[ifyoubuildit]

Not to minimize how much it must suck to get laid off when you haven't prepared for it, but when you say:

> And people who (IMHO naively/foolishly) gave their lives to the company suffered.

they didn't "give their lives" for nothing, right? Didn't they trade it for an incredibly desirable compensation package?

[cmrdporcupine]

Yes, Google's compensation is extremely generous.

But my experience when working there is that there are definitely people whose emotional (and physical) engagement with their jobs goes well beyond just what is required to get that compensation.