In the note, shared internally and viewed by the New York Times, Brin urges staff working on Google’s Gemini AI projects to put in long hours to help the company lead the race in artificial general intelligence (AGI).
Some have praised Brin’s commitment to pushing the company’s success, but others argue that his approach reflects an outdated and harmful mindset.
“The hustle-centric 60-hour week isn’t productivity—it’s burnout waiting to happen,” wrote workplace mental health educator Catherine Eadie in a post shared by LinkedIn’s news editors.
Others said they feel that hard work is essential for success, with a COO of a business analytics business writing, “Brin is just being honest—successful people have always put in long hours."
Most of us don’t have careers like that, surely you realize this? We live where we can afford, our individual rights don’t really matter.
You actually do raise a good point that this would disincentivize walking, biking, and public transportation. The boss would demand the fastest possible commute i.e. driving. Not good!
Paying people a standard rate based on the optimal estimated commute would address that issue, but that’s not exactly fair to people that can’t drive and that still leaves motorists being underpaid for traffic jams and the like. It’s better than just forcing workers to bare 100% of the cost and be uncompensated for their time.
Also the Borg made a lot of good points.