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Google Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Results [pdf]

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Re: Google Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Results [pdf]

#121

Post by phantomwhiskers »

KerryJones wrote: post #110
hiddencost wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A Google SWE costs the company around $750k average, fully loaded cost. So if those were all SWEs, $6B/yr isn't an unreasonable estimate.

Where did you get the $750K figure? I'm in the Bay Area, Sr Engineer, on the higher end of the pay scale, and no-where close to that figure.

If I were to guess, I'd say that this estimate is including hardware, cloud resources, software licenses, benefits, stock options, and probably more that I can't think of in addition to salary, but I too would like a more detailed explanation on how they came by that number.

Re: Google Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Results [pdf]

#122

Post by pkaye »

tra3 wrote: post #4

This caught my eye, total employees - 2022: 190,234 - 2023: 182,502 Total increase in revenue of 10 billion. Not sure what conclusion to draw from this, but being a software engineer I found employment count interesting. Though 5% change in head count seems hardly major.

I got the total employees for the past few years for a comparison:

2019: 118,899

2020: 135,301

2021: 156,500

2022: 190,234

2023: 182,502

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/GOOG/alphabet/numb...

Re: Google Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Results [pdf]

#123

Post by DiggyJohnson »

eitally wrote: post #115
QuercusMax wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my org at the Goog, we didn't have any layoffs, but we also aren't expecting any new headcount any time soon. Projects that need more staff are expected to cannibalize it from other projects under the same VP. I feel like this is actually a good way of doing things, and wish Google did this more broadly. Just think if everyone who would have been laid off was instead transferred to a project that needs their skill…

The problem with this (and I was also in an org that didn't get any headcount -- for several years) is that those non-growing teams often ultimately just wither and die, whether it's through internal transfer, attrition or layoff. Google doesn't really reward managers for their managerial skill, and there's nothing that says "managerial incompetence" at Google more than having the same size team for years on end.

Maybe that’s okay though? It’s not like every team is supposed to exist forever. You could argue it’s ineffective or inefficient at this, perhaps.

Re: Google Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Results [pdf]

#124

Post by impulser_ »

etamponi wrote: post #3
samspenc wrote: post #2

Summary from the release for Q4: - Revenue increased from $76B to $86B (13% increase) - Operating income increased $18.1B to $23.7B - Net income increased $13.6B to $20.7B - Diluted EPS increased $1.05 to $1.64

Okay so why is GOOG -4% in after hours this time? :)

Stock prices are always pricing in the future, not the current.

Re: Google Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Results [pdf]

#125

Post by matwood »

westhanover wrote: post #119
jsnell wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Google revenues come from ~90% ads. That's not true, and hasn't been for a decade. For this earnings release, the proportion of revenue from ads was 76%. > The company gives guidance No, they don't. As far as I know they've literally never given guidance.

What do you think the covering analysts talk to google executives about? The weather?

[flagged]

Re: Google Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Results [pdf]

#126

Post by hibikir »

tomcar288 wrote: post #23
tra3 wrote: post #4

This caught my eye, total employees - 2022: 190,234 - 2023: 182,502 Total increase in revenue of 10 billion. Not sure what conclusion to draw from this, but being a software engineer I found employment count interesting. Though 5% change in head count seems hardly major.

I guess a significant number of employees are just working really hard on things that don't matter. When every single thing that needs working on is already being worked on, a lot of people are going to be doing busy work. There was a post by Stevie Yeggie where he talked about working at google. he looked really hard to find a new project to lead but absolutely everything was already being worked on, he found. event…

It's quite possible for the engineers to work really hard in ways that even directly harm the company, either directly, or by increasing the political costs of making a better decision.

My favorite here is Bridgewater and their HR/Evaluation/Alignment system. There's books written about it. Developing it and running it took a high percentage of workers and contractors. Its implementation had all kinds of negative effects on everyone else, including the people doing the actual investment. But it took a pandemic, and the CEO being sidelined, for the whole thing to be basically thrown away.

Re: Google Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Results [pdf]

#127

Post by hiddencost »

KerryJones wrote: post #110
hiddencost wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A Google SWE costs the company around $750k average, fully loaded cost. So if those were all SWEs, $6B/yr isn't an unreasonable estimate.

Where did you get the $750K figure? I'm in the Bay Area, Sr Engineer, on the higher end of the pay scale, and no-where close to that figure.

Fully loaded cost. Typically you estimate that an employee costs 2x their total compensation, across various expenses.

Re: Google Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Results [pdf]

#128

Post by lamontcg »

etamponi wrote: post #3
samspenc wrote: post #2

Summary from the release for Q4: - Revenue increased from $76B to $86B (13% increase) - Operating income increased $18.1B to $23.7B - Net income increased $13.6B to $20.7B - Diluted EPS increased $1.05 to $1.64

Okay so why is GOOG -4% in after hours this time? :)

"buy the rumors, sell the news" combined with "priced for perfection"

Re: Google Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Results [pdf]

#129

Post by hiddencost »

dieortin wrote: post #95
hiddencost wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A Google SWE costs the company around $750k average, fully loaded cost. So if those were all SWEs, $6B/yr isn't an unreasonable estimate.

Assuming those SWEs produced absolutely zero value to Google, which I bet is not true

Nothing about my post was estimating the added value of the SWEs, only the cost.

Re: Google Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Results [pdf]

#130

Post by SeanAnderson »

pkaye wrote: post #122
tra3 wrote: post #4

This caught my eye, total employees - 2022: 190,234 - 2023: 182,502 Total increase in revenue of 10 billion. Not sure what conclusion to draw from this, but being a software engineer I found employment count interesting. Though 5% change in head count seems hardly major.

I got the total employees for the past few years for a comparison: 2019: 118,899 2020: 135,301 2021: 156,500 2022: 190,234 2023: 182,502 https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/GOOG/alphabet/numb...

It is absolutely mind-boggling that a company as large as Google could increase their headcount by 62% in three years.
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