Ask HN: What's It Like Working at Google Nowadays? Core Teams Like Search, Ads?
I'm curious about the current culture at Google, especially within core teams like Gmail, Search, and Ads. What is it like to work in these traditionally critical departments now? I'm asking for firsthand insights into how things have changed and what the day-to-day experience is like.
- dxf
Ex-Googler here. I'm not sure there is one answer to your question.
The culture of your org is 100% dependent on where you are, and primarily flows from your Director. This is both good and bad.
The good: You can have islands of positive culture inside otherwise problematic organizations, provided the Director sets that positive culture and makes sure their managers and leaders help enforce it.
The bad: You can be one re-org away from that positive culture going away. That said, I experienced many higher-level re-orgs that people basically considered no-ops because our Director didn't change, and I know of orgs that have had good culture for over 10 years.
If you are considering a role in some part of Google (either as a new hire or an internal transfer), you should ask probing questions about the organization itself to try and understand its specific culture and how that culture is embraced by the people inside it.
- bigwheels
My friends who work there all hate it, the culture has become toxic. Everyone is hanging on for dear life to preserve their standard of living.
- richard_chase
We just let the LLMs rip and spend most of our time in the sleeping pods or the buffet. Six figures for days of relaxation. It truly is the good life.