Atlas · Details
Like Winning the Lottery
Author’s note
Another long-"lost" essay, gone with GooglePlus, found by Duncan Gordon in the Wayback archive.
This is just a description of exactly what it's like to work at Google, beyond the work itself. The facilities, the food, the perks, the events, the culture. Nobody had ever given such a thorough account of what it was like at Google during their Golden Age. And this one is pretty funny, and doesn't outstay its welcome.
AI Notes
The least essay-shaped thing in Steve's catalogue: no argument, no arc, just a section-by-section inventory of perks delivered as stand-up, with Steve pausing now and then to check whether the reader has puked yet. What keeps it from reading like a recruiting brochure is that Amazon rides along the whole way as the control group. The pager that went off while Steve ate ice cream on vacation, the quarterly Q&A where employee questions passed through "some secret cabal" on index cards, the one piece of decor Amazon ever acquired — a cave bear skeleton whose single movable part became an ad-hoc morale weathervane — each Google marvel gets its Amazon shadow, and the shadows are drawn in fewer lines and cut deeper.
The title is borrowed from a coworker Steve calls one of the smartest people he ever worked with; his own amendment to it, a few sentences in, sets the piece's temperature. Google spent the following decade quietly retiring much of what's cataloged here, so an inventory that strained belief in 2011 now doubles as a record of what the perk era actually consisted of, itemized by someone standing in the middle of it. And one line nobody quoted at the time sits near the end: for all that autumn's fury, Steve rates Amazon as merely "a little below the average," industry-wide, as a place to work.
Related listings
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2011
Amazon War Story #1: Jeff Bezos
Its twin. War Story #1 paints the Amazon side of the comparison; this one paints the Google side, written the same week for the same reason — to balance the rant that had just gone viral.
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2011
The Google Platforms Rant
The accidental rant that started it all. This piece is part of the make-good: the line about Google asking 'what is the first-class way to solve it?' is the rant's claim, retold as the guitar-becomes-a-music-studio story.
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2012
Notes from the Mystery Machine Bus
The same Google-vs-Amazon period and the same anthropologist's eye, scaled up a year later from one office's perks to a whole theory of engineering cultures.
From the peanut gallery
Read the rest of the thread · 84 more
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Well I'm sold.... When do I start?? Seriously need to keep an eye on thier job page
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Well thanks a bunch. Now i want to work at Google even more, and i didnt think that was even possible.
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Just have to add, that guilt you talk about, i can feel it. I cant even apply for a job because i cant imagine myself bringing anything to the table at all. I see all the bright people and have a very hard time justifying myself.
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Geez. Y'all need any cell biologists over there? (New goal: convince you that you do.)
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To be fair, that's also one of the key benefits of working at Amazon.
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I think Amazon has grown and changed a lot more than you think it has. You should hit me up for coffee sometime and I will give you a modern tour. and then you can give me a tour and we can compare notes.
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Heya John, I'm game. We should have beers and catch up anyway.
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Can I work with you?
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Damn, this sounds amazing.
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Something that mentions only while talking specifically about facilities is "And sadly I can't even tell you about the two new coolest things they're opening here, because they won't officially launch until next week. But it's always like that."...The thing is, with the open culture at Google, I have the opportunity to learn about some projects before they launch, and often I get to "dogfood" them and provide feedback while the project's audience is only a handful of dogfooders instead of the usual Firehose of Users that occurs the minute anything is launched publically, so I know my feedback is useful.There are also products that launch that I hear about weeks later through external sources, just because my cup (of dogfood) runneth over, and if I spent any more time dogfooding, it would be at the expense of my own projects, which I'm not willing to do because I really enjoy what I work on.
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Definitely write that book! I already wanted to suggest this after reading your previous post. Guys, +1 this if you agree :)
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that's a nice tnetennba. i'd ask for a particle accelerator. and a pair of oompa-loompas. one to carry wine and one to carry an oldschool pocket calculator for me.
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Very nice post, entertaining and all. But I gotta say, halfway through the Events section I stopped and skipped to the end in a "fuck this, it's too much" moment. Sorry!
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"Is this stuff worth writing a book about? You tell me!" - Hell yes!
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Yes, it's worth writing a book about this, especially if you do it. In terms of reading pleasure, I think this book would be like Michael Abrash's Graphics Progamming Black Book, but set 15 years later. Do it. Please. Thank you!
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Definitely a company that deserves to prosper. I love Google!
