Dubbed the world’s weirdest place to work, employees in the Google building own amenities that many people wish for, such as a bedroom worth £5,000 (147 million VND) to take a nap and have indoor meetings. mobile, receive an employee card for your dog and eat deliciously.
What’s a rooftop strawberry garden, a three-lane Olympic-sized swimming pool, soundproof “sleeping chambers” with cashmere goatskin eye masks and duck duvets? used by Google employees. This seems to be the most luxurious hangout ever built and there are many other strange features that Google’s new giant headquarters building in London, 300m long, containing 7,000 British employees is working. own.
Plans for an 11-storey, £1billion office building include a jogging track, basketball court and all-day massage rooms.
Google, which was paid a record £2.1 billion by the EU last week for the monopoly abuse of its search engine, is also known for its quaint office spaces. , with slides to go back and forth between rooms, a golf course and soft play areas to encourage employee creativity.
Employees are “working” hard at Google’s Toronto office.
However, according to insiders, working for this billion-pound company is actually much more laborious and complicated than it is for them to enjoy. From monitoring their weight to trimming their hair, to dry cleaning to the prescribed bedtime, the world inside Google is full of other strange things.
The entrance at Google is quite strict, candidates have to go through 5 interviews and have to answer complex blockbuster quizzes to compete, excluding the top brains.
Even candidates with the perfect CV are often faced with questions like “How many haircuts are there each year in this country?”, “Design an evacuation plan for this entire building,” or “Will there be an evacuation plan for this building?” What song would it be if you could choose one song to listen to every time you walk into the room you have to live in for the rest of your life?”
New employees are called “Nooglers” , while old employees, of which there are around 20,000 worldwide, are called “Xooglers”.
However, having put all its effort into recruiting you, Google won’t let you go easily. Those wishing to leave must sign up for the Xoogler network, which keeps former employees private and to entice them back for mentoring, supervision, presentations and networking events.
Exterior logo of Google at the California office.
Google’s human resources department is called “People Operator” , “POPS” for short, and the “People Analysts” staff are actually much more helpful than the average HR team.
Employees undergo periodic surveys, personality tests and psychometrics based on everything from lunch preferences to gym usage. The company uses this data to measure employee productivity and ambition.
Since 2012, a research project code-named “Aristotle” has analyzed what it takes to build the perfect team at the company.
In fact, if a Google manager greets a new hire on their first day in the office, that hire will increase productivity by 15% over the next 9 months.
Not everyone is happy with Google’s oversight, however, for some former employees, who refer to it as the “Big Brother” in George Orwell’s 1984 novel. In 2016, the tech company’s production manager announced it was forbidden for employees to talk to their spouses or friends about their boss and share their previous work in job interviews. do.
Unique sleeping device at Google’s Mountain View office.
Google’s new facility will feature a £5,000 bedroom, made by New York brand MetroNaps, that will “enhance mood, creativity and learning” as well as “enhance wellbeing” alertness and productivity”.
These futuristic methods look like over-the-head, globe-shaped chairs that can be set to 15-20 minutes, putting you in a zero-gravity position (head facing up). down and feet up), along with melodious music.
This chair wakes the user up with a series of vibrating movements and a flashlight.
Many of the company’s current offices have break rooms, equipped with the type of sealed locks used on submarines to keep sound and light in.
However, they are not always used as intended, especially in cases where employees abuse oversleeping, or rely too much to get 40 naps. For those who want to rest without closing their eyes, Google offices also have wellness centers, including gyms, saunas, and massage rooms.
Employees can lend each other a massage credit card so they can redeem an hour’s break for free when they feel the coworker has done his or her part.
The dog wags its tail happily in the Google Mountain View office.
Dogs are not only welcome, but encouraged at Google. In fact, the employee code of conduct reads: “Google’s love for dogs is an integral part of our corporate culture.”
As long as the dogs are carefully monitored, employees can bring their four-legged friend to the office and even these “guests” are given their own tags with their pictures on them.
The policy made him more productive, one former employee wrote, allowing him to walk his dog at lunchtime and helping him meet new colleagues.
“The benefits of allowing dogs into the office far outweigh the costs, increasing job satisfaction,” he says.
However, bad news for those with feline companions. In an environment with a lot of dogs around, for the health of cats, owners are discouraged from bringing cats to work, even though Google doesn’t discriminate against them, the company said. “.
Even a haircut is available at the office, so there is no reason to go out.
Google does everything to encourage employees to stay at work, even if they have to keep an appointment. The company offers on-site services such as doctors, dentists, physiotherapists and hairdressers, as well as shoe shine, beautician and legal advice services.
Most of the amenities are free, including the haircuts, done in a state-of-the-art salon, run by a company called Haircuts Onsite.
You don’t even have to go home to do laundry: Employees can bring dirty clothes to work and use the office washing machine or use a dry cleaning service.
