Googler here, 20% projects are very real. It's a flexible tool between employee and manager that gets used in a lot of ways. The only recent guidance was that 2

Googler here, 20% projects are very real. It's a flexible tool between employee and manager that gets used in a lot of ways. The only recent guidance was that 20% projects should benefit the company. And, mileage will vary depending on the relationship between employee and manager. Some employees and managers use the program well, others don't do as good of a job, but it's still very alive and well. IMHO, this is a good example of 20%.