A lot of interesting things here, but also the usual "billionaire complaining about all these entitled employees" vibes.
The “I’m a passionate guy so I can’t communicate without cursing” part was entertaining.
Dignam from "the departed"
Why did I leave Google or, why did I stay so long?
111–120 of 840 posts
Re: Why did I leave Google or, why did I stay so long?
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't believe complaints about covid reductions to perks are unique to tech or well paid jobs however. My father is a slightly above minimum wage factory worker. There was plenty of grumbling in there when they shut down the 50% subsidised canteen with covid too.
Someone earning high six figure salary needs their subsidized food significantly less than someone earning minimum wage.
Just because you're well compensated it doesn't mean you shouldn't be fighting for your perks. Especially when you work for a multibillion corpo which earns 1mil+ per employee.
This "you shouldn't complain if you have it a bit better than others" mindset is a breeding ground for all kinds of corporate exploitation.
Re: Why did I leave Google or, why did I stay so long?
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, how dare they think that they're entitled to hobbies or a life outside of their job? How dare they take a day off because they're not feeling well and want to take care of themselves? FFS.
His point is a job is not UBI, you supposed to contribute in return and adjust your schedule along other workers (aka a 'workday'). I dunno why is that so controversial.
His points also include:
> I was the weirdo who wanted to push things fast and expected that some level of personal sacrifice when needed
And
> I also believe that we have to do whatever it takes to win, even if its on a weekend
So not just about “workdays”.
As others have noted, he does make some excellent points. His comments about entitlement (food) ring so true.
But his section on Work Life Balance is pretty terrible.
Re: Why did I leave Google or, why did I stay so long?
#114Another "leader" who complains about employees wanting work life balance and they are extremely entitled. These are the type of managers you want to avoid. I'm sure many Googlers are happy you left.
If they really complained about not getting compensated for buying their own food during lockdown I think "entitled" is a fair descriptor. This is the first time I've read one of these blogs where the author complains about it being "practically impossible to fire someone". To me, that adds an air of authenticity to the complaining. In my experience too, the inability to fire people for reasons other than "this perso…
Agree and disagree. Without pushing a point too hard, I will ask you this - what if your employment contract states you are to receive $X,000 per year in food or food stipend? Would you be in favor of employees pushing for subsidized food while remote?
Ok, and there’s a deadline at work. There’s also a deadline at your spouses work, your kid is sick, and they took off work to look after them last time. What do you do?
Re: Why did I leave Google or, why did I stay so long?
#115Another "leader" who complains about employees wanting work life balance and they are extremely entitled. These are the type of managers you want to avoid. I'm sure many Googlers are happy you left.
"I don't believe long hours are a badge of honor but I also believe that we have to do whatever it takes to win, even if its on a weekend." lmao what a terrible, horrible manager. I would hate working for them, and I would not miss them leaving. Maybe I'm just playing into their "young people don't want to work" stereotype, but if that's what working means, I don't want to do it with them.
Yep, I was just about to quote this exact sentence here, but I see you already did. Absolutely agreed, what an awful manager.
Re: Why did I leave Google or, why did I stay so long?
#116I think it's ok to put additional effort when needed even weekends, as long as when it's possible you get it back as days off, no problem with it. Same for oncall responsibility, need to get back days off after your shift, even if nothing happened due to psychological tension. If you go to a company where you need to do oncall shifts ask for an additional day off for each week you are oncall during a typical year that's it.
Re: Why did I leave Google or, why did I stay so long?
#117Another "leader" who complains about employees wanting work life balance and they are extremely entitled. These are the type of managers you want to avoid. I'm sure many Googlers are happy you left.
"I don't believe long hours are a badge of honor but I also believe that we have to do whatever it takes to win, even if its on a weekend." lmao what a terrible, horrible manager. I would hate working for them, and I would not miss them leaving. Maybe I'm just playing into their "young people don't want to work" stereotype, but if that's what working means, I don't want to do it with them.
"I don't believe long hours are a badge of honor but I also believe that we have to do whatever it takes to win, even if its on a weekend."
Especially when said "doing" is done by other people (engineers, testers,SREs etc) , not the manager.
Easy enough to hold such beliefs when the cost is paid by others.
Re: Why did I leave Google or, why did I stay so long?
#118> It is practically impossible to fire someone for the basic reason that you don't need this role any more or there is a better person I found this surprising. I thought this was primarily a problem in union / government positions.
It's how it works at most big companies. There's a very big impact to morale if people think they'll get sacked at the end of a big project or if VP's best friend needs a job. The normal way to onboard a new better person is to open up a new position, like repurposing an open headcount from somewhere else, and then shift responsibilities between the new person and old person.
Re: Why did I leave Google or, why did I stay so long?
#119I'm aware that, as a founder, he's obviously very interested in the success of his product. His mentality however carried over the acquisition and past inertia. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, I think his problem is that he's passionate. And I don't mean the corporate lingo 'passionate', I mean the actual passionate. I strongly advise any passionate people to not seek to turn their passion into a job. Because it…
Except that this guy IS a boss and he's been demanding that his employees copy his "passion" against their contractual benefits. Or wellbeing.
Re: Why did I leave Google or, why did I stay so long?
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
The “I’m a passionate guy so I can’t communicate without cursing” part was entertaining.
Ugh, I'm this guy and I hate myself for it. I've found that I really have to detach from the situation to use less curse words, such as counting to 5 mentally before saying _anything_. Any other tips for similarly terrible people such as myself?
Detaching and reflecting is a good practice, especially where swearing is a verbal crutch for yet-to-be-refined thoughts. Give it a moment, dispassionately and accurately frame the thought. In the end, what you say will be much more direct, and far more useful to everybody involved.
Also consider swears like farts in a relationship. A well-chosen place and time, dropping one is hilarious. All the time though, you just stink.