Google offices or some other technology companies are fun because the facilities are abundant. But even the designer regretted the condition. Why is that?
Clive Wilkonson is a renowned office architect and has designed the headquarters of Microsoft, Disney and Google. He designed Google's headquarters called the Googleplex located in Mountain View, California.
Wilkinson helped design the Google campus after winning its design competition. He worked directly with Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
Google Office was designed to make it easier for employees to collaborate. Then the famous ones are the facilities for employees, from restaurants with free food, massage rooms, laundry services, gardens, volleyball courts, swimming pools and so on.
But it was precisely because of this that Wilkinson later regretted designing these delightful facilities. In fact, he said such offices make employees dependent and can be a dangerous situation.
"The idea that you can provide everything to support employees in the office seems very generous. But there is also a lot of potential negative impact," he was quoted as saying by KQED.
He considers blurring the line between work and life that makes employees feel at home in the office, in the end the ones who benefit the most are still the company. Even if employees are happy, there is potential for burn out.
"A balance between work and life cannot be achieved by spending your entire life in the office. This is unreal, not engaging with the world," he says.
Since all food and drinks are provided free of charge, employees have no reason to explore local restaurants. In other words, they are too fixated at work.
Nevertheless, of course Google is still one of the most favorite tech giants to work with and there has never been a significant protest. In addition to Google's very complete office facilities, the salary given is also very high.