Google recruiters now 20 percent more desperate

BusinessWeek has the amazing scoop. Google employees eat free in 17 cafes on the Mountain View campus. Really? And that's not all. This Silicon Valley leader, the out-of-touch weekly reports, also allows employees to take 20 percent of their time to work on projects of their own choosing. Why is the magazine reporting old news? Good question, but here's a better one. Why is Google PR still pushing the 20 percent story on unsuspecting print journalists?

Looks like the Financial Times got the same pitch. As did the New York Times.

The reason is obvious: Google is trying to sell the stale story of its corporate culture to drum up fresh job candidates. Perhaps Facebook is beating Google in recruiting as badly as it does in ultimate frisbee. By the way, remember when Google CEO Eric Schmidt was worried about headcount? I guess PR never got the memo.

12:16 PM on Mon Oct 29 2007
By Nicholas Carlson
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9 comments

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sample032 at 12:48 PM on 10/29/07
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I'm getting the idea that Googlers aren't very good at judging what good ideas are. Despite all their engineering power, they're not really doing any better than Yahoo. All Google has is AdSense.
Keymaster at 12:54 PM on 10/29/07
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I don't think Google necessarily has a staffing issue thanks to Facebook even given the poaching. People who choose Facebook over Google are following that 90s bubble dream: getting in on the ground floor before a company goes IPO and makes everyone rich.

I still get the impression that Google is the place to be if you want to be a part of something that is original and badass (No, I will not use the word "disruptive"; fuck you). This reputation will always attract the best kind of talent: people who want to kick ass for asskicking's sake.
bluelines at 01:40 PM on 10/29/07
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@sample032: 'All'? Most people would kill to have such a money minting machine. Including Yahoo.
Scott Thorpe at 01:51 PM on 10/29/07
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Personally, I look up to CEO's/Entrepreneurs. In my opinion Larry & Sergey haven't created anything new. They bought a big jet last I heard. Seems like young playboys. Maybe i'm just a cynical jerk, or maybe i'm just wondering where our real innovators are? Who are the people that are pushing us forward? If capitalism won, who is the best example of it? From what I can tell the majority of these Dot com "leaders", look like they won the lotto and plan to ride it for as long as they can.
ScalaWag at 02:38 PM on 10/29/07
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No, no, no. The biggest evidence of desperation is here [www.webguild.org]
ScalaWag at 02:50 PM on 10/29/07
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No, no, no. The biggest sign of desperation is here [www.webguild.org]
valleychick at 04:57 PM on 10/29/07
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sometimes it helps to read an entire story before judging a publication-- including the bio graph. that wasn't a journalist or BW staffer, it was a commentary by an industry guy.
samcal at 07:47 PM on 10/29/07
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@sthorpe: Really, what incentive to lead as innovators do Sergey and Larry have at this point....more money? A chance to change the world? At this point Google is just like any other industry leading company: comfortable and complacent. I wouldn't expect anything interesting at this point except aquistions and steady incremental growth. I'd be shocked to see them pull a game changing move ever again...few companies do it twice.
Scott Thorpe at 08:52 PM on 11/01/07
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@samcal: Is money the only thing that creates incentive? There aren't many altruistic people creating billion dollar companies, but I like to believe there is someone out there who is eager to see what our limits really are. Change the world? I guess. What would you consider a "game changing move"? Just curious.