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Googler... ex-Googler

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Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#771

Post by paganel »

DannyBee wrote: post #632
PaulHoule wrote: post #537

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google is bad at a lot of things but has a “we’re number one why try harder?” attitude. Or rather you can’t benchmark the performance of anyone there against industry peers because they are protected by a two-sided market. Bazel, Kubernetes and other startup killing tools are developed there because with monopoly services they can hire 3x the number of developers at 3x the rate of other firms and shackle them with to…

"because with monopoly services they can hire 3x the number of developers at 3x the rate of other firms and shackle them with tools and processes that make them 1/3x as productive and survive" So, this i'd take issue with. I agree on the overall attitude for sure. But some of the data here is just very wrong. Google can't hire 3x the number of developers at 3x the rate. It hasn't been able to in probably a decade. At…

> But by any objective measure, the tools make Google's developers wildly productive,

That’s the thing, they might be winning all the productivity battles there are (and I genuinely believe that they do, on top of great tools Google employs good-enough programmers to make use of those tools), but at the same time they’re losing the general war. Because, with rare exceptions, the last war Google the company won when it came to launching something of lasting value happened in the late 2000s, give or take a few years.

The botched Google+ launch broke them in that department, or maybe that was just a symptom of how badly-broken things already were inside the company. They’re still making lots and lots of money, though, so that’s still a good thing for them.

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#773

Post by citizenpaul »

ErigmolCt wrote: post #216
sudomateo wrote: post #116

> But I was also immediately ripped away from my calendar, docs, code, and more. Layoffs are never easy. I've been through a few myself and it really takes the wind out of your sails. That being said, this sentence made me pause a bit. None of these things mentioned are actually yours. They are the property of Google. One thing that helped me immensely in my career is understanding that my relationship with a company…

Companies will always remind you it's "just business" when it suits them - so it's healthy to keep that same energy in return

Ah yes. I got to do that once after a layoff. The manager tried to guilt me or something into working after I was layed off. "Because they were given me severance so I should be ok with doing the work"

I told them. No you are wrong. I was given severance to sign an NDA and non-disparagement agreement. That is what the severance bought the company, but I'll be glad to discuss a consultant role on an hourly basis.

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#774

Post by als0 »

bee_rider wrote: post #712
_huayra_ wrote: post #576

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny how they're bad at this from start to end. Most of these comments talk about the "end" part, but don't forget: Google has a notoriously laggy hiring process with extreme delays and an unacceptably high level of silence on important issues from recruiters. I have been ghosted so heavily from recruiters TWICE at Google when I was literally telling them "Hey I have offers from $x and $y and I need to decide in 2 w…

The phrasing “from start to end” got me thinking—tangential, but—they were an extremely cool company when Millenials were in school and looking to join the workforce. Anybody would have jumped at the opportunity to work for them. Actually, I can’t even think of a similar company nowadays. Anyway, it wouldn’t surprise me if they had a really bad hiring pipeline as a result. Why work on the skill of hiring, if people w…

> As MS converts into IBM, and Google converts into MS, I guess they will have to figure that out.

Shocking how real this is.

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#775

Post by marcinzm »

icameron wrote: post #401
blacklion wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about European taxes? I', paying 48% + there is 21% VAT on almost everything. Plus taxes for water (taxes, not pay-per-used-m3, and this payment is here too), energy (atop of market energy prices), roads, gasoline, etc.

Slightly tangential question for you- does 48% taxes include healthcare? How about pension? It’s tax week in the US, I think my rate was 22% overall. But another 10% of compensation is health insurance. Another 15% is retirement savings. My municipal water bill last quarter mostly was not for actual water usage (about 40% was for water) rest is system charge and storm water fees. Regarding the VAT thing… we may be ef…

> How about pension?

Fun fact I learned the last time this topic came up, social security in the US pays more than German government pensions.

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#776

Post by basfo »

NooneAtAll3 wrote: post #81

my take on this is that "2 week notice" should probably apply to businesses as well?

I worked for a well-known SaaS company for 4 years. A few months after we were acquired, I decided it was time to move on. I gave a 3 week notice to ensure everything was properly handled before my departure.

Two days later, I couldn’t log in to my PC. I was, for all intents and purposes, fired from my actual work. Technically, I was still employed and paid for those remaining days, but I was locked out and never got the chance to say goodbye. It was the worst experience I’ve had, and I never had any issues with any manager or anyone before that. Apparently, it was just the new company policy.

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#777

Post by marcinzm »

Sonnigeszeug wrote: post #547
marcinzm wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many European cities aren't exactly low cost of living, and those that are have even lower salaries. In the end someone who was working at Google in the Bay Area for 15-20 years can retire if they didn't have life style creep (which is different than cost of living). Not the case in Europe.

'Someone who worked at one of the best paying companies in the world can retire after 15-20 years'. This has nothing to do with Europe. This is particular a tech thing

Europe has tech companies. They just pay less.

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#778

Post by plaguuuuuu »

cab11150904 wrote: post #527

[flagged]

I agree that his situation doesn't meaningfully threaten his actual personal security. But this isn't the point of his post and like, shit dude, have a heart. It's not the misery olympics.

He has clearly invested a lot of his identity in his work at Google on Chrome etc - essentially his life's work. To have it flushed down the toilet via some opaque corporate process, cost-saving a company that basically prints its own profit has a terrible psychological impact... irrespective of whether investing one's personal dreams in a faceless multinational corporation was a rational idea in the first place.

Honestly, it's not as if the PMC classes have truly transcended the confines of generating someone else's profit, pushing them offside is probably quite unhelpful for solidarity in the labor movement, but whatever.

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#779

Post by OrsonSmelles »

shagie wrote: post #534
trelane wrote: post #481

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now I want to use the dictionary file to figure the actual probability of a letter appearing in a TLA. It's not nearly 1/26.

There's likely a good bit of analysis that could be done on TLAs. Consider TLA itself is {Adjective : Count} {Noun} {Noun}. Meanwhile, DUI is {Gerund} {Preposition} {Noun} with the stop word 'the' removed. It might be interesting to take a sample of TLAs used and look what words can be used in those spots. If the third position is 90% likely to be a noun, that could change the distribution... guessing not in a signif…

This is the best work I know on the topic (admittedly having done no literature review): https://gwern.net/tla

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#780

Post by denvrede »

dzogchen wrote: post #458
abdj8 wrote: post #110

Layoffs are a difficult thing for employees and their managers. I have seen people (one was a VP of Engineering) escorted out of the building, sent in a cab to home along with a security guard (this was in India), not allowed access to computer or talk with other employees. But, recently have had a very different experience. The current company I work for announced 30% layoffs. The list was made public within one hou…

> the laid off employees were given a few days in the company to allow them to say goodbyes This is just so wild for me as an European, because at least in Germany if you get fired (or if you quit) you need to stay 1 - 3 MONTHS at the company still.

Not true. They can remove you from the company grounds and block access to all systems the moment you get fired or you hand in your resignation. But they have to pay you (if there is no "good reason" for firing you) for a varying amount of time (depending on your contract and some minimums by law).

Of course, most of the time, you can / need to stay at the company for that above mentioned varying amount of time.

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