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Since Google has always been hiring at least some people even through the recession, does a blog post like this mean we're back to the torrid expansion of 2005-

by mlinsey 16y ago

Since Google has always been hiring at least some people even through the recession, does a blog post like this mean we're back to the torrid expansion of 2005-2007?

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
unoti 16y ago
To me it indicates that competition is quite fierce. Not just from other attractive companies, but competition from startups and from people deciding to go indy. The opportunity available for someone doing their own thing is better right now than it ever has been before. For example, in 2000-2005 I had all kinds of ideas for things I wanted to do, but ultimately got discouraged by the fact that, even though I had excellent software development skills and great ideas, I lacked the capital and knowledge to, for example, set up a rack of servers or a bank of fax machines in a closet somewhere. Today, in stark contrast to even 2005, those kinds of hurdles are totally gone. It's very easy to get servers set up in the cloud to do whatever you need. Also it's far easier to succeed independently than it was a few years ago. In the computer games space, where I make my money, self-publishing is a seriously viable alternative now (I'm living proof!), where a few years ago you mostly needed to work for a game studio to actually make a living. Google is still a god-like entity that many of us would love to work for, but there's a comparatively new form of competition that's probably hitting Google harder than ever before: the fact that it's 10x more viable to do your own thing today than it was in 2005 or 2007.
- DenisM 16y ago
  Very well said, unoti. In my words, the power of the capital over labor has diminished, as labor increasingly can do without (external) capital. To that the capital responds by upping salaries and instigating the bidding wars over the talent that is still up for sale, at least for now.

by mlinsey 16y ago

Since Google has always been hiring at least some people even through the recession, does a blog post like this mean we're back to the torrid expansion of 2005-2007?

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

unoti 16y ago

To me it indicates that competition is quite fierce. Not just from other attractive companies, but competition from startups and from people deciding to go indy. The opportunity available for someone doing their own thing is better right now than it ever has been before. For example, in 2000-2005 I had all kinds of ideas for things I wanted to do, but ultimately got discouraged by the fact that, even though I had excellent software development skills and great ideas, I lacked the capital and knowledge to, for example, set up a rack of servers or a bank of fax machines in a closet somewhere. Today, in stark contrast to even 2005, those kinds of hurdles are totally gone. It's very easy to get servers set up in the cloud to do whatever you need. Also it's far easier to succeed independently than it was a few years ago. In the computer games space, where I make my money, self-publishing is a seriously viable alternative now (I'm living proof!), where a few years ago you mostly needed to work for a game studio to actually make a living. Google is still a god-like entity that many of us would love to work for, but there's a comparatively new form of competition that's probably hitting Google harder than ever before: the fact that it's 10x more viable to do your own thing today than it was in 2005 or 2007.

DenisM 16y ago
Very well said, unoti. In my words, the power of the capital over labor has diminished, as labor increasingly can do without (external) capital. To that the capital responds by upping salaries and instigating the bidding wars over the talent that is still up for sale, at least for now.