Google Offers Employees On-Campus Hotel 'Special' To Lure Workers Back To the Office (cnbc.com) 37
For $99 a night, full-time employees of Google can stay at an on-campus hotel in Mountain View in what the company is deeming a "Summer Special." According to CNBC who obtained the materials, "the special will run through Sept. 30 in hopes it'll 'make it easier for Googlers to transition to the hybrid workplace.'" From the report: Since the promotion is for unapproved business travel, the company will not reimburse their stays, but will require employees to use their personal credit cards, the special's description states. "Just imagine no commute to the office in the morning and instead, you could have an extra hour of sleep and less friction," the description reads. "Next, you could walk out of your room and quickly grab a delicious breakfast or get a workout in before work starts." The ad goes on to say that after the work day ends, "you could enjoy a quiet evening on top of the rooftop deck or take in one of the fun local activities."
The Google-owned hotel is situated on a newer campus in Mountain View, California, that it opened last year. The 42-acre campus is adjacent to NASA's Ames Research Center and has capacity to house 4,000 employees working on its ads products, the company said upon its opening. Some employees have commented on the hotel deal in internal discussion forums. One highly rated meme showed movie clips that included a scene in the movie "Mean Girls," where the main character played by Lindsey Lohan says "No, thank you." "Now I can give some of my pay back to Google," another highly rated meme read. Another meme joked that living on campus for the summer could disrupt "work-life balance."
At $99 a night, the hotel would amount to roughly $3,000 a month, employees pointed out in internal discussions viewed by CNBC. One employee pointed out that hotel amenities were not to be ignored. "I pay more and get a lot less in total for my apartment," wrote one employee in a discussion thread. "Though admittedly where I live is much better." Another thought it was still too expensive. "If it was around $60 a night, that could be a fine-ish alternative to apartments, but $99? No thanks." "I would've totally done it, had it fit a certain profile: $3k rent all-in, fully-furnished, unlimited meals, paid utilities, plus housekeeping/cleaning every day," another employee wrote. Another hypothesized the move could be a way to reduce vacancy at the hotel after Google cut corporate travel budgets.
The Google-owned hotel is situated on a newer campus in Mountain View, California, that it opened last year. The 42-acre campus is adjacent to NASA's Ames Research Center and has capacity to house 4,000 employees working on its ads products, the company said upon its opening. Some employees have commented on the hotel deal in internal discussion forums. One highly rated meme showed movie clips that included a scene in the movie "Mean Girls," where the main character played by Lindsey Lohan says "No, thank you." "Now I can give some of my pay back to Google," another highly rated meme read. Another meme joked that living on campus for the summer could disrupt "work-life balance."
At $99 a night, the hotel would amount to roughly $3,000 a month, employees pointed out in internal discussions viewed by CNBC. One employee pointed out that hotel amenities were not to be ignored. "I pay more and get a lot less in total for my apartment," wrote one employee in a discussion thread. "Though admittedly where I live is much better." Another thought it was still too expensive. "If it was around $60 a night, that could be a fine-ish alternative to apartments, but $99? No thanks." "I would've totally done it, had it fit a certain profile: $3k rent all-in, fully-furnished, unlimited meals, paid utilities, plus housekeeping/cleaning every day," another employee wrote. Another hypothesized the move could be a way to reduce vacancy at the hotel after Google cut corporate travel budgets.
Another Dupe (Score:5, Insightful)
https://tech.slashdot.org/stor... [slashdot.org]
You have one job.
Re: (Score:2)
That just makes this deal more special than the one in the earlier post. Special like a Slashdot editor.
Re: (Score:2)
Their one job is to get more clicks.
If they can get a few more by posting a dupe, so be it.
Re: (Score:2)
I mean, it's not even 18 hours old and has barely rolled off the first page.
"Posted by msmash on 04/08/23 12:51 from the how-about-that dept" with over 130 comments.
If you're an editor posting stories, this ought to be considered downright shameful.
Re: Another Dupe (Score:3)
Notice how ads get repeated as you scroll down most websites now? Why shouldn't content do the same?
$99 Vs. Rent? (Score:2)
I didn't get here on time for the first time this article came along so I'll ask now: how much is rent for a serviced apartment someplace where Googlers normally live?
Re:$99 Vs. Rent? (Score:4, Interesting)
I didn't get here on time for the first time this article came along so I'll ask now: how much is rent for a serviced apartment someplace where Googlers normally live?
That's really the only question. How much nicer (if it is nicer) is it than where the typical googler lives, and how do the costs compare?
Wouldn't appeal to me, but then I live in flyover country.
To be more enticing than WFH, it would have to offer some benefit to outweigh the benefit of being home and having a commute that consists of just walking to the next room.
I guess if I were young and single, offer me a fully serviced hotel room for free and I might consider it over WFH.
$99 vs pay more and get less... (Score:1)
how much is rent for a serviced apartment someplace where Googlers normally live?
