Ask HN: Which large companies don't have name badges?

diminium · 2013-02-06T21:14:58.000Z

I never want to wear a name badge for work again.Which companies have no or optional name badges?

7402 13 years ago |

There is a special event that happens in the lifetime of a growing company. That event is the first time a person walks into an office, picks up a computer, and leaves without anyone particularly wondering why someone they have never seen before has just walked off with a computer.

At least one place I worked, that was when they decided to get everyone official company name tags.

minimaxir 13 years ago |

Why do you so vehemently not want to wear a name badge, if you don't mind me asking?

mrkmcknz 13 years ago | |

If you have to wear a name badge, chances are no one actually cares what your name is.

phaus 13 years ago | | |

If you work in a building with a few thousand people in it, badges are the most obvious way to implement a functional physical security policy. It has nothing to do with your employer's feelings towards you.

Every business that large has valuable data. If your business has valuable data, there is someone out there trying to steal it.

chris_j 13 years ago | | |

What makes you say that?

jfoster 13 years ago |

Which companies do have name badges? Is that actually common? It seems incredible to me that any would require employees to wear name badges unless they were customer-facing. (Eg. retail)

bskap 13 years ago | |

Microsoft does. Our badges serve as keys to get into the buildings. We can also store money on them for use at the cafeterias.

They aren't really there to tell people your name. Most people wear them on their waist so you can't read them. But they do identify you as someone who belongs, so security can chase you out if you don't have one.

jfoster 13 years ago | | |

Got it. When I read "name badge" I was thinking of just a name rather than a security badge.

OWaz 13 years ago | |

Where I work we deal with healthcare related data and that comes with HIPAA requirements. So all doors allowing access to an area require a photo id/name badge/keycard (except the bathroom). We don't have to wear the badge but you need it to get around. So I just keep mine in my wallet. Also we have cameras monitoring all doors. And patrol dogs with lasers.

MostAwesomeDude 13 years ago | |

I work for Google and have to wear a badge with my name and picture on it around the workplace as part of the company security policy.

onlyup 13 years ago |

Can you name some large companies that DO make you wear name badges?

Why not just put it in your pocket and introduce yourself with your name when you meet people? Unless your manager is anal about it, it seems like it would go unnoticed.

onlyup 13 years ago | |

90k people in one building?

And yeah, obviously companies have swipe cards/ids. I think that differs from name tags

plastic_tumblr 13 years ago | |

Large companies do it primarily for security. I like to feel safe at work.

dear 13 years ago | | |

No name tag = Unsafe? Police state?

dangrossman 13 years ago | | |

Lots of us work or have worked at technology companies. The badges open doors so there's an auditable log of who comes in and out, and strangers can't come in at all. They're not for people to read your name. There's virtually no data center worldwide where you don't have at least that amount of security -- PCIDSS says you can't process credit card payments on servers in facilities without auditable access control like that, for one.

I, for one, don't want some random person on the street to be able to walk into a Microsoft office with their laptop, and be able to plug into the same private network Windows Live ID servers run on. With 90k employees, it's not like anyone else would know if that person belonged there or not.

minimaxir 13 years ago | | |

Keycard.

a_bonobo 13 years ago |

Work for a university in bioinformatics, depending on the building you're in you don't need name-badges. I don't wear a name badge either.

Only if you're in some lab environment do you need badges to open security doors.

srehnborg 13 years ago |

Is this really that much of a deal breaker?