this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2025
334 points (95.9% liked)

News

25601 readers
4450 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

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."

(page 2) 43 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Dvixen@lemmy.world 27 points 1 day ago

Spoken to someone who might work 60 minutes a week.

He can get fucked by his 60 hour work week. Sideways.

[–] ARotePleaseBob@lemmy.world 141 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Why? Fuck me, that’s like a 12 hour day over a 5 day week. No-one is doing productive 12 hours day for very long, so he’s basically just arguing for an adult version of fucking daycare here.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 78 points 1 day ago (1 children)

...or 8.6 hours a day 7 days a week with no days off. There's no way to math this that isn't "fuck you, you don't deserve a life outside of working to replace yourself with AI."

[–] bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 34 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Or 10 hour days 6 days a week, only so the "responsible" employees can go to church.

[–] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 39 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Specially developers, you're going to spend the first 3 hours of work every day, fixing all the shitty code wrote in the 3 last hours of the preview day.

[–] foggy@lemmy.world 26 points 1 day ago

Yep. If you want max productivity from devs, it's salary and ad hoc.

Do your work when the fuck ever. Just get it done.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 77 points 1 day ago (3 children)
[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 29 points 1 day ago (1 children)

At this point, it's an insult to clowns.

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 9 points 1 day ago

fair, "clown" as in the study of physical comedy is genuinely hilarious

[–] Mac@mander.xyz 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not true. They know exactly what theyre doing to extract wealth from the workers.

[–] SGGeorwell@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yes. The rich prefer slavery if they can get away with it .

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

Even if it's less efficient than better treatment of the workforce

[–] Ledericas@lemm.ee 8 points 1 day ago

Mba say the darnest things

[–] klemptor@startrek.website 32 points 1 day ago

Hey Brin, kindly go fuck yourself, you out-of-tpuch ass.

[–] ABetterTomorrow@lemm.ee 45 points 1 day ago

Kicking Sergey Brin in the teeth and working 30 hours a week is max productivity.

[–] MyOpinion@lemm.ee 33 points 1 day ago (1 children)

So nice of him to support the abuse of his employees for his personal gain.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 24 points 1 day ago

It's not about productivity. Productivity drops exponentially when people are tired. It's about crushing the human spirit.

[–] RamblingPanda@lemmynsfw.com 39 points 1 day ago

Hitting Brin in the balls repeatedly would increase my happiness.

[–] RangerJosey@lemmy.ml 46 points 1 day ago

My ass it is. We're going the other direction.

[–] twinnie@feddit.uk 33 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I’d work work 60 hours a week if I was going to get paid the millions they make but I’m not doing that work just to make someone else rich.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 25 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

It's beyond just making millions for someone else, it's about literally building their replacements.

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).

They want an AGI that will do all the work "for free" and they don't have to worry about pesky human workers who want things like "human rights" anymore.

[–] 100_kg_90_de_belin@feddit.it 2 points 1 day ago

Most big players in the AI field have already said that they are not going to reach the goals they set for environmental impact by 2030. The "for free" part simply means that Earth will become unlivable for human beings sooner

[–] FirstCircle@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yep, just plug 'em in and they'll work 24x7x52 without a complaint. That's the goal.

"The race" to AGI is just the race to unemployment and complete subservience to the TechBro super-rich and their ilk.

[–] reiterationstation@lemm.ee 6 points 1 day ago

Let’s see, can’t grow your own food, can’t make your own clothes, can’t fix your own home, have to pay property taxes no matter what, have to pay for health insurance or you die…

They have a lot of people between a rock and a hard place. Might even be all of us.

[–] axh@lemmy.world 23 points 1 day ago

Please join my TED talk on "Why whip is a more efficient motivational tool than bonuses?"

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 24 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

There's 182,502 employees at Google.

Maybe if Brin wants to work hard, he can do all the work at 60 hours a week himself, since he's so fucking smart.

That's only 10,950,120 hours a week, Brin. Those are rookie numbers! You can do it yourself, right? Right?

You wouldn't be sitting on your ass doing nothing demanding others do all the work, right? Right??


Narrator: Brin was indeed sitting on his ass doing nothing.


Also, for context, 60 hours a week divided by 7 days a week is 8.6 hours a day with no days off or 6 ten hour days with one day off or 5 twelve hour days with two days off.

[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 18 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

often these fucks do work 60–100 hour weeks because they are soulless, friendless, loveless, hobbyless people with no interior life or social life.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 33 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Nah, they count shit like going to the gym for two hours or having a three-hour-three-martini "business lunch" as part of their "work week" so those numbers are way overinflated. They count every little thing they do that they tell us "isn't working" (like eating) as "work" when it comes to their own schedules.

There's middle managers who really work like that but its because they hate their home lives, their wives, their children.

[–] ctenidium@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

Exactly! I worked at a really small company in a rural area and and even at that insignificant place my bosses would sit around, drink coffee, maybe drive their fancy company cars visiting their friends at another company for chatting and berating their employees for being lazy and being egoistic for having a low working morale. While leaving early everyday. I used to say I'd like very much spend my holidays like they spend their days working.

[–] Stovetop@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

"I am the all-important central pillar of this company, so looking after my health needs is how I do my job. It would be bad if I joined investor calls and virtual meetings without getting 10 hours of sleep and 3 square meals per day, so of course that time is billable. And I'll need the company to pay for my various trainers, aides, counsellors, and spiritual advisors who keep me physically and mentally healthy, otherwise we wouldn't have a leg up on the competition."

"Hey, does it make our company look bad if the Apple CEO owns a larger yacht than I do? We need to fix that ASAP. How can we make more room in the budget for my compensation? Do we really need to keep all these engineers?"

[–] reiterationstation@lemm.ee 4 points 1 day ago

Now we are talking!

[–] reiterationstation@lemm.ee 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I work 60-100 hours a week because I own my business.

They aren’t “working” in the same way I am or you are. They don’t work their businesses. Their hobbies social life and business are all blurred. That’s why they can make the claim they are always working but it’s not the same thing.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 11 points 1 day ago

I hope you can return to a healthy balance soon.

[–] randon31415@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

60-hour workmonth? Sign me up!

[–] tiefling@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Have fun paying out overtime in developed countries

[–] AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Assuming overtime pay and other employee benefits aren't completely gutted

[–] tiefling@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

That's why I specified developed countries. Countries stuck in the 1800s don't count.

[–] reiterationstation@lemm.ee 7 points 1 day ago

They won’t pay overtime. Obviously.

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca -5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

workweek

Joiningwords forno reasonis weirdwhenhyphens stillexist.

[–] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 2 points 23 hours ago (1 children)
[–] madjo@feddit.nl 1 points 22 hours ago

arbeidsongeschiktheidsverzekeringsmaatschappij

load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›