Comments on: Does Google’s Equality Drive Extend To Old People?

By: Bob26

Bob26 — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:20:34 +0000

Milton Friedman: what is greed? ,

By: OW

OW — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:09:13 +0000

Google certainly does discriminate against age, education, and ethinicity. After one year as a contractor with Google I was encouraged to go through the gruesome process of being converted to an employee. After waiting for about 2 months for a response they told me that they could not convert me because they did not like my school and I should have shown more progression in my career. There were several other colleagues who did not have a college degree and they were hired in management positions. Additionally I was called back to work their on 2 other occassions as a contractor after they did not hire me as an employee.

I wish Mr. Reid well in his lawsuit because “not a cultural fit” was used quite a bit when I was there as reason for not hiring someone.

By: myGoogle» Blog Archive » Does Google’s Equality Drive Extend To Old People?

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 14:06:36 +0000

[...] more: techcrunch.com This entry was written by GoogleBot and posted on October 12, 2007 at 1:32 pm and filed [...]

By: John H

John H — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 14:05:31 +0000

Notice some of the “young dude” voices in this thread that can’t spell? High schoolers dropping in to fake big time? Don’t get too cranked, here…

By: Mr P

Mr P — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:42:29 +0000

Oh, one other thing….

It’s a sunny day outside – really beautiful and a Sunday and I’m posting this from work.

But, I own half the company.
It’s a small gig, but it’s my gig.

Can’t beat that.

By: Mr P

Mr P — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:37:00 +0000

I wonder if Google is beginning to regret trumpeting about their workplace environment?

Judging by all the heat here I think it might have backfired.

This is all good news for companies that compete for staff against Google.
If they read this they should be going after the 35+ candidates.

A company that rejects based on age is not that smart.

As for TechCrunch – good stuff – great stuff.
We like reading about tech companies, but getting confirmation of the crap that goes on inside them is even more valuable.

By: S

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 00:40:35 +0000

Like many tech companies, Google hires the young by selling them an illusion. The illusion is that working these 14 hour days gets you ahead. The truth is that this effectively reduces your compensation to 50% of what you were hired for, and guarantees you nothing. Youthful enthusiam choses to ignore this, and for the hiring company, its fantastic.

Older workers have seen through this illiusion. It is not that they are less intelligent or less motivated, just they are less inclined to be manipulated. It only takes one or two layoffs to figure out the game, and how disposable all of us are. This is the wisdom garnered from experience.

The irony in all this is that we “older” workers were the young “rising stars” in our industry at one time that pulled these long hours. The new group of “rising stars” fails to realize that we are their future.

By: jC

jC — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:00:26 +0000

So I guess Google doesn’t support or understand:

- working remotely
- on-call paging (especially for OPS folks)
- flex time – Google is International… there is no such thing “core business hours” anymore. if he goes back online a 10/12 at night does he still get dinged?
- resource utilization (8 hours of work in 8 or less and not in 10)
- work smarter not harder – overlap from last bullet but you get the theme

hmmmm… innovation & genius hard at work there

btw, wouldn’t you want someone with more years of experience handling operations – think context of position is different than a programmer?

“Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage”

By: Gordon

Gordon — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:36:40 +0000

Hmmm, I’m only 39 but I just grew a beard and it is grey at the chin. A week later I got a dream programming job that I didn’t apply for, they called me. During our lunch introductory meeting, my new boss said of someone else’s mustache that grey meant wisdom.

By: Support this story on Stirrdup

Support this story on Stirrdup — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:37:11 +0000

Does Googles Equality Drive Extend To Old People?…

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By: Thomas Lang

Thomas Lang — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:04:24 +0000

Google was hiring developers in New York, and I have the chops. But after asking around I heard those freaks work until 10pm every day. Uh, yeah, I prefer having a life and I make quite a nice living without being Google’s bitch. Guess my attitude wouldn’t fit in.

By: Techcrunch Reader

Techcrunch Reader — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 13:19:56 +0000

Whilst there may well be a problem with age discrimination in Google, I find that hard to believe considering the old-time hackers that they’ve courted and hired…
for example:

Rob Pike , Unix hacker born 1956
Works for Google
http://en.wikip...g/wiki/Rob_Pike

Guido Van Rossum, creator of Python
Got his Masters Degree in 1982
Works for Google
http://en.wikip...uido_van_Rossum

Andrew Morton, Linux kernel hacker
Born 1959
Works for Google
http://en.wikip...r_programmer%29

You can find the biographies of a few more via this wiki page:
http://en.wikip...oogle_employees

By: yahoo

yahoo — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 09:13:39 +0000

in yahoo there are many techies above 50s and 60s. my team has one person of 60+ and we report to an early 30s manager. there has never been any clash.
we go out to lunch together .. infact i never even feel out of place .im 23.
i think all these issues are personality specific, and cannot be generalised to a company as such.
If you are a great hacker, come work with Yahoo!

By: mobe

mobe — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 06:25:27 +0000

I’d like to share google’s corporate national anthem, we have to recite this at the googleplex everyday during homeroom:

See no evil, do no evil
Google is the place for me
sergie and larry, the workplace is harried
pretty soon you’ll be working for free!

