More Discussions on Google's Decline

Slashdot, has a post Has Google Lost Its Mojo? Oddly timed after I opined that I thought the culture at Google will change for the less freakin' awesome in the weeks and months to come.

I don't think that anyone expects Google to sustain the level of kick ass perks. Is sponsored child care the next perk on the chopping block? $57,000 to have two kids in day care?!? I'm in the wrong business. I'm sure I could take care of 40 kids by myself. In my fantastic theoretical no taxes or expenses dream world I'd be a millionaire in a year with enough left over to take all the kids to the circus.

But I digress, there does seem to be some smoke coming from the Googleplex. Valleywag wrote a follow up piece detailing the challenges in Google's kitchens.

I have to wonder whether Google has created many monsters with all their perks. A sense of entitlement seems to go hand in hand with Google culture lately. The Googlers have grown accustomed to working in a perk filled palace complete with nameless lackeys. It's like the town of Naperville has given its peoples' collective sense of self importance, sense of entitlement, and manners to Google.

It might be best to take a little bit away from them for a while and let them walk on the ground again.

It will be interesting to see where Google goes from here. I believe that the perks are going to continue to be downgraded and removed as the company fails to sustain the levels of growth that it experienced over the last four years. These are the times when we will find out what kind of company Google is.

It's easy to roll out the clever perks and pay lip service to how much the company values its people when the cash is rolling in. When times get tough and real decisions need to be made, that's when you find out what the company is made of.

My prediction is this: We will hear less and less about what an awesome place Google is to work. Instead we'll hear more about whatever it is that makes money for big G.