Google

Management, working culture, autonomy, compensation, work environment, team dynamics, work-life balance - great.

Food quality concern: food poisoning. But don't raise this subject if you don't want to get into the Google blacklist.

I was working as a contractor at Google (Seattle). Management, working culture, autonomy, compensation, work environment, team dynamics, and work-life balance were great.

Food was dangerous. I got food poisoning 3 times (not counting the times when my stomach hurt after food, so after that, I only took yogurts, fruits (not cut), etc.). I heard a group of men discussing food quality. My colleague got stomach problems when drinking fruit water. Another colleague vomited after lunch. But nobody complained officially – just between co-workers (later I understood why).

I wrote a big post about that issue with details and descriptions, in hope that food quality would improve in such a great company as Google.

Guess what? I was contacted by the risk management department right away, got a call from my staffing agency, and received an invitation for a meeting with the food manager. As you understand, nobody was concerned about the food quality. They asked me politely to remove the post and keep quiet in the future. This is what I did. Then I quit and left Google.

A little later, I was interviewing for several jobs at Google. And guess what? Even if I passed the interview and was perfectly qualified for the job, I wouldn't get an offer at Google. Guess why? Then I understood why.