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What's So Unbearable about Working at Google New York?
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twig
11/18/09

In reply to What's So Unbearable about Working at Google New York?
You've been doing fairly well, Ryan, but you're falling into one of the classic 'Wag traps: you, like your predecessor, consistently misinterpret the connection between engineers and execs. This is especially important at Google, where the work experience for engineers is different than the experience in other divisions of the company.

This is not to say that bad execs and good execs have no effect on engineers, because they do -- particularly the bad ones, who can very easily spoil a development environment. But the factors that determine a "good" or "bad" exec from an engineer's point of view are frequently not the same as the factors that cause the business press to draw conclusions about their quality.

So what did GoogNYCers really think of Armstrong or your other gossip targets? It's astonishing that in a company that employees thousands of engineers, you can't find a single decent tipster. They are out there, I am sure.
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pureblarney
11/18/09

In reply to What's So Unbearable about Working at Google New York?
My old roommate worked for Google, and her complaints were about the following:

- Relentless, robotic corporate culture
- How braindead said culture made her feel
- Higher management pressure to party and be seen with other Googlers
- The fact that so many other Googlers can't understand why a normal person would want to have non-work friends
- Politics and office drama associated with zombie corporate culture and rampant social incest
- How fucking boring it was
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lionel-mandrake
11/18/09

@pureblarney: Yep. I heard the same thing.

Money aside (and it's not an inconsiderable aside), the couple times I've visited friends there (hey, free lunch), it seemed an atrocious place to work. Gave me the creeps.
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south2nd
11/18/09

@pureblarney: I have a friend who worked there as well. After he got married, he asked if he could cut back to 11 hours a day, or if that wasn't possible, to transition into part time or flex time.

His supervisor flipped out and questioned his loyalty (?!!?) and then started screwing with him, changing deadlines, etc until my friend quit.
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badasscat
11/18/09

In reply to What's So Unbearable about Working at Google New York?
You know, while it may pay for things like food, rent, alcohol and limousines, money really *isn't* everything. For a lot of people, there is a point where no amount of money can make working in a difficult job bearable. Once you're making enough to live on, a company just offering to throw more money at you in order that you shut up and accept any amount of abuse that they heap on you just is not a very compelling offer anymore.

I don't work at Google and I don't make a lot of money. But I have worked at other places like that, where I could have made a lot of money if I had just agreed to play their little games and given up any semblance of my own life as part of the deal. I chose to leave instead too.
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SNForrester
11/18/09

In reply to What's So Unbearable about Working at Google New York?
Gimme a break. The IPO was 5 years ago and the company went from 2000 to 20,000 employees since then. If people are leaving, it's because Google is no longer a start up. I'm sure the food and stuff is still wonderful, but the potential to get filthy stinking rich is not what it used to be.
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Edited by SNForrester at 11/18/09 12:00 PM SNForrester was starred SNForrester was unstarred

A Message To Rudy
11/18/09

In reply to What's So Unbearable about Working at Google New York?
Well, taking turns driving around every city in the world taking picures of every single stretch of street has got to be a horrible way to start a Monday.
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manchops
11/18/09

In reply to What's So Unbearable about Working at Google New York?
There's probably issues finding parking in those razor scooter racks on monday mornings or something

(please never show that photo again of the razor scooter racks at google--eyes already bled out from the first time you did it)
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HenryLovesFonzie
11/18/09

In reply to What's So Unbearable about Working at Google New York?
I used to work at Yahoo! and have many friends at Google. I must say, they do have great benefits... but the politics and uncertainty associated with working for such a large company can be difficult.
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mimigoliath
11/18/09

In reply to What's So Unbearable about Working at Google New York?
My job makes me cry and want to cut myself, and I can't leave because I need the tiny salary that won't even get me out of my parents' house. So Google can keep whining. And yes, I'm bitter and it could be worse. But it still sucks.
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