451–460 of 645 posts
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When people here say "Europe is great", which part are they referring to?
They're typically Americans who think all 50+ European countries have very similar legal systems and cultures.
When I lived to Austria I was appalled at how many American friends asked me about the surfing.
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You were an adult when you took the job, weren't you? Many people are unhappy and/or quit Google's FTE employment too, and feel undervalued at Google as FTE. The employment agreement is consensual.
Working alongside someone with significantly better employment conditions than you is disproportionately unpleasant, to the point that working under objectively worse conditions feels better.
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…
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>> 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.
I used to work for a temp agency (clerical, not in tech) and I remember once seeing what my agency was getting paid for me on an hourly basis. Iirc, it was something like 3-4x what I was getting paid hourly. It was kind of sickening tbh. Plus many agencies forbid temps from being hired away without paying an outrageously hire fee to do so. It felt like being an indentured servant in many ways. The only upside was tha…
3 would mean your firm had sources of revenue other than services/consulting.
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It's almost literally a sidekick passport. If you fly into a city with a major Google office and you say you are there for work and you work at Google, the customs agent might ask to see your badge.
I know you guys are being told you are special but this has nothing to do with Google. I Had the same thing happen to me for different companies.
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They will only win if you are violating labor law. Why is that so hard for you to understand. If they hadn’t violated labor law they would have appealed and won. And here you are 26 years later trying the case again on a “silly web forum”.
I don't think that the parent isn't aware of that. I think the parent says that providing employee perks for your contractors _is_ violating the US labor law.
Which Microsoft would never have hired them, if that was the case, they would have hired normal FTEs.
So either 1) hire contractors and treat them as contractors (without the employee style treatment), or be sued later.
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When I went to other sites I just had to file a ticket and that was it. If something were to be approved, it was automatic, unless it was a restricted office/building. Maybe it depends on the job role. Not too unusual, other companies I've worked were very similar.
I think there's a pretty big difference between filing a ticket to open the building next door and having free workspaces around the world you don't have to do paperwork to use.
I get that just badging in is a way better experience, but when I travelled to other offices it was just another bullet point on my travel to-do list.
I don’t know/remember what the policy was regarding same-city buildings, as there was just one office in my country.
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You were an adult when you took the job, weren't you? Many people are unhappy and/or quit Google's FTE employment too, and feel undervalued at Google as FTE. The employment agreement is consensual.
Working alongside someone with significantly better employment conditions than you is disproportionately unpleasant, to the point that working under objectively worse conditions feels better.
This is a similar situation and is happening at many companies. I know I make more than some peers that have higher job levels(and tenure in company) then I do.
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It's funny because later in the article he mentions the difference between Google and Amazon, and this is a huge one. At Amazon you can't even open the building next door without approval.
> At Amazon you can't even open the building next door without approval. This is not true.