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What I learned getting acquired by Google

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Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#401

Post by duped »

CobrastanJorji wrote: post #223
sumuyuda wrote: post #35

I found the mention of most of Google’s code stored in a mono repo to be pretty crazy. https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/2854146

It worked far better than you'd think. The ability to atomically change massive chunks of Google's code across projects was amazing. At some companies I worked at, if you wanted to make a breaking change in a common library, like say rename a method, it'd be a serious issue. You'd need to release a new version of your library, then you'd start migrating teams using that library one by one or cajoling them into it, an…

I've worked with some Xooglers who were incapable of working on smaller repos without google's internal tools for this kind of thing. And I mean literally incapable of writing meaningful code or pushing to main.

Total anecdote and not worth much, but I've seen it enough times to make note of it.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#402

Post by Gnurou »

oh_sigh wrote: post #194
asdfman123 wrote: post #33

The second passport thing is definitely true. When I'm abroad--even, recently, Buenos Aires--I have access to office space, free food, a gym, and even a music room where I can practice guitar and piano.

Another great thing is you can usually find someone who is up to have fun, even if you have no social connections in a place you're travelling to. I was visiting Barcelona a few years ago and emailed the misc- alias seeing if anyone wanted to visit Montserrat with me, and 5 of us went up there and had a great day together. Best part is, it is usually cool people who say "yes" - the abject nerds aren't going to respon…

That's because the abject nerds are busy creating value for the company while the "cool people" plan their holiday during work time.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#403

Post by scottru »

ssharp wrote: post #278
kelnos wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the GP's point was that's how it should be. If a company is going to -- for "legal reasons" -- not treat contractors the same way they treat employees, then they should be doing so not only in bad, exclusionary ways, but also in good ways, with the expected perks of being a contractor that FTEs don't get: freedom to set their own hours, work where they want, and subcontract out their work. But no, companies l…

>> Google pays the staffing agency, the staffing agency pays the "contractor" a salary (significantly less than what Google pays the staffing agency), and all is fine... legally, anyway. The staffing agency vig is so high it is practically the same as an FTE.

FWIW, this isn't the case at Google (or many other large technology companies). Google dictates the staffing agency markup (which is very limited) and audits for compliance.

This, among many other processes, has significant negative impacts on the quality of the agency that will work with Google on this sort of work - but it does help with cost control.

(Source: I ran one of these agencies, and Google was a past client.)

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#404

Post by scottru »

raincom wrote: post #337
slater- wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

thank you for mentioning this. i was a red badge. it was fucking demeaning. i have a lot of stories, but my favorite was when everyone on my floor got an earthquake safety kit except me. literally google didn't care if i lived or died. the expectation was that if i sucked up enough ("demonstrated my value") they MIGHT make me a real boy, like some bizarre Velveteen Rabbit fetish game. i loved watching how Google woul…

I worked as a contractor for a decade before, I didn't find it demeaning when employees didn't invite me to team lunches or special meetings. Just charge more for your services. Do you care when you get paid $200 per hr, if you are not invited to employee only meetings/lunches? Definitely not. The issue is about the right pay, not so much about demeaning/or that 'caste system' everyone invokes whenever someone sees u…

Agreed 100%. Our (informal) manual for consultants used to say something like

"The cupcakes in the break room are not for you. Most people will not care if you take a cupcake, but somebody will, and we will hear about it. We give you money instead, and we will certainly bring you a cupcake if you want one."

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#405

Post by bradleyjg »

tick_tock_tick wrote: post #389
JSavageOne wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised this even legally flies. Seems like the legal equivalent of creating a shell company.

I mean classic example are contracting out food service in the corporate cafeteria. You contract the work to some random other company who hire people to do food service or do you want Google or whoever to start hiring cooks themselves? Janitorial staff is also a classic role for this style of employment.

The difference between a legitimate third party service and these ought-to-be-illegal body shop arrangements is whether Google is paying for a specific service—e.g. clean offices—or people that they boss around.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#406

Post by pradn »

asdfman123 wrote: post #33

The second passport thing is definitely true. When I'm abroad--even, recently, Buenos Aires--I have access to office space, free food, a gym, and even a music room where I can practice guitar and piano.

I worked from the Buenos Aires office, as part of my week long trip there. I was new so I didn’t have a million PTO days. The office space was beautiful, centrally located, with incredible food, and genial colleagues. We watched a World Cup match together. Same deal in Istanbul.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#407

Post by oh_sigh »

Gnurou wrote: post #402
oh_sigh wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another great thing is you can usually find someone who is up to have fun, even if you have no social connections in a place you're travelling to. I was visiting Barcelona a few years ago and emailed the misc- alias seeing if anyone wanted to visit Montserrat with me, and 5 of us went up there and had a great day together. Best part is, it is usually cool people who say "yes" - the abject nerds aren't going to respon…

That's because the abject nerds are busy creating value for the company while the "cool people" plan their holiday during work time.

Nope, not even close to true in my experience. Almost all of the high performers I know have a huge social network they can tap into and you can't finger them as SWEs from a mile away.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#408

Post by alphazard »

CobrastanJorji wrote: post #79

The "red badge" thing was very real. It was really weird having TVCs on your team. You'd all work hard together to launch a thing, and then everybody except the red badge would get a celebratory team tchotchke or a team lunch or something. If you asked about it, the manager would say "we can't give Jim things directly because that might be like compensation and they'd be like an employee." There'd be all-hands meetin…

This is a direct consequence of the infamous Microsoft case. Contractors used to be treated much better, similar to employees. Then some Microsoft contractors sued for shares worth a considerable amount. Their argument was that they were "treated like employees", and therefore deserve the same things as employees. They won the lawsuit.

Now contractors have to be treated much worse because there is precedent for legal consequences if you treat them as well as your employees. It's just business, it's certainly not good for morale or productivity to create a class divide, but not creating that divide incurs serious liabilities.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#409

Post by Gnurou »

oh_sigh wrote: post #407
Gnurou wrote: post #402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's because the abject nerds are busy creating value for the company while the "cool people" plan their holiday during work time.

Nope, not even close to true in my experience. Almost all of the high performers I know have a huge social network they can tap into and you can't finger them as SWEs from a mile away.

Do these high performers also cast their colleagues with tasteful adjectives such as "abject"? Must be a bunch of very interesting people indeed.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#410

Post by bradleyjg »

jasode wrote: post #210
edgyquant wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s not legally a contractor then. As someone who has done contracting, both for software and in construction plus has hired them and had to be advised by lawyers around the legality of what makes or breaks a contractor… If you are setting their hours, bossing them around and/or providing equipment they are not a contractor they are an employee. This is the law in 100% of the United States.

>That’s not legally a contractor then. [...] If you are setting their hours, bossing them around and/or providing equipment they are not a contractor they are an employee. There are 2 different uses of "contractor" : (1) contractor : official IRS tax classification of 1099 independent contractor (2) "contractor" : a W-2 employee of a "temp agency" or "staffing agency" or "bodyshop" that is sent to a client company (s…

Why is it that w-2 employees of a different company can’t be invited to a lunch or given a tchotchke?

I get why 1099s can’t but what’s the deal with the other, now more common situation?

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