I read this financial post article in my
spare time and was primarily appealing to me when they started discussing
silicon Valley – as we discussed it in class and prior to class discussion I
had minimal knowledge of the topic. It discusses a Canadian banker who taught
himself how to code and managed to build a software startup. He now works at the
TD downtown office that is similar to that of the Google head quarters and is
compared to the perks that Silicon Valley provides.
The goal with all these
benefits is to engage their workers, keep their brains encouraged in order to
benefit from new ideas. As much as this would be fun in a work place, I feel
like id find myself distracted and not focused on my job. The concept of artificial
intelligence is discusses and how it may benefit the company in regards to
learn customers spending patterns – but this goes back to my argument of
privacy. All the technological advantages ARE beneficial but are they worth the
lack of privacy we have in return? Attached is a webpage that expresses the
benefits and risks of artificial intelligence and how it is already and is
going to further impact our society.
“The lure of Silicon Valley and the array of opportunities that other
companies in the technology ecosystem can offer down the line are hard to
compete with” (Shariar). With the experience of Silicon Valley it is easier to
switch to a company you desire and with that, a handful of the TD head office
employees are Silicon Valley retiree’s. Personally, I do not agree with this
whole cool office thing that is occurring within industries to be more
appealing to employees as it reallocates funds to unnecessary activities. What
happened to being influenced by physical activity or sketching? Since when can
ping-pong trigger creative ideas?
http://business.financialpost.com/news/fp-street/meet-the-new-canadian-banker-the-tech-rockstars-who-are-taking-over-bay-street
https://futureoflife.org/background/benefits-risks-of-artificial-intelligence/
Neff, Venture
Labor, Chapter 1, “The Social Risks of the Dot-Com Era” and Chapter
2, The Origins and Rise of Venture Labor”
I completely understand your disagreement to these 'fun activities' and the ideas behind it. But I find it kind of useful- the whole idea of these amenities in the company is for these workers to feel at home. They shouldnt feel like they are in a hierarchal scary corporation, where they get bored and not excited to do work.
ReplyDeletePing pong may not trigger creative ideas per say, but it makes them feel less stressed and more excited to do work.
I touched on this in my presentation on how Google has used this and got the idea from a tech company who has gotten so many success stories in the past.
https://www.fastcompany.com/3007268/where-are-they-now/not-happy-accident-how-google-deliberately-designs-workplace-satisfaction
Though this may cost them more money than the traditional workplace environment, I believe it will bring them more revenue.
And I believe it is also an assimilation of the values the 21st century is inculcating. A chill and happy workplace for their workers.
Hi Zoey! I agree with you for the most part, in regards to the unnecessary funding of frivolous activities such as playing ping pong to foster creative ideas. I feel that if I was to work in a formal office environment, there would be times when things like this would be distracting rather than beneficial.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I do think that there are scientifically proven connections between 'brain breaks' and productivity and ping pong is an activity that fosters beneficial connections in the brain. I think that the context, specific field of the complany and the demographic of employees definitely determines how effective these types of activities and incentives are.