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Ehr... you are right: from the smallish company I work from, here in Italy (Clownland, you know?), that seems pretty unbe-fucking-lievable. Since you don't seem the kind of man who bullshits just for the sake of it... either I can't get the sarcasm or, well, I shamelessly envy you. (PS: the recording studio was the stray)
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A buddy of mine, smartest guy I know, always tutored me through math in high school, couldn't figure out what he wanted to do with his life, just knew that he wanted to work somewhere that had a potential for unlimited growth. About the end of our junior year, someone mentioned that Google was known to be the best place to work. I think that simple comment ignited something in his mind because he has now made it his life goal to get in. He has been pressing for an interview despite being only two years in on his engineering degree. I know that he will do it because he has always been the kind of person that sets himself and succeeds. If you see the name Cory Gabrielsen come up, don't pass it by, it will be worth your time.
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Any time google wants to get into science I'm there!
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How do you guys/gals not gain insane amounts of weight? (I mean sitting in front of a computer + lots of free food = ....... ) :D .
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Wow. Oh wow.
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Nice post, knew the culture was something special but this is really crazy! In sweden that type of company culture is really uncommon, but we have to take at least 5 weeks(!) of paid vacation by law - beat that!
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I dont think that it's that nobody will believe you. It's that we are in an economic nightmare right now and a lot of us are in the dark scary part of it. No one wants to hear how good you have it, it just makes our lives seem so much more suckalicious! While I am happy that there are people who love their job, make good money at it, AND actually feel secure there. It's not a reality for a lot of us. After 15 yrs of hard work and dedicated service, my husbands employer decided to be a big dick and cut him loose, simply because he worked there long enough to be one of the highest paid. So despite the fact that he worked harder for them, and knew his job backward and forward and could do it in his sleep, they decided he wasn't that valuable anymore and got rid of him only to have to replace him with half a dozen temps who didnt know their ass from a hole in the ground. A month later when they realized what a colossal mistake they made, they called him, asked him to reapply and then during his interview (yes they made him endure one when they knew full well who he was and what he was about) they had the audacity to offer him half of his previous salary to do the same job. Do you know how hard it is to get a good job after being at a company that long only to have been fired? No one wants the details, no one cares. THIS my friend is the reality that a lot of us are living right now, so pardon me if I don't want to hear about your free food and valet parking. Quite being a douche!
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Though your "snap back to reality" post is hard to object to... well, hearing that somewhere the sun is shining and the rainbow is double can shed a (dim) hope on the rest of us. Anyway: best wishes to your husband, I hope he finds a better job soon. Employer like the one you described are the scum of the earth, and I hope that people like those get weeded out from the business, the sooner the better.
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I agree with what is saying . I've been through some stupid crap with employers in the past, and I'm working for a pretty good company now, but it's truly nice to see that it's still possible to do things like this, that the entire economy isn't in the toilet.That being said, now I want to see if the most local Google office (I think Ann Arbor) needs an industrial controls engineer and project manager. :)
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just a couple of questions, if I may: where do you find the time for all these good things (I mean... you do have A FRIGGIN' RECORDING STUDIO, there!)? And may you tell us a bit about your tools of the trade (chair, desk, PC, cubicle, third party software if any, network... the stuff that ANY employer should care about to make his employees work better).
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That was really fun to read, Steve, thanks! I love hearing about anybody's place to work since there's no way I'll be able to see every possible job for myself, but Google is clearly a cut above everything else (he said, stating the obvious). I'd be interested in that book.In the meantime, I've created a new Circle: "Crazy Good Posters" and is the first person in that circle.
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As a random Uni student who has had a chance to visit Google's Sydney Office, I can definitely agree with the sentiment in this story. You don't even need to work there, just being given a tour and seeing the various things and the people happily coding at 8pm makes it fairly obvious its an epic place to work :D. As as for poor working conditions.. let us say I declined a sysadmin job at one point...
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your posts are so freakin long. and yet i still read them...
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The printer company I work for has a cafeteria, too. It's cheaper for us to pile into a car and drive into town. We also have snacks. In vending machines. Overpriced vending machines. We get presents, too. Shirts that advertise our latest products. No one wears them. We get equipment, too. You just have to try to catch the technology right because you may not get to upgrade for 5-6 years. We get trips. We get to go to China and work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for 3 weeks. We used to spend the 15 hour flight in business. Not anymore. Pfft! Google's not so special.
