Google Software Engineer reviews

I believe that the quality of the middle management leaves a lot to be desired. I find the quality of middle managers to be extremely variable. I believe some managers do not actively contribute to a good outcome for the team. Also, I believe that Google is not good at weeding out those managers who do not perform well. Google's "slotting" process is terrible. I know many instances of people who have applied for positions that interest them, only to be "slotted" into positions which they do not like. Once you are slotted, it is very difficult to move out of your position. It could take months, maybe even a year or so. Also, these same middle managers have sole control over your quarterly evaluation. These evaluations feed into your annual bonus, so if you are incorrectly slotted and do not perform to the best of your abilities, then you are triply penalized: your evaluations will be poor, your bonus will go down and it will become harder for you to transfer to another team.

In order to excel,you must give up most of your social life to compete with people willing to spend more than 10+ hours a day at work. Its not the fun company it used to be, I may be a little jaded since I was there in the early days, but its become more like Microsoft, and the "Google culture" is more of a fable these days. Google buys technology these days, and does not innovate from within.