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blogs.microsoft.com
  • Powderhorn@beehaw.orgEnglish
    1·
    2 months ago

    Brinnon is a weird example. I had to look it up, having lived in and covered Seattle, Skagit County and the Kitsap Peninsula. Per Wikipedia:

    Brinnon is a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 907 at the 2020 census.

    We’re seriously citing a population of 900 people on the Olympic Peninsula as somehow central to the RTO order? Like, look I have rather intricate if outdated knowledge about traffic patterns in Puget Sound, WSF delays, the whole nine yards. Just getting from the U-District to West Seattle can be an hour slog.

    And getting across the 520 bridge to Bellevue (where I once worked as an orange badge for MS) was an unknown in terms of time.

    So why Brinnon?

    • TehPers@beehaw.orgEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      For what it’s worth, there are a lot of people across the sound who either work remotely or commute everyday (mostly to Seattle). The ferry, in travel time alone, is ~45m (from start of boarding to end of getting off, assuming you take the car you’ll need with this commute). This is of course assuming you make the ferry and don’t end up waiting for the next ferry or two due to traffic (each ferry carries only so many cars), and assuming no issues with their schedule (they are behind all the time).

      Brinnon is a weird example, but an example involving the ferry isn’t too far fetched. I have a friend at a big company who lives on that side, and I considered it myself (and would have, had I been able to afford the home I wanted anyway).

      Without traffic, Bainbridge Island to Redmond is ~1.5h. With traffic? Not happening.

      Good news about MS specifically is that it does have the connector (their commute busses). It doesn’t go everywhere, and definitely not across the sound, but does help with some commutes if you happen to be close to a stop.

      Anyway, RTO has historically been a terrible policy designed to shrink the workforce without layoffs and has resulted consistently in worse outcomes for companies.