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Is this a recruiting ad for Google? That said, all sounds fantastic.
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Ok! Justin. I agree with what you have said here pertaining to Steve Yegge. Now, bear with me as I think I have an awesome idea for him so give me your input if so. Why not pass around a nice thick blank book ( like a journal) so that each employee at Google can write about the funniest thing that they have gone through or have seen while working at Google? Then get it published. I feel it would sell by the millions/billions! I'd order it in a minute! The book title could be: Google Giggles! Just an idea from me who is a writer to another writer named Steve who is your friend. My mind never stops with new ideas! Eeeee! What do you think? Should we talk Steve into doing this? Google Giggles: The bright side of being employed at Google. Then later on .... perhaps the dark side that every work place has. That book could be named: Google Sobs : The side of the work place that makes ya want to cry.YIKES!
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not all employees can / would write their employers and share it in G+. It is like normally one would not write a biography, unless they become famous or near death
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See, this is what I meant when I tell my friends I want a job I love going to. I tell my family that and they laugh. They've actually said "If you liked going there, they wouldn't have to pay you". But this shows you that no, you don't have to spend the better part of the waking day in a place you hate. Find a place you love being at. They exist. Never settle.Good post.
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I wish more and more company be inspired by Google's way to take care of their employee. Nice long post Steve.
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I love everything Google. My dream is to work at Google, and I'm only twelve :-).
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You're just trying to make the rest of us jealous, right? (says the lowly web worker from her 50s-style non-profit NGO metal desk. But at least I have an iMac! ;-) )
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I want a pony, now. :)
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Interesting, unbelievable, and fun read. Thanks for taking the time to do it. :)
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LOL, So this is the retribution for your previous blunder they to write this eulogy!(kidding)
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How do you write such long posts. No, really! How? But, let me finish reading up the whole article first.
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The way you tell your stories is funny, you have a gift for that. Thanks!
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Can I live at Google? Plz??
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Recently went to an HTML5 hackathon and got some chai at one of the cafes you mention. You're not kidding! They had awesome chai (I'm a snob...none of that koolaid syrup please) and a bevvy of milk / milkish options.Met a google manager there who shared my enthusiasm for quality chai. He made a half-assed recruiting attempt and told me to stop by later that he would probably be in the cafe. He asked me what I do but nothing technical or even about my background. I got the feeling that he did a lot of goofing around which frankly turned me off a bit...All the perks are cool, but I want to work with people who are focused. I do start to wonder how any company, no matter how great at its core/start, can maintain quality in the ranks when they grow to such a size. I'd like to hear about accountability / co-worker quality more in your future posts. Cheers!p.s. one other super cool think I noticed in my short time there was digital schedules on the conference rooms...very hackish and solar powered. That's cool!
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Reading how awesome your job is makes me think that Google is like willy wonka's chocolate factory of IT.
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Do the rest of us are like the four other children who is either fat, spoiled or whatever ?
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I have a hard time maintaining work/life balance. I think it would be REALLY hard for me to stop programming and go home at the end of the day if I worked at a place like this. Plus, I can't imagine my husband not feeling a little sore with whatever normal place he worked, if I got to look forward to that all day. Are there many Google Spouse issues that are discussed around there?
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My husband works for Google NYC, and I visit him sometimes. Plus, whenever we travel the world, we make a point of stopping by the nearest Google office to admire the decor. So I'm familiar with several of them on 4 continents. We've never been to Kirkland, but it sounds a bit above average to me - and I hope we visit some day!
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F. you Steve for that awesome explanation. where do i submit my resume..(actually submitted but can you forward it please) and yes definitely write a book but not just about facilities but about your experience.
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Thanks for writing this, Steve...I've always wondered if the stories were half-true, and I guess they were. :)
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man, you are a great writer. i mean, sure you edit, and have others edit. but your posts read like going down a watersliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide.
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To everyone who commented directly to me (too many for me to post here) my husband did get another job (thankfully) and it is actually one he enjoys most of the time. But he had to take much lower pay and we are always afraid that layoffs will be coming soon. I guess I am just upset that we thought things were so secure for us only to get a huge wakeup call that we cant really trust people that we thought were friends. This was a small family owned comany that just did us wrong and wanted to pretend that it never happened. You're all right, I should look at this and have hope that things will get better.
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Dammit, Mr. Yegge, everything you write is fascinating to read!