From the article: "I pay more and get a lot less in total for my apartment," wrote one employee in a discussion thread.
Honestly, I don't know why people are complaining. This is a really good deal. Now if you quit or get fired from your cushy job at Google, you'll be kicked out of hotel Google and find yourself on the street in no time flat. Every employer should be putting up on-site hotels like this. Would do wonders for employee "morale" and "engagement."
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Honestly, I don't know why people are complaining. This is a really good deal.
People are complaining because this is marketed to existing employees to have them come back into the office. If you already live in the area and work from home, it's not a good deal. It might be less expensive but you have to give up all the stuff you already own (you're not going to bring in you home theater, billiards table, the arts/crafts items you collect, gaming computer setup, or paper books); also they probably don't accept cats/dogs, or, you know, KIDS. It's a deal to consider if you are single an
Re: $99 vs pay more and get less... (Score:1)
It'll be great... spend all your income on an awesome home which you never get to see because you're always in the office.
^__ seems to be the unspoken position for many employers.
Re: (Score:1)
$200 for a room to $700 for a small house around here if you can WFH.
It's like WFH on Alcatraz! (Score:3)
Getting to work is such a pain in the ass. Just stay on the island, we have a little room for you!
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Re: It's like WFH on Alcatraz! (Score:2)
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$3000/month is not reasonable for a janky wanna-be second apartment.
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China also isn't one of the most expensive places in the world to live in, and the workers aren't being paid nearly as much as google employees are.
That said, having lived anywhere between ~2 minutes to 1 hour from work, the time savings of being close to your work is great, time is money and all that. 2 minutes might be a touch close.
Still, I think you're wrong about it being $3k/month for a "second apartment" - if it's a second apartment, then obviously you're not using it every day of the month. It's s
Another Case of Google Life Imitating 'The Every' (Score:4, Informative)
In Dave Eggers' The Every [pluralistic.net], there's an internal mania for 'Everyones' [who bear more than a passing resemblance to 'Googlers'] to move into sleep pods on the company's Treasure Island campus to eliminate their commuting footprint.
Re: (Score:2)
Patronizing (Score:5, Insightful)
> "Just imagine no commute to the office in the morning and instead, you could have an extra hour of sleep and less friction," the description reads. "Next, you could walk out of your room and quickly grab a delicious breakfast or get a workout in before work starts."
It's just so patronizing.Yeah jackasses, you're making me come into the office, probably for no real reason other than self-satisfying, company-wide metrics. And yet you still can't help yourselves in writing corporate vomit like this.
Of course you can't really give up your lease either right? So ostensibly, google just wants you to pay more for the same convenience you would have just by working from home. You can't advertise a service the employee pays you for as a perk. A cheap hotel room so you don't have to commute? It really shows how little google is willing to do for people. We're going to do nothing, you're going to pay us, and you're still going to come into the office.
It used to be that way (Score:5, Insightful)
The working 'staff' lived on the plantation, because it was so 'convenient'.
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Googlers are developeding skills which, in some instances, can be applied for their personal benefit.
Re: It used to be that way (Score:1)
Yep, but back then the plantation owner paid for housing and food. In many ways we are way behind today. You've got to pay for your own home and food and most people don't even realise they're slaves so revolt is reduced. Progress...
AirBnB (Score:2)
Probably could score cheaper prices from the local AirBnB.
Re: (Score:2)
I've been reading articles, AirBnB has reached "maturity", where people are actually trying to make profits, where the idiots making deals too good to be true have been forced out of the business, where regulations are catching up and all that.
Now, this is very market dependent, but as I understand it the prices for AirBnB have skyrocketed to the point that they're more expensive than hotels in a lot of cases/markets, due to damages/regulations/expectations/etc...
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As they should be. If they're cheaper than traditional short-term lodging then the difference is being foisted upon the rest of the neighborhood as an unpaid 'partner' in this sort of thing.
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AirBnB is a replacement for timeshares, not for hotels.
Currency? (Score:2)
Hotel California (Score:2)
You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
repurposing (Score:2)
Maybe google could repurpose some of the prisons that newsom closed to use for worker housing. Also, they could work from home there. I hear San Quentin has great views of the bay.
What's the schedule? (Score:2)
Just buy Disney already. (Score:2)
With Google's massive cash reserves, they can purchase a controlling interest in Disney, then create a Disney Star Wars "Galactic Starcruiser" in Mountain View to attract employees back.
Done.
Re: Just buy Disney already. (Score:1)
OR... They could... Be content with EVERYONE working from <wherever they like> and turn their campus into a theme park so they're not left holding the bag on office-space costs.
Just a thought...
Re: Just buy Disney already. (Score:1)
Or, you know... continue to follow in the footsteps of Victorian cotton mill owners who had an actual reason for having people on-site - so forward-thinking.
\o/ (Score:1)
Pay to live at the office? Lol.