Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Who is Winning the Web Talent War

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the whoever-hires-me-of-course dept.

jg21 writes "Ever since Fortune wrote an article about it, mentions have been occurring hither and yon about how Google is having problems retaining employees, and the latest comes in Web 2.0 Journal, where Dare Obasanjo interestingly tracks and interprets a couple of blog entries that he says leads him to hypothesize that "Google's big problem is that the company hasn't realized that it isn't a startup anymore." Of course Obasanjo works for Microsoft; it will be interesting to see if an equally prominent Googler posts a counter-theory."

5 of 287 comments (clear)

  1. glassdoor.com by whtmarker · · Score: 5, Interesting

    From reading google and microsoft reviews at glassdoor.com, it became apparent that microsoft is like a government job with tons of bureaucracy. However google on the other hand treats non-engineers (marketing, etc) like second class citizens. Marketing and Sales guys complained that the expected endless promotions but instead found a kind of invisible ceiling.

    1. Re:glassdoor.com by jgarra23 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      This is incorrect. No one NEEDED a cellphone until they were created. No one NEEDED a microwave or a television.

      There's the old adage of the two shoe salesmen who went to Australia back in the 19th century. The first came back and said "bad news, the natives don't wear shoes..." well the 2nd came back and said "good news, the natives don't wear shoes!"

      The point is that sure we don't need it, so what? That doesn't mean the product/service isn't a necessity which people won't need in the future or that it won't enhance their lives somehow.

      There are plenty of sleazy salesmen out there but they're not sleazy for selling people products they didn't perceive a need for.

      As an engineer, I love the misplaced disdain for salespeople amongst my colleagues, sure they have a reason to hate people in sales but they're often so wrong as to why they hate these people. Maybe it's because this particular salesperson can't remember your name, or maybe they can't turn the sales-talk off?? There are plenty of better inter-personal reasons to hate people in sales.

  2. Hmmm, I see a pattern... by tgd · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Based on people I know who have done it, and other stuff I've seen online it seems everyone goes from Microsoft to Amazon because they want excitement, then Amazon to Google because they realize Amazon isn't that exciting, and then Google back to Microsoft because they realize they want to work 40 hour weeks and be comfortable.

  3. Re:interesting? by fm6 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I agree with your excremental assessment of Microsoft's web presence. But the rivalry between Google and Microsoft is about a lot more than web applications.

    And far from being FUD, a lot of the criticisms of Google and its products are spot on. I'm no MS fanboy, and indeed if there's a Microsoft way to do something and a Google way, the Google way is always the one I prefer.

    But the fact remains that too much of Google's software is poorly tested, haphazardly documented, and always introducing irritating feature changes without notice. That's not a sign of a company that's well-run.

  4. Strawman by LibertineR · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Marketing in charge of technical products also gets you Exchange Server, Visual Studio, Visual Basic, Excel and SharePoint.

    But, I can see how you might still think that a bad thing if you worked for Lotus or Borland. But then, those guys NEVER let the marketing dweebs near their product groups, right?

    It showed.