http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/googlife
Aaron Swartz, the
reddit guy, said in a recent post that Google treats its employees like kids, and that's how they retain them. It seems to have struck a nerve with his readers, with various people disagreeing, and googlers posting in his comments too.
Ok, so the main Google campus does seem like a kids playground, with multi-coloured bouncy balls everywhere, free food, various sculptures etc. But so what? I agree that it sounds like a great place to work, but are googlers, many of them fresh out of uni/college, really that retarded to not be able to see beyond the brightly coloured balls? Google is a business, are they really that insulated from reality? Just because the environment is different, casual and fun doesn't mean there aren't any pressures. They are at the top of their game, so maybe they're plateauing, in which case that can be true.
(As an sidenote, from an outsider's perspective, it seems that the vast majority of their money comes from text-based ads. That's a big industry, and there's lots of money to be made. But in a world where basically everyone else is exploring other ways of advertising, Google seems to be standing still. Where's the next big revenue stream coming from? Microsoft and Yahoo have plenty more options, and more in the pipeline. Maybe the oh-so-secret Google is just hiding their cards...)
Is the environment that good that people would rather stay than venture out? Sure its a great environment, but if people are just not being challenged, being able to do what they want, enjoying their jobs, achieving their goals you'd think that they'd have the wisdom and courage to look elsewhere. After all, aren't Google employees supposed to be the cream of the crop?
I reckon if you don't have that desire, that drive, that courage to venture beyond your comfort zone, its probably better that you stay at Google. The world has enough drones as it is; what they need are people who can think, who can imagine, who can dream and who have the courage and drive to turn their dreams into reality. If all you want out of life is just to cruise through and enjoy it, then by all means - Google definitely does a good job at keeping these people.