The new London office will feature four upscale restaurants, selling delicious food from around the world, and like every other Google office, it’s free.
From lobster to steak, fresh pies to “homemade” ice cream, these are not regular canteen dishes, they deserve a Michelin star restaurant.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin instructed office designers when the company first started in 1998 that “it is necessary to keep food no more than 60 meters from the user”.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
Employees love this, but the reason behind the free breakfasts and lunches is far more ominous: When the food is right in the office, there’s no need to go out. .
Joe Cannella, who worked as a Google property manager for nine years, said this could take a lifetime. “You’ve spent most of your life eating Google food, with your Google colleagues.. And you start not realizing what independence is.”
And yet the oddity, they set up long canteens to encourage employees to socialize. Dan Cobley, the former CEO of Google, explains: “We knew people would chat in the meantime. The conversation becomes the idea, and the idea becomes the project.”
Newcomers are warned about “Google 15,” which is that employees can gain up to 15 pounds in the first few months. This may sound ridiculous, but Google will track its employees even if they gain weight.
Here’s one of the techniques to encourage employees to stay in shape: Eat smaller portions, deliver desserts to the end of the canteen, place sweets in sun-proof containers, place fruits and nuts in vases around the office.
Signs that “people who use large plates tend to eat more” or are stuck in the dining area. In just seven weeks after the healthy eating practices were first introduced in 2012, the calorie consumption of 2,000 employees in the New York office dropped by 3.1 million.
A Googler is resting at the “Luxury Facilities” area.
A special thing about Google is the “survival allowance” , which means that if an employee dies while working at the company, their spouse will continue to receive 50% of the salary each year for one year. decade.
Even more surprising, there’s no minimum time requirement, so each employee is still eligible to benefit, even if they’re only there for a week. Ken Norton, Google’s product manager, says he “gives away” to understand this better . “When I mentioned this benefit to my wife, she cried,” he admits. New fathers and mothers enjoy similar perks: Maternity benefits last for nearly five months, while new fathers get six weeks of leave after their wives give birth.
The company also offers a “Baby Deposit” to cover diapers for six months after a baby is born, all at no cost to their loyal employees.
While some offices may just boast an outdoor gym or tennis court, Googlers around the world can enjoy most sports in the sun, inside the playground. brilliant. In it, there are climbing walls, beach volleyball, running track in the park, bowling alley, basketball court, soccer field, table tennis, and even a golf room.
Staff can relax after a long day in the pool, which includes both wave machines and underwater treadmills, and a lifeguard is on duty around the clock.
For less athletic categories, the company also has mobile libraries, offering language courses ranging from Spanish to Mandarin.
The current office in London, in addition to Tottenham Court Road, also has a rooftop apartment where “cool” employees can grow trees, herbs and fruit trees. And forget family vacations, Google likes its employees to attend annual ski trips, summer picnics, and themed parties, so they spend all their free time themselves with colleagues.
However, they also emphasize that too much entertainment can also make people immature. An employee of the company said, “People never grow up. They drink all the time, communicate constantly, play games and do little or no work.”
Meetings also need to be creative.
Why book a boring meeting room when you can perfectly summon colleagues in a hut, on a bicycle or even in a bathtub?
Google has pioneered ostentatious interiors and prides itself on hosting casual office events in an unusual space. For example, the Google office in Israel has an artificial beach and sliding doors, while the London office has Dodgem cars, beaches and rooms disguised as giant dice.
In Amsterdam, staff hold meetings in caravans, with abandoned chairs and fake BBQ grills. In Dublin, they put up a green dome and rainforest on the roof.
Old bathtub tables, walled rooms, cushions and “conference bikes” are used as a team-building activity for new employees. It has 4 wheels, 5 riders and they have to work together to move it around.
Many special guests appeared in Google offices around the world, including the Queen of England in London.
If all of the above leaves you exhausted instead of excited, Google has a bunch of A-listers on the phone to present to its employees.
Among the famous faces to convey words from Google are Lady Gaga and Annie Lennox, models Lily Cole and Christy Turlington, actors like Will Smith and Ryan Reynolds and former US President Barack Obama.
Since 2005, more than 1000 guests have given motivational talks: The “Google Goes Gaga” video is hugely popular, garnering 2.5 million views.
The annual Zeitgeist conference is held in rural England, where former attendees include Prince Charles, Sir Richard Branson and David Cameron.
Forget the stressful morning commute: Google employees in San Francisco are provided with free transportation, with wifi to move from the city center to the office.
Elsewhere around the world, employees are accompanied by racers and golf carts as they move between different departments within the same office. Walking in the company seems like a waste of energy. Those who drive to the company can enjoy free on-site car washes and oil changes.
Sleeping on the toilet is also a unique experience. The search engine’s offices are equipped with “Toto Japan Toilets” , super high-tech tools with heated seats, in-house washers and dryers. And each one costs 11,000 pounds (equivalent to more than 324 million).