Google gives everybody a raise

[zoiks]

Have you ever worked in those environments?

I have. Lots of the stuff they do in the software industry is deemed unacceptable in other industries.

You have? I work at one of these places that provide a lot of incentives for employees. I can tell you we are as professional as we can be in or workplace. We indulge in everything the company has to offer (free massages, yoga, breakfast, dinner, exotic sweet confectioneries, movie nights, free commuter expenses etc) but we pretty much get back to work right after. We always make our targets for the quarters and work on making our customers happy so they renew our contracts. We even made record revenue during the financial crisis due to the way we structure and dynamically adapt to market conditions.
It takes a good leader, good employees and focus to get things done. If you easily get swayed by free dinners then perhaps it's not that the company but you that isn't professional.

 

[Josh]

Facebook is also going after Google employees like crazy.

Offering stock options & similar pay/benefits. Google had to do something.

 

[zinfamous]

sweet, now pcslookout can buy a new mop and busket

 

[AMDZen]

Must be nice to work for a cool company

 

[Imp]

Do a stock split you jackasses!

 

[QueBert]

I worked for Sony, a pretty big company, no way in hell they would offer anything like a ball pit to jump in, ping pong tables or any fun perks like that. They considered work to be work. I laugh at the people here who are saying a bouncy castle in the break room can be professional. REALLY? It might be fun, but it's about as professional as a CEO having a Lady Gaga ring tone on his cell phone.

 

[zoiks]

Haha. I remember that thread.

 

[thegimp03]

I almost went to work for Google 3 years ago but ended up staying at the company I use to work for about half a year longer and went to work somewhere else. The interviews with Google were pretty intense, I was surprised when they wanted to know what my SAT score was, even though I'd been out of college at that point for over 2 years.

 

[sjwaste]

You have? I work at one of these places that provide a lot of incentives for employees. I can tell you we are as professional as we can be in or workplace. We indulge in everything the company has to offer (free massages, yoga, breakfast, dinner, exotic sweet confectioneries, movie nights, free commuter expenses etc) but we pretty much get back to work right after. We always make our targets for the quarters and work on making our customers happy so they renew our contracts. We even made record revenue during the financial crisis due to the way we structure and dynamically adapt to market conditions.
It takes a good leader, good employees and focus to get things done. If you easily get swayed by free dinners then perhaps it's not that the company but you that isn't professional.

I have, so I'll chime in. It's part of the deal. You eventually make a choice - work to live, or live to work. If you're at a company that has all of that at the office, it's likely because it's to keep you happy while you're working long hours. I don't suggest there is anything wrong with that, it's just compensation for those who choose to live to work. I know plenty of people that are very much centered around their career, and they'll go a lot farther than I chose to in that environment. (Before anyone calls out the "choice" part of that, I left consulting for a lateral with sane hours a month before an early promotion - definitely a choice, and a hard one).

Whether or not it's "professional" is completely immaterial. It's a set of perks, usually kept in line with what a company's employee base finds enjoyable to justify the hours. If your goal is to recruit the best and brightest 20-somethings, there's going to be a different basket of perks than if you want 30/40-something superstars that have cut their teeth in other places. Out of college, I'd have loved free meals and games. Now I'd rather have the flexiblity to work from home 1-2 days a week, more money (ie, the money not being spent on free meals), and more vacation time (essentially salary). Google's struggle, from what I understand, is that they don't offer the latter. That could be perfectly acceptable depending on what their human capital strategy is - which I really wouldn't know.

 

[Josh]

I worked for Sony, a pretty big company, no way in hell they would offer anything like a ball pit to jump in, ping pong tables or any fun perks like that. They considered work to be work. I laugh at the people here who are saying a bouncy castle in the break room can be professional. REALLY? It might be fun, but it's about as professional as a CEO having a Lady Gaga ring tone on his cell phone.

Maybe it's not by standard definition "professional" but Google is still a very profitable company that just reported a 32% rise in Q3 Profit. Don't think the ball pit, or ping pong tables are hurtin' productivity too bad.

 

[Gibson486]

You have? I work at one of these places that provide a lot of incentives for employees. I can tell you we are as professional as we can be in or workplace. We indulge in everything the company has to offer (free massages, yoga, breakfast, dinner, exotic sweet confectioneries, movie nights, free commuter expenses etc) but we pretty much get back to work right after. We always make our targets for the quarters and work on making our customers happy so they renew our contracts. We even made record revenue during the financial crisis due to the way we structure and dynamically adapt to market conditions.
It takes a good leader, good employees and focus to get things done. If you easily get swayed by free dinners then perhaps it's not that the company but you that isn't professional.

yes, I have.

"free massages, yoga, breakfast, dinner, exotic sweet confectioneries, movie nights, free commuter expenses etc". Those are not the perks I am talking about. Lots of companies have those. It's the huge TV's with unlimited channels and big play rooms and the sleep areas. Like I said, that stuff flies in the software industry, but it does not fly anywhere else.

 

[TecHNooB]

yes, I have.

"free massages, yoga, breakfast, dinner, exotic sweet confectioneries, movie nights, free commuter expenses etc". Those are not the perks I am talking about. Lots of companies have those. It's the huge TV's with unlimited channels and big play rooms and the sleep areas. Like I said, that stuff flies in the software industry, but it does not fly anywhere else.

free massage is common? FFFFFFFFFFFFF-

 

[Gibson486]

free massage is common? FFFFFFFFFFFFF-

yeah, I work in a a civil engineering consulting firm (the most boring places on earth) and we still get free massages every two weeks.

 

[sjwaste]

yes, I have.

"free massages, yoga, breakfast, dinner, exotic sweet confectioneries, movie nights, free commuter expenses etc". Those are not the perks I am talking about. Lots of companies have those. It's the huge TV's with unlimited channels and big play rooms and the sleep areas. Like I said, that stuff flies in the software industry, but it does not fly anywhere else.

Well what are the other industries that generally demand long hours? Consulting, law, and medicine. There might be some others.

I can speak for consulting and law, and those are long hours in which you charge by the hour and your firm is looking to maximize that. Perks like that and you're goofing off instead of billing hours, or goofing off and billing hours which is almost as unacceptable. In software, your product is software. In larger law and consulting firms, I'd argue the product has shifted to the billable hour itself (not people, not ideas). You can't have that shit in the office or people won't sell the product (bill more hours). And there is no shortage of qualified lawyers or consultants coming out of school to replace the departed, either. Burn and churn.

In software, it's not about hours, it's about the finished product. Therefore, having a relatively happy developer coming up with good ideas is actually a benefit.

 

[moshquerade]

I guess Google is not a company having hard times as they're giving 23,000 employees a minimum 10% raise and a $1,000 (after tax) bonus.


http://blogs.ajc.com/business-beat/...raise-to-workers/?cxntfid=blogs_business_beat

http://content.usatoday.com/communi...es-every-employee-a-1000-bonus-and-10-raise/1

nice to hear!

 

[hofan41]

Google is a nice company. But not too nice:

Within hours, Google notified its staff that it had terminated the leaker, several sources told CNNMoney.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/11/10/technology/google_brain_drain/index.htm?source=cnn_bin&hpt=Sbin