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Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

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Re: Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

#131

Post by compiler-guy »

deskamess wrote: post #83

I have a feeling Amazon would not tolerate this level of push back to products and business strategy (and they have the corresponding "don't care" reputation!). Google management seems to give in so much and if you are a GOOG shareholder you could have a real case here (re the Maven project). [Disclosure: I am not a GOOG shareholder]. Management has to keep the interests of the company at heart - they are legally bou…

For a company like Google, which is highly dependent on getting and keeping highly skilled tech workers, "What is good for the company" often involves keeping employees happy.

Google got to where it is by aspiring to have the best working conditions available, and much of its talent came for that reason. You can build companies other ways--just like Amazon did--but changing that deal out from under the employees who came based on that deal would be quite disruptive and result in turmoil during the transition.

Would things be better for the company coming out the other side of such a transition? Hard to say, but the costs would be quite high.

Re: Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

#132

Post by mdorazio »

tropicalia wrote: post #114
segmondy wrote: post #32

My eyes are hurting from seeing these articles whining about their misery while collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Most companies have issues, and these issues are not "Company" issues but PEOPLE issues. Once you're large enough, you are going to have people with differing opinions, beliefs and values. These are going to clash. If you happen to be on the losing side and don't learn to accept it, y…

My eyes are hurting from seeing these articles whining about their misery while collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Multiple easily findable sources suggest that the median tech salary at Google is well below $150k -- probably more like around $130k. I get your point about the "whining" -- but while the average Google definitely does better than someone with a non-tech salary -- it most cases they…

I think you're looking at pay minus stock options. True median comp at Alphabet is closer to $250k [1], which if you have two workers in a household puts you in the 1%.

[1] https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2019/01/08/median-t...

Re: Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

#133

Post by lowdose »

joelx wrote: post #60
high_derivative wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My inside-FAAMNG experience has been that most employees seem to be not interested in the politics and are primarily focused on doing good work (people in their 20s), or on putting in their 8 hours and going home to their families (people >30 mostly, of course they also want to do good work, just have additional new priorities in a young family). Then there is a vocal minority who leverage that no individual's perfor…

I agree completely with this. Keep in mind that true evil is MBS ordering the murder of journalist Khasshogi. True evil is invading and conquering Crimea. True evil is murdering your generals with anti-aircraft guns or watching dogs tear them apart while still alive. Serving banner ads across sites does not even remotely compare.

True evil would be if the Kremlin were to warn about the threat posed by Belgium or France to Russian security and the need to contain this threat and even declaring a national emergency. Like the USA did in their backyard, "that little region over here" aka South America. Crimea was a very logical step after NATO kept violating the promise made to never move an inch geographical beyond Berlin.

Re: Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

#134

Post by unethical_ban »

tnolet wrote: post #66
NikolaNovak wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, don't joke about the type of laptop Our boss knows that having TrackPoint is a "conditions of employment" issue. Yes, it's a privilege... at the same time, it's what we spend 50+hrs of week on, so it needs to not cause ergonomic and usability issues every second of every minute of the day ️

I get people get all riled up about this. Even more when they are young and have no real perspective. But it gives tech workers in general a really bad vibe. Pompous, spoiled brats. Of course, most of these people are nice human beings, but somehow they get lost in minutiae and 0th world problems the moment they join some hot startup.

Yes, we can have discussions about 1st world problems of work conditions that don't involve hazardous machinery or manual labor, or have poor wages.

But that whole "don't complain, people have it worse" vibe extends to almost anyone living in the United States vs other countries where money means nothing, rule of law doesn't exist, or the mother country is about to slaughter thousands of people for wanting democracy.

The point is: Maintain perspective, but still continue bitching about the uncomfortable chairs.

