Even Google Isn't Great for All Employees
Having seen the life Googlers lead at the Mountain View campus firsthand, I can't help myself on this one. TechCrunch got hold of an e-mail thread from a private Google Group inviting former Googlers to vent on why they left the world's biggest search and Web services company. For any other big company—Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, you name it—this wouldn't constitute news. But because Google has garnered so much attention for being the nirvana of high-tech companies to work at, the thread shows the grass isn't always greener on Google's side. On-site meals, health clubs and massages may in fact provide employees lucky enough to get their dream job at Google with the hip, cool university setting they miss (or provide continuity to new grads). Yet this thread shows that sometimes that dream job isn't always so dreamy and can even turn nightmarish in a hurry. I'm thankful for the thread because it shatters the fallacious myth that workers will be happy at Google just because the rest of us tell them they're supposed to be content. I'm not the only one who's refreshed. Stephen Arnold writes:
Next time the New York Times or one of the other dead tree outfits begins a story with a reference to the fun atmosphere and free lunch, recall these posts. After a decade, the Google reality may replace the soft stage lighting that many pundits prefer to floodlights shining on Googzilla. Google, by virtue of its carefully cultivated culture of choosing enlightened human beings to hire, fostered this myth like Microsoft or IBM couldn't, and threads like this show that Google can grind on people like any other company. Google, Microsoft, IBM or any big company can spur discontent; the key is for employees to get out of it. Those who stay for the options and perks aren't doing anyone any favors and can poison the air for the rest of the worker bees. And then you end up with some sour threads like these (along with some kind ones from people admitting an honest mistake in job choice). |