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Your stories are some of the most insightful and honest stories out there. Keep it up. The brutal honesty is actually really nice, even if you're trying to avoid it. It feels so much less fake than other things people write where they just cover up the negative with some exaggerated positives. And I know you're trying not to knock Amazon's workplace environment too hard, but hopefully this post helps people put things into perspective.But seriously, keep writing. And not just stories. Anything that comes to mind. I think your first major post was great in that it made some of the Google teams (G+ in particular) realize that they weren't quite on the ball. Google is fine with you being a critic. Amazon doesn't pay you anymore. And I know traditionally companies hate people who badmouth other companies. But I think it'd be a shame for your to stop writing just to be nice and not hurt anybody's feelings. Drawing attention to problems is the best way to get them fixed.I really enjoy the stuff you write as a whole. Stories from tech companies are always good reads and you've got some talent as a writer.
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PLEASE WRITE A BOOK. I would stand in line to read it. I love reading your writing.
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It can't and won't last forever, nothing does, so enjoy. I remember in the late nineties and early 00's getting served champagne and appetizers overlooking Boston harbor at the awesome company I worked for. Well, that stopped pretty fast with the tech bubble burst and everything. It can't last, it's not good business to spend so extravagantly. For now, sure, they are rolling in money but every empire falls. PS. Your fanboys are worse than Apple's. ;-)
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I love your writing. Google is the only employer I'd consider moving away from St. Louis for.
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Freekin awesome.. As you already said, "So comparing Amazon to Google is a little unfair, because comparing anyone to Google is unfair. Google's undoubtedly in the top 0.1% of the best places to work in the world, across anything even remotely computer-related."
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your description of Amazon sounds like standard retail to me. Walmart has meetings with top vendors in . The only way to make it feel any cheaper would be to have an actual drunk guy wearing a "wife beater" serving the tap water, or whatever they offer. There is also the constant fear of being fired.
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"Is this stuff worth writing a book about? You tell me!" i think it is. i usually dont read this kind of stuff but your writing skills and interesting subject just pulled me in and i really enjoyed reading it.
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Also, I get the impression that if Amazon, or Bezos personally, called you up and said, "Steve, we're sorry, we're going to make this right, we want you back", that you'd go running. I can tell they have a special place in your heart, a little chamber labeled stockholm or something.
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Bring Back WyvernBring Back WyvernBring Back WyvernBring Back WyvernBring Back WyvernBring Back WyvernBring Back WyvernBring Back WyvernYoud Be Amazed At The Following You Have Accumlated :)
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Must be nice.
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My dream job!
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Oh America!
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All I gotta say is I finally read this whole thing, and I'm completely jealous of everyone who works at google now. But I'm sure they all deserve it too.
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I don't suppose you guys need a Librarian, specifically a cataloger. Sigh, back to my fixing of broken serials records.
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What about desk, hardware and software? Can you still use Emacs for most of what you do at Google?
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, I listened to your OSCON speech a few months ago where you "quit." A lot of what you said resonated with me and I was wondering if you could post some tips on where to get started — books, online communities, even courses — for those of us wanting to learn to contribute as well. Thank you.
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Have you made any progress with Wyvern lately?A lot of us are waiting for some real news.Please don't forget about us!
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Wyvern ftw!
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Can you tell us now what those two new things are? :)
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What solves writers block? Wyvern! :D It's the BEST medicine.
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Wow. Almost afraid to believe you. Y'know, when something's too good to be true... it usually is? Wow.
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Hi Steve, i was thinking if this could be what Google should be doing - Google should be playing its strengths, and not just enter the facebook country with a shield (or was it a spear?) called circles. So what could be its Trojan's horse?To me it appears that Google is still not playing with its strengths - gmail, google groups, youtube and of course search; instead of trying to match your opponents strong spin, you should make up with your court coverage. Google need not agree when FB calls its single wall the social network. Networking/communication happens elsewhere too.Google groups for one. How would it be if google took all the conversations inside google groups to its circles? Simply making each google group a circle and providing some additional incentives of +1s/animations/video responses for members to switch. This should make the switch over seamless for people - it should be easier to continue a conversation than start a new one (as G+ is likely at a disadvantage vis-a-vis FB when it comes to involuntary posts). Google group members would make up for a ready circle while the rest of contact list should be friends by default.Still these initiatives might not bring G+ that elusive 'wall'. My strong suggestion is dont be too obsessed with creating a wall, make Gmail and Search your walls. And instead of waiting for users to add other users to their circles, suggest smart circles the way FB did as a response to G circles. Google can start off by showing search results/news articles +1ed by contacts/groups. To be fair, Google is doing that currently with G+ list of friends. But somehow it seems to miss the fact that links on Gtalk status messages are more likely to be visited than the ones on the 'wall'.Its from a blog post that I wrote today here at
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The player's of Wyvern have wrote and signed a letter for you to read at your convenience. Please give us a moment. Thank you!
