I read these articles about crazy work intensity at Google sometimes and wonder if I'm really working at the same company. I've been at Google since 2004 and have never felt the external pressure described in this article (80 hour work weeks? didn't even realize that was legal). Though I've read enough of articles like these that they surely must be based on truth.
(Of course, like any achievement-driven person I do get stressed about work, but it's internal pressure, like being frustrated about not making progress on something I find important. And that is not a cagey way of saying I work an 80 hour week.)
hey evan! it happened to me on my last project there, we were under executive pressure to ship and spent our last 6 months working 80 hours a week.
as for why you feel that this describes a different company, I think there are two reaons: 1) when I was there, (for others: I left in 2006) I felt that the pace of new distinct pockets of work culture was increasing. youtube and android really put an elbow in the curve since they were separate and more successful than the acquisitions that google brought completely in-house. 2) maybe your managers recognize that long hours equals burn out.
It all depends on what team you end up on... And since you don't usually get any real choice in the matter, or the opportunity to meet your future manager and teammates to see how you'd fit in, it's a game of russian roulette.
BANG
My brief experience at google was a horror show with great perks. I was even signed up to take Meng's course. But I got a better offer for a better team at a different company long before I got to that and I left within 48 hours of receiving that offer with the management effectively suggesting I not let the door hit me in the a$$ on the way out...
In contrast, I have friends who love it there, and have been there for years. I attempted to transfer to their teams before I got the above offer. Those attempts were blocked...
I don't think the US has a mandated maximum number of hours you can work your employees; if it did a lot of start-ups couldn't exist.
Workhours vary a lot by teams and functions at Google. I know of teams where you work 40 hours each week and teams where 15 e-mail threads at 3 AM are the norm. I work on a team closer to the latter and it can be incredibly frustrating to hear about other employees talk about all the awesome perks & benefits I don't have time to even try.
Of all the "big company" employees, I've observed (I could be wrong) that the ones that post the most on here are Googlers with a few Facebook people here and there. This observation leads me to believe that maybe it's not so bad. If you've got a bit of time to waste on HN, you most certainly have some quality personal time as well.
I don't work at Google, so I'm not personally aware of the work culture (my colleagues who work there say it ranges from intense to mundane.) I also have not taken Mr. Tan's course or read his book. That said, this article rubs me the wrong way. I'm not faulting Mr. Tan or Google, in fact I think therapy is a good thing.
The article comes off as making stress at Google unique: the intensity, the level of superiority of the workforce, dealing with possible imperfections in one's self, etc. There are elements of judgment in the article, and my reaction is simply "get over yourself".
As if stress at Google has different effects from stress at any other employer. While the sources may be different, how people respond is what's most important. Whether you're a world-famous technical engineer at Google or simply a nameless cog in the machine of XYZ Corp., stress is stress. If anything, I take away that there are more than a few people at Google who could use the opportunity for therapy. (And for good measure; I think many people in the world could use the chance as well.)
If this helps people at Google get over the "ferocious intensity" of the workplace, so be it. But for those who aren't living in that bubble, it's just called stress and therapy to deal with it.
Was working on a major project recently and had the opportunity to put stress in perspective. One of my parents had a stroke the week I needed to be working on the release. Nothing is more fucked up in the modern workplace than how people will perceive such unfortunate events as "convenient". Like you made it up to avoid the stresses of work. Fuck work. Most the stress is contrived due to some BS deadline created by someone trying to meet the deadline placed on them ultimately to make sure it fits in a given financial quarter.
When I worked at Microsoft in 2006, I saw not one, but two presenters pass out mid-presentation, both in front of a large audience, about six months apart. This was when we were proposing the Ribbon UI. I remember always being in a perpetual state of "things will get easier, it's just around the corner!"
Another reason why I'm not a fan of these corporate campuses made to look like amusement parks. I don't like the idea of my office becoming a place to hang out, eat, and take naps. There's something depressing to me about the idea of a company basically saying, "Here, look how awesome we made this place for you. Now you have no real reason to leave work." If long hours are expected, then pay should be commensurate. Investment bankers' lives suck, but at least they get paid huge salaries. I may be alone on this, but "perks" are not enough to motivate me to work longer hours than I agreed to.
