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There's free food and snacks, and commuter buses. These are available to contractors, like me.

Ultimately, the work-life balance is team-dependent. I work on Gemini and I really enjoy my team. The hours are flexible, just as long as I get a decent amount of work done. The team members are encouraging and helpful. And it's amazing to work on a cutting-edge product.

As a contractor, we don't have access to a lot of perks, and we have to pay for the buses. This isn't too big of a deal, as many companies don't have these even for FTEs. But it is frustrating when you're working in the same space with people who do.

I can't have access to the company's internal version of Colab or Gemini, even though I literally work on that product.

Sometimes, the hours are a lot longer than I want them to be, i.e., working past 5 PM.

Some of us contractors do need access to Colab and other tools. So, it would be nice to have that.