By: frugger

frugger — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 06:14:49 +0000

Fuck google. Google is a corporation that uses people to make profits. So what if they give you a free dinner, desert & midnight snack, is the loss of time worth it? why don’t you make your own company?

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 06:13:41 +0000

apple employee, wanted to mention, that some of us work-a-holics like me now are actually just doing this to advance our careers especially the younger crowd, since we don’t have kids or wives to really worry about yet it is a great opportunity to gain much needed experience to compete in this job market. do all of us want this for the rest of our lives, of course not, but as some people say it is paying your dues like those before us. remember doctors, lawyers, engineers also have crazy hours the first few years while the try to break into the heart of the business they are in

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 06:08:21 +0000

a little off topic but wanted to share 2 stories about recruiters in general with some of the people who mentioned the google recruiters calling them. in fact recruiters never read the resumes posted online, if you find one that does they deserve for you to pay them. here are 2 stories which happened (one to me one to a close friend)

this past summer right after i graduated i got a phone call from a recruiter as i was driving back from an interview with gdeb. the recruiter was exstatic about this great opportunity without having to move from home, working on a new transport hub in nyc, thinking back i only knew of one company doing the design of that location, the one i was currently working for at the time and that was clearly labeled on my resume, the first damn line of it. all in all i replied to him, so you are offering me a job for the company i already work for, at which point he hung up without saying anything else.

my friend had a similar situation after working for a year at keyspan a recruiter called her up offering a great opportunity to work for keyspan, she said sure sounds great, can you set me up for an interview i cn be there in 5 minutes it is just a few floors down on the elevator to HR.

regarding this google issue, i agree with reid for what he did. i think a better approach from his side would have been to work something out regarding the time put in and everyone asking why he left at 7, they probably could have worked out a solution if they needed him to put in extra hours. but all in all i agree that there should always be a mix, the youth of today might not know everything but don’t underestimate our abilities while at the same time, there is no substitution for experience because unless you come up with something so new that no one has ever worked with it (new type of chip, new programming language, etc.) then the “old geezers” as some might like to call them, know that same chip process or programming language.

sincerely the young mechanical engineer

By: AppleEmployee

AppleEmployee — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 05:58:47 +0000

I work at Apple (another company known to be a desired place to work at in high tech). Quite frankly I would never work at Google. I do my job in 40 hours, once in awhile pull some 12-14 days when needed, but I have my life. Google’s so-called “culture” sounds more like a cult to me, and I’m saying this coming from a company that gets accused of being a cult. Truth be told, working at Apple is not that different than working for Microsoft. Instead of Office and Windows it’s iMacs and iPhones. In fact, I find that while people here are passionate about their work, there aren’t many “fanboys” in the sense of the Kool Aid drinking types here (in fact I’ve been told that in the hiring process, being a “fanboy” is a detriment, not an advantage). If I want culture I’ll go to a museum, I work to live, not live to work. Anyone who does the latter is a fool.

By: Jackson

Jackson — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 05:17:36 +0000

sputnik,

I can’t wait until you’re over 35 and find yourself on the other side of that table trying to get hired.

By: oldFog

oldFog — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 04:53:20 +0000

So….
everytime a young and bright collegue gets married, I celebrate.
everytime they have children, I am overjoyed.
with vengence, I watch them struggle, trying to meet commitents, juggle responsibilities and yearn to get out of the hell they have created for themselves.

:-p

By: Dr. Not Evil

Dr. Not Evil — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 04:49:56 +0000

If you owe $475k on a mortgage you’re either wealthy and bought a while ago or you bought recently and are about to suffer dearly until you realize it’s smarter to mail in the keys.

Mortgages are incompatible with the current economy. Maybe we’re confusing age discrimination with mortgage discrimination. Who wants to hire someone who feels entitled to a huge salary to pay for their overpriced home? Or someone who can’t sleep because of a looming interest rate reset?

By: Clown Soup

Clown Soup — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 04:35:06 +0000

Jason, you think business should be more like sports?
Well, I hope you don’t get moved out when you still got 10 years left on that 475k mortgage.
There was a time when working at a good company meant security. Now, thanks to people that think like Jason, it means that you can expect to be pushed out in 5 years.

By: So Long, Old Man

So Long, Old Man — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 04:03:11 +0000

Maybe now you can get back to your HAM radio, you old coot.

CQ. CQ. CQuillyourself.

By: Dr. Not Evil

Dr. Not Evil — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 03:59:47 +0000

If you’re smart enough to work for Google you’re smart enough to start your own business and make far more money. You have to conclude that these people are just working in cubicles 14 hours a day short term to fatten their resume.

In spite of their vast hordes of coders Google hasn’t really done much beyond slapping ads onto their search engine and changing their logo for the last eight years. They sure talk about doing a lot though. (Free wifi, space elevators, vapor-phones). Two guys had a good idea and now they have so much money that they can remain profitable in spite of inefficiency.

I went to a crappy state school but some investors found my blog and now I’m about to launch an idea. I have a funny feeling Google wouldn’t have given me the time of day. Our head guy just met with Google and basically said they’re arrogant and out of touch.

By: matelot

matelot — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 03:21:30 +0000

so how old is reid ?