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Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

cnbc.com

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Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#481

Post by buzzkillington »

mav3rick wrote: post #475
buzzkillington wrote: post #464

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Pay is well above average Depends on what you mean by average. When I talked to google I was looking at L5 for just over 300k with stock and bonus. In Evil Inc I was making well over over 500k all cash for the same job description.

Your location / interviews must have not been favorable. Most L5s pull more than that. Also the equity refreshes are far greater than other companies.

I have no idea. The whole process was Kafkaesque. I'd get someone calling me at 10pm asking if I'm available the next day, then telling me someone will call and confirm only for no one to follow up. Then the whole thing starts up the week after again.

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#482

Post by euroPoor »

umeshunni wrote: post #91
pas wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US "left" is basically center though.

Really?? There are actual communists and anarchists winning elections in the US west coast these days (e.g. Sawant, a Marxist and Chesa Boudin, an anarchist who worked for Hugo Chavez).

There’s actual nazis running for the Republican party (https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/1...)

Does that make the Republican party nazi? Absolutely not and you should not project your feelings on an entire political branch.

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#483

Post by thibautg »

buzzkillington wrote: post #464
mav3rick wrote: post #441

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pay is well above average. Regardless of what HN spews, Google foundationally made search and mobile more accessible around the world. I don't know what "great" company you work for but it's hard to top that for impact.

> Pay is well above average Depends on what you mean by average. When I talked to google I was looking at L5 for just over 300k with stock and bonus. In Evil Inc I was making well over over 500k all cash for the same job description.

300k is average?

That’s more than the ceiling for CEOs of public companies in my country.

Tech salaries in the US really seem out of proportions.

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#484

Post by mikro2nd »

hgytr wrote: post #305

First. Thanks to HN for not demanding phone numbers: anonymity allows to say things that cannot be said. Second. Many googlers read HN. In some sense, HN is the extension of the internal forums. CNBC made a good summary and I can comment on each bullet point. Larry and Brin probably stopped attending because nothing important is said on TGIFs. More people -> more leaks -> less interesting information -> less attenden…

> Googlers are generally very smart folks

Seems like it's time to remind folk of Joy's Law: "no matter who you are, most of the smartest people work for someone else,”[0].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy%27s_law_(management)

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#485

Post by username90 »

fooker wrote: post #466
kccqzy wrote: post #461

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is badging for food even a small issue?

Would you want your employer to know about your exact food habits for years of your life? How about your government? How about your insurance company?

Google already tracks every time you badge in at any door meaning they already know exactly where you are, when you com in, where you go for meetings etc. Badging for food is very minor in comparison.

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#486

Post by dmix »

corporateslave5 wrote: post #403
nemo44x wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're an engineer at Google, you've probably had a great technical education, you feel empowered because if Google would hire you, you can assume most anyone else would too; you probably feel smart because of this and in many ways you probably are a pretty smart person. You're very well paid and compensated and you know it. There are a lot of things here that not only give someone confidence but also conviction.…

This is a perfect description of my old best friend. We always disagreed politically, but after he worked at google for a few years, he became completely intolerant to any opinion I had. Was utterly confusing to me

I blame Twitter. It’s radicalized a whole generation of people.

People are extremely tribal as it is. Of course only a subset of people are prone to this extremist and highly emotional/vindictive group think. But we’re seeing what this means on a large scale as the hysterical 1% of the population in each region bands together nationally and starts recruiting other with a unified FUD campaign. People see a tweet with 50k retweet’s and assumes it’s a popular, established, and credible opinion.

I still have hope for the vast majority of people but I think society and our culture needs to become more resilient and less overly receptive to the loudest voices in the room.

The bad is far too low to what is called “controversial” today. Society simply yet hasn’t adapted to national scale outrage machines IMO. We’re starting to see people start questioning what the right way to handle them and manage the never ending radical activism campaigns.

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#487

Post by missosoup »

hgytr wrote: post #305

First. Thanks to HN for not demanding phone numbers: anonymity allows to say things that cannot be said. Second. Many googlers read HN. In some sense, HN is the extension of the internal forums. CNBC made a good summary and I can comment on each bullet point. Larry and Brin probably stopped attending because nothing important is said on TGIFs. More people -> more leaks -> less interesting information -> less attenden…

> but as it's got big, it's also morphed into a typical big corporation with typical corporate politics.

The level of self-censorship my friends from Goog exercise and how carefully they choose their words on everyday topics is unlike anything I've seen from people working at any other big corps. They've also become more flexible on moral stances that once used to be clear cut lines for them.

Google is a borderline cult. It has fallen far below the bar that most people would set for 'best workplace'. This is just something that Goog employees don't become aware of until they leave the bubble.

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#488

Post by WalterBright »

username90 wrote: post #456
WalterBright wrote: post #454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It turns out that it's not possible to selectively repress emotions: "I've got to watch what I say about politics" subconsciously spills over into "I've got to watch what I say" which spills over into "I've got to watch what I say about anything new and controversial", and you lose the latter well before the former. I don't have any problem keeping my non-work related opinions to myself at work, and I don't see any…

It means that you can't make jokes, designs or decisions based on your non-work related opinions, how can that possibly not hurt your creativity? For example, it could mean that instead of using your own judgement when hiring people you remember that race and gender is political so you override your gut-feelings and go by the book to avoid problems in the future. The same applies everywhere, and going by the book is…

> It means that you can't make jokes, designs or decisions based on your non-work related opinions, how can that possibly not hurt your creativity?

I can't imagine my being an R or a D having any connection with engineering creativity.

> it could mean that instead of using your own judgement when hiring people you remember that race and gender is political so you override your gut-feelings and go by the book to avoid problems in the future

I give an evaluation of their ability to do the job, and let the HR dept. fret about the company's social equity agenda.

I don't choose my friends based on if their politics/religion align with mine, either.

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#489

Post by buzzkillington »

thibautg wrote: post #483
buzzkillington wrote: post #464

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Pay is well above average Depends on what you mean by average. When I talked to google I was looking at L5 for just over 300k with stock and bonus. In Evil Inc I was making well over over 500k all cash for the same job description.

300k is average? That’s more than the ceiling for CEOs of public companies in my country. Tech salaries in the US really seem out of proportions.

If you value your work little, expect to be paid little.

I see no reason why I should get paid less than a CEO, when most of their job is similar to that of a kindergarten teacher.

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#490

Post by verall »

WAHa_06x36 wrote: post #460
hgytr wrote: post #305

First. Thanks to HN for not demanding phone numbers: anonymity allows to say things that cannot be said. Second. Many googlers read HN. In some sense, HN is the extension of the internal forums. CNBC made a good summary and I can comment on each bullet point. Larry and Brin probably stopped attending because nothing important is said on TGIFs. More people -> more leaks -> less interesting information -> less attenden…

> Today you post a memegen where you state that triangles are better than squares, tomorrow you get fired because squares have become the symbol of some protected class. This is not how anything works. What actually happens is, today you post something insensitive and disparaging because you can get away with it as a "joke", tomorrow, people will actually stand up for themselves and tell you it's not ok to say that,…

Downvotes and no response.

I don't know why HN wants to hide behind this strawman so bad. Noone is getting fired for posting about geometric shapes, unless you're trying to say something insensitive or disparaging.

The line of what is acceptable to stay has changed, but turns out if you wern't being an asshole in the first place, people are very forgiving.

Also, Twitter is not an example. People are constantly unforgiving assholes on Twitter for short-term Internet fame; your workplace isn't Twitter.

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