And now, with the soaraway online advertising market threatening to stall, comes news that Google's software engineers are going to get less time to spend on pet projects and are being told instead to hunker down and work on money-making tweaks to the core business.
Depending on how serious this is I can't see this is a good idea. 20% time is Google's brilliant distributed research and innovation project. Killing it off a) makes Google stupider, and b) pisses off all the people who are currently emotionally invested in their projects.
Far better for Google to cut other perks (free food, toys) or even salaries than cutting 20% time.
1 comment:
Calling 20% time "distributed research and innovation project" really clarifies Eric Schmidt's actions: a massive cut back on R&D. One wonders why the reporting doesn't focus on that fact rather than the schadenfreude that Google workers will finally be treated as dogs like the rest of us?
Schmidt's compensation is largely dependent on bonuses. Will the compensation committee see his plan for "tweaks" as bold and original and compensate him accordingly?
Sadly the usual tread had been for company executives to bleed money their ways in the face of declining revenue. Why is it we seem to think this good?
Your keen insight and careful language provides a clearer picture than most business reporters do.
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