zlacker

>>tech-h+(OP)
Google works like crazy to hire all of the smartest and the best people, but do they really need them? Billions and billions in shareholder value could be extracted by hiring a bunch of mid-tier Java programmers and having them farm Ad Words for the next decade, until the first competition shows up.

>>whatsh+Ac
Many great people are hired not necessarily to move Google forward, but so that they don’t move a Google-competitor forward.

>>ulfw+3d
This makes me think about something.

I don't work at a FAANG company, nor have I ever been to SV, nor do I know anyone who works at one of the many enormous tech companies around SV.

In the TV show Silicon Valley they have characters who sit around unassigned doing nothing at the Google-like company in the show. Does this actually happen? Are there people hired at these companies who just don't have a project? Its entirely feasible that Google could afford to do this just to create a dearth of engineers in the area.

>>dmurdo+be
I seem to remember reading an article on "rest and vest" employees.

Here it is: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14943146