That said, I have not worked for Google, and I tend to believe that this article is not very representative of what day-to-day life really looks like.
The office will most likely change and what has traditionally been the office of cubicles or whatever can be benefitted by these sorts of things. Having a huge salary won't always motivate people, which reminds me of an interesting TED talk by Dan Pink [1], mentioned in the article on page two.
People get stressed because there is always an infinite amount of work ahead. (This is true of big companies or personal projects.) This class is about how to handle the stress properly so you don't do something stupid like neglect your family to work 80 hour weeks.
I wonder what happened to that intensity when they were working on the speech recognition for Google Voice. What an utter POS. It can't even recognize long multisyllable names of people who are clearly listed in my Google contacts and have been for years.
[+] [-] evmar|14 years ago|reply
(Of course, like any achievement-driven person I do get stressed about work, but it's internal pressure, like being frustrated about not making progress on something I find important. And that is not a cagey way of saying I work an 80 hour week.)
[+] [-] saladwithsteve|14 years ago|reply
as for why you feel that this describes a different company, I think there are two reaons: 1) when I was there, (for others: I left in 2006) I felt that the pace of new distinct pockets of work culture was increasing. youtube and android really put an elbow in the curve since they were separate and more successful than the acquisitions that google brought completely in-house. 2) maybe your managers recognize that long hours equals burn out.
[+] [-] varelse|14 years ago|reply
It all depends on what team you end up on... And since you don't usually get any real choice in the matter, or the opportunity to meet your future manager and teammates to see how you'd fit in, it's a game of russian roulette.
BANG
My brief experience at google was a horror show with great perks. I was even signed up to take Meng's course. But I got a better offer for a better team at a different company long before I got to that and I left within 48 hours of receiving that offer with the management effectively suggesting I not let the door hit me in the a$$ on the way out...
In contrast, I have friends who love it there, and have been there for years. I attempted to transfer to their teams before I got the above offer. Those attempts were blocked...
[+] [-] slykat|14 years ago|reply
Workhours vary a lot by teams and functions at Google. I know of teams where you work 40 hours each week and teams where 15 e-mail threads at 3 AM are the norm. I work on a team closer to the latter and it can be incredibly frustrating to hear about other employees talk about all the awesome perks & benefits I don't have time to even try.
[+] [-] mladenkovacevic|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gnosis|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jroseattle|14 years ago|reply
The article comes off as making stress at Google unique: the intensity, the level of superiority of the workforce, dealing with possible imperfections in one's self, etc. There are elements of judgment in the article, and my reaction is simply "get over yourself".
As if stress at Google has different effects from stress at any other employer. While the sources may be different, how people respond is what's most important. Whether you're a world-famous technical engineer at Google or simply a nameless cog in the machine of XYZ Corp., stress is stress. If anything, I take away that there are more than a few people at Google who could use the opportunity for therapy. (And for good measure; I think many people in the world could use the chance as well.)
If this helps people at Google get over the "ferocious intensity" of the workplace, so be it. But for those who aren't living in that bubble, it's just called stress and therapy to deal with it.
[+] [-] angstrom|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] anothermachine|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gnosis|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lackbeard|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] savrajsingh|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mangodrunk|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dmoney|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dkrich|14 years ago|reply
That said, I have not worked for Google, and I tend to believe that this article is not very representative of what day-to-day life really looks like.
[+] [-] mangodrunk|14 years ago|reply
[1] www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html
[+] [-] kyledrake|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jrockway|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jlcx|14 years ago|reply
Apiaries? Google has beehives on its campus? Do Googlers like honey that much? Or do they mean aviaries?
[+] [-] packetslave|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sakopov|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jrockway|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] robatsu|14 years ago|reply
Now that was a super stressful job & the hours were lots longer, major sleep deprivation.
Our therapy was debauched shore time in various Pacific ports, seemed to get the job done. But I suppose Google HR department wouldn't go for that.
[+] [-] natch|14 years ago|reply