[seibelj]

Honestly I don’t think anyone at Google or Facebook really cares that much. They are old companies, the big money has been made, and it’s pretty much impossible to launch a new successful product. Everything big has been acquisitions for a decade. If you climb up to executive level it’s just twiddling thumbs until the cash cow starts to die, then you ride off into the sunset because nothing is going to replace the cash cow.

And then the products - does anyone wake up every day feeling super excited to help push ads and shrill partisan hacks to boomers? It’s like to work there you just accept “this is how it is and I like money” and you punch a card and leave. It must be a miserable existence for anyone who truly ponders it.

[altdataseller]

I dont know about miserable. The money, benefits and work/life balance can be very good. And while the work is uninteresting, its probably a lot more tolerable than working elsewhere.

[seibelj]

It is a philosophical thing for me personally. I did a stretch at a meaningless company with good pay and perks and I was so unbelievably bored. If you have mentally accepted your productive output is without personal meaning and you are only in it for a check, then I agree it’s a good gig. I just personally can’t do it. And I think the general no-fucks-given by the workforce is why a lot of stuff is just stagnating and declining.

[altdataseller]

Gotcha. I also share the same sentiment but my sentiment is even darker. I think most products dont need to exist - not just Google or BigTech. The same applies to project mgt tools, that new fintech product, or that new SaaS tool. Almost everything has been done. Given that i cant go back to school to learn to do genomics or rocket engineering, im just gonna resign myself to go thru the motions and get a paycheck, and thats it.

[seibelj]

I am a perpetual optimist and I disagree that everything has been done. We have 500 kinds of deodorant because the market needs it - each one is a little different and resonates with a different consumer for some reason. Believing "we only need one thing" of anything is authoritarian.

My path out of the grind was entrepreneurialism. Much more rewarding personally and financially. Good luck to you

[_8j50]

I don't know, I've been there and it's like I have an opportunity to learn and do something wildly different or new and that's something to look forward to even if the only person that will appreciate what I did is myself. Imagine working at google if you found a flaw in their page rank algorithm or monarch db implementation/design? That would feel gratifying. I personally don't care much if I contribute to a society that gives -1 shits about me or appreciated by coworkers that will throw me under the bus if it meant a brownie point for them (been there, done that).