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I wonder if Google will be so free with the perks when (not if) their money eventually starts to run out?
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Definitely worth writing a book about! :)
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=)
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THIS is why I use Google as my example of positive recruiting in HR classes I teach.
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Hahaha, my fave reply is this guy above me asking for Steve to help him with his email support #epic reaching
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James Woods saddens as he waits patiently wondering when his beloved Wyvern will come back to him. Ooh, a piece of candy...Ooh, a piece of candy...Ooh, a piece of candy...Ooh, a piece of candy...
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Any response to this?
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This is all well and good, Steve. But if Google really hires the best and brightest engineers in the world, who can get those cannibals and missionaries across all safe and efficient like, and then treats them like the gifted geniuses they have to be to survive the interview process...How the hell did android.view.View.java and android.widget.TextView .java happen? (and that's just as of android-15. I hope it wasn't worse before) I mean, there are black holes everywhere. This is certainly no more egregious than a 3K line JSON parser with 57 gotos everywhere (I've seen that). But come on, man.How did android.media.MediaPlayer.java end up being documented as the MediaPlayer "API" then end up implemented as a that changes so often it breaks a book that was written a year ago on Android 2.2 because Android 4.0 couldn't keep "the API" consistent (Adapter anyone?)You're working in Java, and there are pieces that are like C or worse. John Seigel posts that most of the questions posted on StackOverflow are Android. Almost 1/3 are unanswered. He posited it was because of lack of community understanding. if it has something to do with deep inheritance hierarchies, nested classes, ugly names, deep methods, magic numbers, Big Balls of Mud and breaking API changes?I love Google. I trust Google. I'm sure this is all the Open Handset Alliance's fault.But you guys are asserting on this project. You guys are advocating millions around the world to incorporate this source into their devices around this beautiful, open idea...and this is the kind of source you allow to linger and fester?I've been in your bodacious bathrooms with their toothpaste, showers, and fliers on the wall talking about testing...Yet no architects are reviewing your platform and trying to herd these cats?Shouldn't you guys expect better from yourselves while eating all that gourmet food? Your rant on service platforms was inspiring. Does Google need a rant about how code quality matters?
+50 to this. Steve mentions accessibility. I have a story of my own there: I'm a deaf engineer, and, like Steve, I worked at Amazon before Google. At Amazon, I requested interpreters. They gave them to me - for the quarterly all hands meetings. Team meetings, lunch meetings, one-on-ones, department meetings, and so on? Forget it. Not on their budget. Any chance of me understanding what's going on in meetings and being able to provide my insight? Not on their budget!So then I go to Google. I'm the first deaf employee at Google Kirkland, so they ask me how I want to do it, and give me a team of interpreters every day for the first three weeks while I figure it out. At first, I'm conservative: I ask for an interpreter for meeting days (two days a week), and permission to email requests for any time outside of that. No problem.A few months go by, I decide to shoot for the moon. "Hi, um, any chance I can have my interpreter here five days a week, 10-4?" (the only consistent hours that I was there).They didn't blink. Didn't look at costs. Just a "Sure!" and my interpreter was there daily, interpreting lunch meetings with my teammates, one-on-ones, and more.Now is accessibility.
— Greg Millam · Nov 9, 2011
A lot of perks, but there seems to be a bit of a negative side to it. The amount of perks is overwhelming, and Steve's posting clearly implies that Googlers are suffering hedonistic adaptation. What we see is a very resource intensive HR policy here, based on sheer material quantity of (quality) goodies rather than smarter targeting of employee's actual needs. Has there been a study to see if there is an actual sustained improvement in happiness while working at Google?
— Ari Consul · Mar 9, 2012
Bring back Wyvern! Rhialto you're the only one who can!
— Wes Lipscomb · Jan 4, 2012
Yes! and an idea for the cover: a Google search bar, so it says Google: "The Book" :) Make it a nice thick one with lots of pictures too!
— Nicolette Weil · Nov 9, 2011