this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2023
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Tech office shuts down its free cocktail bar for employees, CEO says “The office is dead” — An experiment in 2020s, incentivizing the workplace as a dot-com-era adult playground where work also occ...::An experiment in 2020s incentivizing the workplace as a dot-com-era adult playground where work also occurs has ended with a whimper in downtown SF. Tech company Expensify is shutting down its bar, which it opened earlier this year, after six months.

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[–] [email protected] 126 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Imagine thinking I'd like to travel to work 2-3 hours a day for a fucking cocktail.

[–] Selmafudd 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I mean depending on if there was a drink limit or it's just open bar I'd head in for Friday's at least for unlimited drinks, but don't expect too much out of me after lunch

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Tech workers are well paid, they can afford their own cocktails.

[–] [email protected] 107 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Let's turn offices into apartments and all work from home.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If we make these huge towers, we can have recreation, work and living all under one roof!

[–] dustyData 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Mixed use zone urbanism?, well that sounds a lot like communism to me!

/s

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

"High Rise" was a good book/film, is all I'm saying :)

[–] abhibeckert 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Easier said than done. They commonly don't have adequate plumbing.

[–] [email protected] 72 points 1 year ago (2 children)

"But it's haaaaaard" - the response to every minor challenge in America since landing on the fucking Moon

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

Pretty sure at this point it'd be more of a "But I don't wanna spend an extra penny on this prooooojeeeeeect" kinda deal. I know people who would definitely do it, but the bigger problem is getting people in power to actually pay to have it done.

Though I do agree there are so many people here in America who would complain that it's too hard.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I think the current problem is more "it's risky and hasn't been tested much"

And yes, it's obviously still hard.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

Good thing they have suspended ceilings so it's easier to install anything needed from below then!

[–] [email protected] 80 points 1 year ago (2 children)

So people would get champagne after drinking cocktails all day and then hop into their car and drive home? Is it the 50s again or something?

[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 year ago

It's SF, most of them probably take public transportation or Uber

[–] thisisawayoflife 77 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

This was a cool this 20 years ago. The OGs don't care anymore because we want to spend our free time doing other things, not spending extra time at the office. Your booze and foos tables aren't the draw you think they are.

[–] SendMePhotos 9 points 1 year ago

Speak for yourself. Lol I would partake in this activity but (maybe you're half right) on a hybrid basis.

[–] [email protected] 51 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This post is a disaster.

It says "An experiment in 2020s incentivizing the workplace as a dot-com-era adult playground where work also" three times.

I get that it's embedded or whatever, but reading this post was like having a stroke.

[–] dustyData 9 points 1 year ago

This bot always does this. It takes the opening blurb and copy pastes it, without realizing that the crawler returns the blurb as part of the blurb, and that Lemmy also displays a preview of the first few lines which is, you guessed it, the blurb.

[–] cloud_herder 43 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It’s so insane to think of this being an office perk. Just there for you to use… My office has a kitchen…

[–] QuarterSwede 20 points 1 year ago (2 children)

This is one of the more baller ones for sure.

I work for a rapidly growing startup in a different industry and the most we have currently is a beer vending machine at one site that was inherited and P-Cards with the biggest limits I’ve ever seen. The only requirement with those is, “please don’t screw me.”

[–] shrodes 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] BottleOfAlkahest 11 points 1 year ago

They are company "Purchase" cards. They are often used for purchases for the office like supplies or other one off perks (i.e. food). In some companies they are separate from travel cards which can only be used for travel.

[–] Funkymatt 10 points 1 year ago

Company credit cards

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That p-card policy is a financial fraud disaster waiting to happen. It's only a matter of when, not if.

[–] QuarterSwede 1 points 1 year ago

Oh don’t worry, we have to expense everything. 😉

[–] NuclearArmWrestling 11 points 1 year ago

And I've got an ice maker and a bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label. Who needs the expense and time of a commute when their perk is right downstairs for me?

[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 year ago

I'm not enough of an alcoholic to be enticed by free alcohol.

[–] Cosmicomical 30 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ok, can you remind me why people should work from the office? At this point a company requesting I work from the office is just a huge red flag

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

b b because of the cocktail bar!

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

No more looking for that Balmer Peak!

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago

I miss the unofficial office pinball tournaments. The CEO, a guy from QA, a sr. support person, and I traded high scores on Deadpool pinball for the better part of a year.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You know, I got a full cocktail bar at home as well

[–] Bimbleby 8 points 1 year ago

Mine keeps shrinking though, it's really annoying!

[–] Snapz 23 points 1 year ago

This one is a bit frivolous, but generally all of these things share a common tone, "We're performatively punishing labor to send a message. We know Amazon/Starbucks unionized and the auto workers/writers/actors/health care workers went on strike, but you need to shut up and do more work until I no longer feel threatened like you might do the same"

Again, this is a more frivolous example, but tech workers need to unionize. The only downside I can identify about remote work is that the company owns the "town square" or "lunch room" - don't really have opportunities for the kind of quiet conversations where these things typically build momentum when they are indexing and have keyword alerts on your "private messages" with colleagues.

[–] jordanlund 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Went into my office on Friday to pick up a shipment, middle of the day, there were 5 people there. Everyone else working from home.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Doesn't mean much if we don't know how many employees work for your company...

[–] jordanlund 8 points 1 year ago

Office has about 170 employees.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

"An experiment in 2020s"

???

Motherfucker we are three years into the 2020's.