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- oboshoe, on 11/25/2008, -1/+19holy crap 10,000 contractors.
Guess thats one way to save on benefits - winstonsmith303, on 11/25/2008, -1/+14Contract or 'temp' employee staffing is the biggest insurance/tax scam on the planet.
- inactive, on 11/26/2008, -1/+11Merry ***** Christmas
- winstonsmith303, on 11/26/2008, -0/+10Google and a lot of bigger companies use these so-called 'staffing agencies' to hire their contractors. So you see all those neat perks Google employees get? Yeah, it's for the "employees" not just the people who work there. There are plenty of people technically doing work FOR Google AT Google but they're "contractors" and not eligible for all those nice Google benefits and perks.
Essentially, these agencies act as shell companies that hire individuals so that Google doesn't have to pay what's called a "paystub tax" a tax companies pay per employee. Also they can hire/fire you at will for pretty much anything simply by cancelling your contract. You have few employee rights, often times ZERO benefits and can't actually claim you work for Google. IF (and this is a big IF) you do get offered benefits, it's usually after an absurd number of hours worked and it's offered through the shell company, not Google. You actually end up with worse healtchare than the guy sitting right next to you just because he's technically a Google 'employee'
***** up capitalism at it's finest. - RocketGib, on 11/25/2008, -4/+11I have friends that worked at the Google Mayes County, OK Datacenter, they were also heavily affected by this... most of them were given the option to transfer to Washington state's datacenter or be let go... Almost all of them decided to find something else. Because of this, the new Datacenter won't be open until around 2010... The economy SUCKS.
- Raider007, on 11/26/2008, -1/+6You know when google starts major cut backs, that's not a good sign at all...
yahoo it's expected, google on the other hand... that's like a benchmark of several factors... - replaysMike, on 11/25/2008, -2/+7so now's not the time to ask for my interview?
- winstonsmith303, on 11/26/2008, -4/+9Google and a lot of bigger companies use these so-called 'staffing agencies' to hire their contractors. So you see all those neat perks Google employees get? Yeah, it's for the "employees" not just the people who work there. There are plenty of people technically doing work FOR Google AT Google but they're "contractors" and not eligible for all those nice Google benefits and perks.
Essentially, these agencies act as shell companies that hire individuals so that Google doesn't have to pay what's called a "paystub tax" a tax companies pay per employee. Also they can hire/fire you at will for pretty much anything simply by cancelling your contract. You have few employee rights, often times ZERO benefits and can't actually claim you work for Google. IF (and this is a big IF) you do get offered benefits, it's usually after an absurd number of hours worked and it's offered through the shell company, not Google. You actually end up with worse healtchare than the guy sitting right next to you just because he's technically a Google 'employee'
***** up capitalism at it's finest. - AmusedToDeath, on 11/26/2008, -2/+6Run a business sometime and tell me it's a scam. Employee benefits can DOUBLE the cost of hiring someone. SO a $50,000/year salaried employee might cost you $75,000 to $100,000 when you include Social Security (the nation's largest hidden tax), health insurance, pension plans, travel expenses, etc. For tasks that are one-time only, seasonal or cyclical, sometimes hiring contractors are the only way to stay profitable.
- natenovs, on 11/26/2008, -0/+3its been going down for the last year or so. the results flat out suck now.
- natenovs, on 11/26/2008, -0/+3have you seen their stock price lately? its looking a little gloomy for Google in this recession. they'll be alright, but itll be a low year, none the less.
- byronm, on 11/26/2008, -0/+3@AmusedToDeath
The cyclical aspect of business is ***** up because the cycle starts with profits and not the people that make them.
We should be ashamed of ourselves that we accept profits over peoples livelihoods, health and well being. (all of which aren't cyclical to be tossed around at the whims of corporations) - skyshock1, on 11/26/2008, -0/+3Meh... Sure they're removing contract labor, but that often means those contractors are being hired by Google directly. It's not as if those people are being dropped outright. I should know, I started out as contract labor for Google and now I work for them. But yeah, many aren't being hired on after their contract is up. Even Google has to "thin the herd" once in a while. They do this rather than cut benefits for their current employees.
