’s how you know his opinions are valuable.

  • Vent@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    Google decided that work-life balance was more important than winning

    Yes. Work-life balance is quite literally the most important aspect of any job, arguably second only to pay. If an employer doesn’t agree, then they’re not my employer.

    Sorry, you psychopathic oligarch fuck, but people have better things to do than work themselves to death to buy you a 54th yacht. Maybe try moving to an apartheid state if that’s what you want. It worked for the Musks.

  • floofloof@lemmy.ca
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    3 months ago

    To my ears the headline gets it backwards. He blamed remote working for the company’s AI woes, or blamed the company’s AI woes on remote working. Not sure if this is a typo or a legitimate different use of language.

  • EndOfLine@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    This guy is a complete tool who sounds angry at Google for personal reasons.

    I have worked for several successful startups with remote work policies. The employees don’t “work like hell” because they are in an office. They do it because THEY HAVE EQUITY. If the startup prospers and does well then so do the employees. I’ve never had a coworker decide to stay late because of access to a communal fridge and public bathroom. I have, however, known them to work harder to improve their chances of an early retirement.