Re: Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

#136

Post by BeetleB »

blub wrote: post #125
high_derivative wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My inside-FAAMNG experience has been that most employees seem to be not interested in the politics and are primarily focused on doing good work (people in their 20s), or on putting in their 8 hours and going home to their families (people >30 mostly, of course they also want to do good work, just have additional new priorities in a young family). Then there is a vocal minority who leverage that no individual's perfor…

That majority of people can afford to focus on work or put in their 8 hours and go back to their families thanks to a "vocal minority" which was able to convince others in the past to fight for new rights and for what's right. Obviously some people think there's more to life than cashing a large paycheck and writing code. "Not interested in politics" is an euphemism for clueless and easy to manipulate by those that a…

>That majority of people can afford to focus on work or put in their 8 hours and go back to their families thanks to a "vocal minority" which was able to convince others in the past to fight for new rights and for what's right.

That it is due to a vocal minority doesn't mean it is due to this vocal minority. Not all vocal minorities are equal, and nor should all vocal minorities be treated alike.

Freedom of speech is a great thing. That doesn't mean everyone exercising their freedom to speak results in a positive.

Re: Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

#137

Post by VikingCoder »

tnolet wrote: post #46
segmondy wrote: post #32

My eyes are hurting from seeing these articles whining about their misery while collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Most companies have issues, and these issues are not "Company" issues but PEOPLE issues. Once you're large enough, you are going to have people with differing opinions, beliefs and values. These are going to clash. If you happen to be on the losing side and don't learn to accept it, y…

I regularly have chuckles with friends about entitled tech workers. Complaining about the type of bottled water, the gym compensation plan, the type of company laptop. It's really sad.

Recently, they were discussing how to best secure their offices because a deranged woman came to the office and tried to kill all of them. [1]

And yes, they're also human and discuss whether single-use water bottles are bad enough that they're worth replacing, how best to keep fit so that they don't cost their employer-funded health care program too much in the long run, and yes, like many nerds, they discuss the type of laptop they like best.

But hey, if it makes you feel better to judge people, go for it.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube_headquarters_shooting

Re: Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

#138

Post by rmellow »

segmondy wrote: post #32

My eyes are hurting from seeing these articles whining about their misery while collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Most companies have issues, and these issues are not "Company" issues but PEOPLE issues. Once you're large enough, you are going to have people with differing opinions, beliefs and values. These are going to clash. If you happen to be on the losing side and don't learn to accept it, y…

Suffering is always relative and it's a slippery slope to dismiss as whining. By this logic, 99% of issues in the US are "whining" because other countries have it much worse.

Anyone in Sierra Leone could claim to a US citizen: "Sugar lobbies are meddling with public school meals and making children diabetic? Lucky you, my country doesn't have public schools and children are starving". This of course doesn't invalidate the issue.

Having lived in a third world country it would be very easy for me to dismiss "they refuse to call me by my preferred pronoun" as whining. After immigrating into the first world, it's a clear realization to me that suffering is relative and that's necessary for civilization to continue progressing through time.

Re: Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

#139

Post by torben-friis »

cogman10 wrote: post #10
torben-friis wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> signs telling us to lierally not wipe our feces on the walls in the bathroom This is not like the other details. What the hell caused that?

> I make 35k I can only imagine the people this company employees if they are spending 35K on a software developer. 90% sure the majority of staff is making minimum wage. With such low wages, you can't expect quality.

Oh well... I was the one who asked the question and that's how much I make (software developer in southern Europe, currently working for a bank of all places).

I'm not offended by the statement, but if the difference's so pronounced I'll be happy to hear any opportunities for remote work :P

Re: Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

#140

Post by everythingswan »

buboard wrote: post #115
LMYahooTFY wrote: post #94

As of now the most popular comments here seem to decry the notion that anyone making six figures could ever relay an experience of misery. This is utterly non-sensical. The article, to me, seems to imply that perhaps working at a radically free corporation doesn't yield pure bliss and benefit. Is there some reason this article needs to balance out any possible misery with all the luxurious amenities Googlers enjoy? D…

> that it's not possible someone could have a miserable experience at Google? I think that. Google employees are at the top of the pyramid, so if the article was true, they would have left for an almost identical salary nearby. The fact that they don't means that either google pays way above its direct competitors (it doesnt) or these people are outright lying, and their actions speak louder than 12k words

Fong-Jones, Whittaker, and Stapleton did resign as per this story.
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