5 ms·

The article linked above mentioned one person hired at the time of its writing (2007). Obviously it's six years later now, but even if they hired two hundred,

The article linked above mentioned one person hired at the time of its writing (2007). Obviously it's six years later now, but even if they hired two hundred, it would still be a staggering investment by the local government ($1 million per job). Again, I'm not sure what the point here is as US States are not much different from countries in a race to the bottom, other than sooner or later you hit bottom. I mainly just found it amusing as it was a huge deal for Lenoir and now here it is on the front page of HN!

walshemj 13y ago
Yeah I remember doing a back of the envelope calculation and for Google style DC's you could get away with 20-30 FTE plus a small security team (from someone like group 4) to man the gates patrol the site. I think at least some Google DC's have a small office block on site possibly for adwords employees.
jamesaguilar 13y ago
It's not clear how much of that money is actual investment and how much of it is taxes forgone that they wouldn't have gotten anyway had Google not chosen to locate there. I think it gives a slightly skewed view to call the whole amount an "investment." Disclaimer: Googler, commenting as private person, not as company rep, etc.
minwcnt5 13y ago
You have to consider more than just the employees that Google hired. They're also spending money in the region on a bunch of things besides salaries. One way to look at might be that if the facility remains open for 10 years, then that $1M/employee pays for salaries, and then they get all of the other economic benefits for "free". It sure sounds like a lot of money, but I wouldn't be surprised if it makes sense in some way. Especially since, as the sibling post points out, there would have been a large number of governments competing for it.
- JoeAltmaier 13y ago
  Depends on the contract the company makes with the local municipality. Our local small town got a WalMart distribution center. The town went bankrupt providing free water, roads and electricity to a building that brought in zero jobs and extra business. Consider: big companies have expert negotiators. Cities have volunteers.
deelowe 13y ago
It's much more than that. Any estimate I've seen regarding staffing has always been way off. I can't give specifics, but trust me, it's no where near 4 people even if we exclude contractors and facility support staff.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- michaelt 13y ago
  Employees mean parking spaces. Let's look at the facility using Google's super satellite photos. I see eight by the guardhouse, one occupied; a further 20 by one data centre, 8 occupied; and a final 23 near another data centre, 6 occupied. Totals: 53 spaces, 15 occupied. I don't see any bicycle parking or signs of indoor or underground car parks, and there are no sidewalks or bus stops nearby that I can see. This is the middle of the day - I doubt the night shift is any busier. My money's on 15-30 employees on the day shift, plus a night shift for an additional 4-8 employees depending on shift patterns. So 19-39 total employees. If I'm wrong, I'd love to know how those employees are getting to work :)

walshemj 13y ago

Yeah I remember doing a back of the envelope calculation and for Google style DC's you could get away with 20-30 FTE plus a small security team (from someone like group 4) to man the gates patrol the site. I think at least some Google DC's have a small office block on site possibly for adwords employees.

jamesaguilar 13y ago

It's not clear how much of that money is actual investment and how much of it is taxes forgone that they wouldn't have gotten anyway had Google not chosen to locate there. I think it gives a slightly skewed view to call the whole amount an "investment." Disclaimer: Googler, commenting as private person, not as company rep, etc.

minwcnt5 13y ago

You have to consider more than just the employees that Google hired. They're also spending money in the region on a bunch of things besides salaries. One way to look at might be that if the facility remains open for 10 years, then that $1M/employee pays for salaries, and then they get all of the other economic benefits for "free". It sure sounds like a lot of money, but I wouldn't be surprised if it makes sense in some way. Especially since, as the sibling post points out, there would have been a large number of governments competing for it.

JoeAltmaier 13y ago
Depends on the contract the company makes with the local municipality. Our local small town got a WalMart distribution center. The town went bankrupt providing free water, roads and electricity to a building that brought in zero jobs and extra business. Consider: big companies have expert negotiators. Cities have volunteers.

deelowe 13y ago

It's much more than that. Any estimate I've seen regarding staffing has always been way off. I can't give specifics, but trust me, it's no where near 4 people even if we exclude contractors and facility support staff.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
michaelt 13y ago
Employees mean parking spaces. Let's look at the facility using Google's super satellite photos. I see eight by the guardhouse, one occupied; a further 20 by one data centre, 8 occupied; and a final 23 near another data centre, 6 occupied. Totals: 53 spaces, 15 occupied. I don't see any bicycle parking or signs of indoor or underground car parks, and there are no sidewalks or bus stops nearby that I can see. This is the middle of the day - I doubt the night shift is any busier. My money's on 15-30 employees on the day shift, plus a night shift for an additional 4-8 employees depending on shift patterns. So 19-39 total employees. If I'm wrong, I'd love to know how those employees are getting to work :)