Grumpy Googlers Grumbling
Posted by Petrice Gaskin at Jun. 16, 2008
Valleywag has an interesting post about Google's new daycare center and what they believe it portends for the rest of the company.
Apparently, Susan Wojcicki, (a former Googler, and the current sister-in-law of Google co-founder Sergey Brin) decided that Google's daycare accommodations weren't quite up to par, so she started designing a new daycare facility for Google. The new one is gearing up to open and many Google employees are shocked to find that the new facility is a tad pricer than the former--70% more expensive to be exact. The monthly cost has risen from $1,070 to $1,710 for preschoolers and from $1,470 to $2,390 for infants.
Understandably, these recent events have some Googlers more than a little upset, not merely because of sticker shock, but because of what they perceive to be the top-down, heavy-handed manner in which the operation was carried out.
Valleywag sums its opinion on what this incident might reflect about the changing nature of Google's corporate culture:
Apparently, Susan Wojcicki, (a former Googler, and the current sister-in-law of Google co-founder Sergey Brin) decided that Google's daycare accommodations weren't quite up to par, so she started designing a new daycare facility for Google. The new one is gearing up to open and many Google employees are shocked to find that the new facility is a tad pricer than the former--70% more expensive to be exact. The monthly cost has risen from $1,070 to $1,710 for preschoolers and from $1,470 to $2,390 for infants.
Understandably, these recent events have some Googlers more than a little upset, not merely because of sticker shock, but because of what they perceive to be the top-down, heavy-handed manner in which the operation was carried out.
Valleywag sums its opinion on what this incident might reflect about the changing nature of Google's corporate culture:
Google used to be a place where rank didn't matter: If the numbers showed you were right, Larry and Sergey could be persuaded. That Brin let his sister-in-law's wealthy whims rule over the interests of hundreds, if not thousands, of working Googlers shows that Google is becoming yet another big company, with an insular clique at its heart. What it proves is that at Google today, it's not what you know. It's who you know.