4 ms·

> comp gets cut back, perks get cut back That hasn’t really been happening - perks and comp have been pretty stable for the past 3+ years at least, so…

Maledictus 1y ago
In nominal terms, yes, not inflation adjusted.
taormina 1y ago
Inflation goes up, perk and comp stay the same, is the same as a % cut
endtime 1y ago
It has been happening - I was there from 2011 to 2022 and it happened steadily for my last five years. The food got worse, they stopped handing out free phones every year, they cut equity refresh multipliers for strongly exceeds ratings, 20% time became 120% time (as noted elsewhere), and -- shortly after I left -- they changed the rating system such that there were real quotas for people being below expectations. Gone were the days they'd randomly hand out Osprey backpacks outside the cafeteria for no reason (I still use mine), or when your manager could send you to space for creating Memegen, or even when Memegen was controlled by its creator and the team he got funded for it, and not HR. I actually attribute it to Ruth more than Sundar, but who really knows? All I know is I saw a major decline...and people were already saying similar things when I joined, and they were probably right too. This isn't to say Google isn't still a great employer...but yes, perks and comp declined.
- returningfory2 1y ago
  Perks have gotten better in some dimensions - for example, parental leave is much more generous than it was even 5 years ago. And that’s probably a more important perk than free backpacks tbh.
  - whiplash451 1y ago
    Depends what profile you are trying to invest in.
  - AdrianB1 1y ago
    Important or motivating? It is not the same thing. For older people that already have kids, parental leave is useless.
  - endtime 1y ago
    I'd be interested in utilization. When I was there and had my kids, it was 12 weeks, and I never took the full 12 weeks because it was too long for me. (I took 6, the 7, then 4-5 IIRC.)
  - dolmen 1y ago
    How many times in your career will you use that perk?
kortilla 1y ago
It happened a decade ago. Google comp is comparable to every other boring tech company. How are the free massages and dry cleaning treating you?
- IX-103 1y ago
  They don't have that anymore
  - kortilla 1y ago
    Yeah, that’s my point. Anyone who joined in the last 4 years doesn’t even realize how far everything has deteriorated into a bog standard huge corporation.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
IX-103 1y ago
That's bullshit. Inflation-adjusted compensation has been on a decline (nevermind the decision to reschedule the bonus/promotion cycle from January to April). At least half of the micro-kitchens and cafes have been shutdown. On-site tech support has been dropped. Medical benefits support was changed from Anthem premium to some third-party that is worse than useless. Medical plan costs are up and covered benefits down. Hardware refreshes (even for engineers) has been cancelled, so everyone is working with pre-pandemic hardware.

Maledictus 1y ago

In nominal terms, yes, not inflation adjusted.

taormina 1y ago

Inflation goes up, perk and comp stay the same, is the same as a % cut

endtime 1y ago

It has been happening - I was there from 2011 to 2022 and it happened steadily for my last five years. The food got worse, they stopped handing out free phones every year, they cut equity refresh multipliers for strongly exceeds ratings, 20% time became 120% time (as noted elsewhere), and -- shortly after I left -- they changed the rating system such that there were real quotas for people being below expectations. Gone were the days they'd randomly hand out Osprey backpacks outside the cafeteria for no reason (I still use mine), or when your manager could send you to space for creating Memegen, or even when Memegen was controlled by its creator and the team he got funded for it, and not HR. I actually attribute it to Ruth more than Sundar, but who really knows? All I know is I saw a major decline...and people were already saying similar things when I joined, and they were probably right too. This isn't to say Google isn't still a great employer...but yes, perks and comp declined.

returningfory2 1y ago
Perks have gotten better in some dimensions - for example, parental leave is much more generous than it was even 5 years ago. And that’s probably a more important perk than free backpacks tbh.
- whiplash451 1y ago
  Depends what profile you are trying to invest in.
- AdrianB1 1y ago
  Important or motivating? It is not the same thing. For older people that already have kids, parental leave is useless.
- endtime 1y ago
  I'd be interested in utilization. When I was there and had my kids, it was 12 weeks, and I never took the full 12 weeks because it was too long for me. (I took 6, the 7, then 4-5 IIRC.)
- dolmen 1y ago
  How many times in your career will you use that perk?

kortilla 1y ago

It happened a decade ago. Google comp is comparable to every other boring tech company. How are the free massages and dry cleaning treating you?

IX-103 1y ago
They don't have that anymore
- kortilla 1y ago
  Yeah, that’s my point. Anyone who joined in the last 4 years doesn’t even realize how far everything has deteriorated into a bog standard huge corporation.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

IX-103 1y ago

That's bullshit. Inflation-adjusted compensation has been on a decline (nevermind the decision to reschedule the bonus/promotion cycle from January to April). At least half of the micro-kitchens and cafes have been shutdown. On-site tech support has been dropped. Medical benefits support was changed from Anthem premium to some third-party that is worse than useless. Medical plan costs are up and covered benefits down. Hardware refreshes (even for engineers) has been cancelled, so everyone is working with pre-pandemic hardware.