5 ms·

Some day people will look back and pinpoint that the day the free snacks were taken away was the day that Google started to be just like every other company...

by ulf 17y ago

stcredzero 17y ago
Extreme Programming advocates readily available snacks in the workspace as an effective productivity and morale boost!
- slig 17y ago
  Belly boost too.
- apr 17y ago
  Readily available snacks make people obese.
  - nearestneighbor 17y ago
    Depends on the snacks.
    - maurycy 17y ago
      Depends on the people.
      - slig 17y ago
        Depends on how often they eat it.
  - tybris 17y ago
    Just use this 1 weird old tip.
steve19 17y ago
This will bite them in the ass. Wages are rarely a source of satisfaction in a job. Employees consider them simply the fair exchange for their time. The perks on the job and the company culture count for much more. I suspect that is everyone was given a 5% paycut, but the perks kept, they would be happier than they are now. (I refer in general to all employees - not just the engineers)
- arithmetic 17y ago
  Agree. "Just be happy that you're getting paid" is not an acceptable culture - petty things like snacks and freebies count.
  - axod 17y ago
    As long as the perks are done well :) eg "Wear a Hawaiian shirt to work day" != perk
    - white_eskimo 17y ago
      I don't know if you were making a direct reference to Salesforce.com's "Employees have fun in the office, participating in foundation/volunteer activities with their peers and wearing Hawaiian shirts on Aloha Fridays." (http://www.salesforce.com/company/careers/culture/ http://www.salesforce.com/company/careers/culture/) I consider the whole Hawaiian shirt thing to be a "gateway" perk. If the company promotes wearing fun attire, then you can be sure to expect other more exciting perks. I don't know of any Silicon Valley software companies that advertise Hawaiian shirts as their one and only perk... I also think Salesforce.com's volunteering perk is very enjoyable and worthwhile. You essentially get paid to do a workday of community service each month. Didn't sound very exciting or interesting at first, but it turned out to be extremely rewarding. I'd love to see more software companies adopting similar programs and following suit.
      - gonzopancho 17y ago
        I think it was an Office Space reference.
litewulf 17y ago
(Excuse me as I enjoy my free Google snack and munch in confusion)
dspeyer 17y ago
More like the day that Google admits defeat and begins preparing for its own death. Not that I expect that day to come anytime soon. Alternatively, it'll be the day all Googlers depart their biological bodies once and for all and live as pure thought. I don't know which is more likely.
nikolayv 17y ago
In the end, it was inevitable. It was part of my reason to turn down their full-time offer and accept another company's. Last summer when I was an intern at Google, free cookies at 3pm were discontinued. By the time I got back in June 2009, we didn't even have a Tech Stop in my building anymore. No dance party, etc. Still, to me at least, this is not yet the time when Google became just another company. The stuff you learn there, the technology at your fingertips, and the capable co-workers are still amazing. But it's headed that way. In the next 5-10 years, I predict the following will happen to Google. Most of it is quite obvious: a. a major PR disaster, such as significant cloud data loss, or poor availability numbers for a day or week, something like that b. stock will not have the same phenomenal growth c. loss of search market share (of which a big deal will be made, but really, soon it will have nowhere to go, but down) For me the deciding factors in choosing another offer were: a. bigger company size => little chance to "change the world" like Eric Schmidt still likes to say b. much better stock packages from my other options (Facebook's was essentially 4 times Google's at the latest valuation, and I do understand that's because of the higher risk, but for a college grad, that should be a no-brainer). c. bonus perk I believe Google never had: 21 business days of vacation.
acg 17y ago
I would like to think that the people who really made Google into the company it is now aren't really in need of free snacks.

Some day people will look back and pinpoint that the day the free snacks were taken away was the day that Google started to be just like every other company...

by ulf 17y ago

Some day people will look back and pinpoint that the day the free snacks were taken away was the day that Google started to be just like every other company...

stcredzero 17y ago

Extreme Programming advocates readily available snacks in the workspace as an effective productivity and morale boost!

slig 17y ago
Belly boost too.
apr 17y ago
Readily available snacks make people obese.
- nearestneighbor 17y ago
  Depends on the snacks.
  - maurycy 17y ago
    Depends on the people.
    - slig 17y ago
      Depends on how often they eat it.
- tybris 17y ago
  Just use this 1 weird old tip.

steve19 17y ago

This will bite them in the ass. Wages are rarely a source of satisfaction in a job. Employees consider them simply the fair exchange for their time. The perks on the job and the company culture count for much more. I suspect that is everyone was given a 5% paycut, but the perks kept, they would be happier than they are now. (I refer in general to all employees - not just the engineers)

arithmetic 17y ago
Agree. "Just be happy that you're getting paid" is not an acceptable culture - petty things like snacks and freebies count.
- axod 17y ago
  As long as the perks are done well :) eg "Wear a Hawaiian shirt to work day" != perk
  - white_eskimo 17y ago
    I don't know if you were making a direct reference to Salesforce.com's "Employees have fun in the office, participating in foundation/volunteer activities with their peers and wearing Hawaiian shirts on Aloha Fridays." (http://www.salesforce.com/company/careers/culture/ http://www.salesforce.com/company/careers/culture/) I consider the whole Hawaiian shirt thing to be a "gateway" perk. If the company promotes wearing fun attire, then you can be sure to expect other more exciting perks. I don't know of any Silicon Valley software companies that advertise Hawaiian shirts as their one and only perk... I also think Salesforce.com's volunteering perk is very enjoyable and worthwhile. You essentially get paid to do a workday of community service each month. Didn't sound very exciting or interesting at first, but it turned out to be extremely rewarding. I'd love to see more software companies adopting similar programs and following suit.
    - gonzopancho 17y ago
      I think it was an Office Space reference.

litewulf 17y ago

(Excuse me as I enjoy my free Google snack and munch in confusion)

dspeyer 17y ago

More like the day that Google admits defeat and begins preparing for its own death. Not that I expect that day to come anytime soon. Alternatively, it'll be the day all Googlers depart their biological bodies once and for all and live as pure thought. I don't know which is more likely.

nikolayv 17y ago

In the end, it was inevitable. It was part of my reason to turn down their full-time offer and accept another company's. Last summer when I was an intern at Google, free cookies at 3pm were discontinued. By the time I got back in June 2009, we didn't even have a Tech Stop in my building anymore. No dance party, etc. Still, to me at least, this is not yet the time when Google became just another company. The stuff you learn there, the technology at your fingertips, and the capable co-workers are still amazing. But it's headed that way. In the next 5-10 years, I predict the following will happen to Google. Most of it is quite obvious: a. a major PR disaster, such as significant cloud data loss, or poor availability numbers for a day or week, something like that b. stock will not have the same phenomenal growth c. loss of search market share (of which a big deal will be made, but really, soon it will have nowhere to go, but down) For me the deciding factors in choosing another offer were: a. bigger company size => little chance to "change the world" like Eric Schmidt still likes to say b. much better stock packages from my other options (Facebook's was essentially 4 times Google's at the latest valuation, and I do understand that's because of the higher risk, but for a college grad, that should be a no-brainer). c. bonus perk I believe Google never had: 21 business days of vacation.

acg 17y ago

I would like to think that the people who really made Google into the company it is now aren't really in need of free snacks.