- Yzzim, on 11/26/2008, -0/+3you mean pigeons
http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html - numb401, on 11/26/2008, -0/+3Is there an echo in here?
- AmusedToDeath, on 11/26/2008, -1/+4Not really. Google's whole business model is essentially based around advertising, and it's pretty clear that advertising-based businesses are going to suffer tremendously in this new economy.
- kiwijam, on 11/26/2008, -2/+4Can you please explain what you mean by contracting being a insurance/tax scam.
- Cglass, on 11/26/2008, -1/+3You're an idiot.
- adkenc, on 11/26/2008, -0/+2i think you mean oil the gears and unclog the tubes.
- cubicledrone, on 11/25/2008, -1/+3Yeah, it also inflates the "employment" rate. 50% of working-age adults in the U.S. are not employed in full-time jobs. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- julieBi, on 11/26/2008, -0/+2Is it true? Can Google be touched? oh no does this mean we might see other search engines?
Na, not really :-) - duniyadnd, on 11/26/2008, -0/+2They never said it was just in the US, probably affecting the entire organization globally.
- hank22, on 11/25/2008, -0/+2*****
- AndrewWiggin, on 11/26/2008, -0/+2your name
irony
nuff said - wilhoitm, on 11/26/2008, -0/+1Damn it! Now I can't get my kid a G. I. Joe with the Kung Fu Grip!
- byronm, on 11/26/2008, -1/+2I would have been much happier had i read "google cuts free lunches to save job" or "google stops blowing cash on snack bars to save 1000's of job" or some other "perk" to keep PEOPLE working. But oh well.. google always has a "technological" solution to everything - people need not apply.
- inactive, on 11/26/2008, -0/+1WTF are you smoking
- winstonsmith303, on 11/26/2008, -0/+1Unfortunately that's not what I'm talking about at all. You honestly think those 10 thousand people are seasonal? C'mon.
- PinkoCommie, on 11/26/2008, -0/+1Is there an echo in here?
- 4eloBek, on 11/26/2008, -0/+1well goog was 500-600 six month ago and now 282.05, and its not bottom yet. So i guess more to go soon. Time 2 learn new skillz.
- karolisonline, on 11/26/2008, -1/+2because of the bailout expenditures government funded CIA had to cut they budget and so do they branch code name "GOOGLE"
- cubicledrone, on 11/25/2008, -1/+1How about paying people no overtime for 85 hour work weeks? How about docking their pay for office supplies at whatever rate they feel is convenient? Say, $10 a copy? $2 for a paper clip?
Well? That's "operating as they please." - TheMachine1, on 11/25/2008, -2/+2So it has begun the machines are taking over.
- TImothyNutu, on 08/28/2009, -0/+0Such a shame so many people have to be let go like that, that is such an extreme amount… 500 Detroit general contractors were let go last month and I thought that was a lot but 10,000!?
http://www.detroitgeneralcontractors.org/ - blitzkriegpunk, on 11/26/2008, -5/+4Yeah, Merry Christmas, I just got 'cut' a month before my contract was supposed to end. Got the news yesterday:
http://www.thedrunkenepic.com/home/articles/sorry- ...
:( - cubicledrone, on 11/25/2008, -1/+0Just as long as the Americans get fired first, right?
- hresult, on 11/26/2008, -3/+2Now expect the search quality to go down - fewer people to tweak the knobs.
- inactive, on 11/25/2008, -3/+1In Soviet Russia...
- winstonsmith303, on 11/25/2008, -5/+3Shouldn't they be forced to cut their outsourced jobs before firing people working in America (most likely also without benefits thanks to their contractor status)?
- inactive, on 11/25/2008, -11/+9How dare a company operate in the way it pleases.
- 13B1303, on 11/25/2008, -5/+3oh yes lets have the government tell every business how it should run! The government is so wise and successful.
Security first, freedom when its convenient!
/s - Markers, on 11/25/2008, -6/+1Aww *****... hopefully my pink slip doesn't arrive before Christmas.
- Jeepinator, on 11/25/2008, -10/+5Some might say this is a real kanye move on Google's part, but companies must do what is necessary to survive.
- laughtears, on 11/25/2008, -9/+4ouch. did the contractors get free sushi like FT in-house folks do?
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