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Whether you’re an IT worker, a marketing coordinator, an account specialist or a janitor, everyone knows there is one coveted place to work: Google. Just ask nearly any of the publications that rank top places to work, and the consensus seems pretty clear. Among other things, Google provides free gourmet cafeterias, an onsite gym, dry cleaning, massages, an oil change, a concierge…the list could go on forever. But, as a ZDNet blog entry points out, no company is perfect. And Google, certainly is no different. They have their own issues to deal with. If Google were really the perfect place to work, then why would anyone ever leave? And people do leave, according to ZDNet blogger, Deb Perelman.

I decided to take a look at the 5 most common complaints about Google listed in this ZDNet entry and then, I put my opinions in about whether or not these complaints seemed legitimate.

1. Google is more concerned with “being cool” than delivering a quality product.

My Response: Well, I’m not sure I’m qualified to answer this question. But as a satisfied Google customer, who is absolutely enamored with the new IGoogle set-up, I have no complaints. If they can create a “cool atmosphere” while continuously serving up innovative technology, that is just fine by me!

2. There is no career path, just free lunch and foosball.

My Response: Again, I tend to think this is a jab at the perks, rather than looking into the solid evidence. Google, like every other big company in the world has crappy jobs. BUT, not all crappy jobs provide free lunch and foosball. So in this flailing economy, I say, why not? (Plus, for all IT workers out there, Google has plenty of legitimately necessary jobs.)

As Fortune Magazine writes, “Hours are long (for Google employees) - typical for Silicon Valley - and it’s not unusual for engineers to be seen in the hallways at 3 a.m. debating some esoteric algorithmic conundrum. But Google keeps staff energized with plenty of free food and entertainment.” Maybe there is a method to this madness…

3. At Google, It’s NOT about the benjamins.

My Response: The ZDNet article blog that Google is really more a workplace for recent graduates and therefore, again, to the similar point, not a great place to make money. This one’s tough for me comment on. However, when I looked up Google openings on indeed.com, there wasn’t one position under $50,000 and many positions above $100,000.

4. Searching for the meaning of life? Won’t find it at Google…

My Response: The writer says that, like at any other company, people who work at Google get frustrated trying to find meaning in what they do, especially those people with Ivy league educations who end up serving coffee for their first two years. Well, I started out in the magazine industry, and I was fully aware that if I was lucky enough to land a job at a top-tier magazine, such as Esquire, in my first year, I would most certainly be taking coffee orders and hanging up coats for at least a year. It’s called paying dues. And if Google is to corporate America as Elle is to the publishing world, then these sorts of jobs should be expected.

5. Google = Never Never Land (as in never grow up!)

My Response: The ZDNet blogger writes “Is working at a company that does your laundry, gives you free food and lets you sit on bouncy-ball chairs kind of like being a kid again? More than one former Googler has argued this as they walked out the door-it was fun for a while, but it got old.”

Point taken. We don’t need to be “coddled” at our jobs, but, at the same time, I don’t see how we can fault a company for placing emphasis on employee benefits. Google may take it to the extreme, but these people are geniuses, and there is a purpose for all of these benefits: “to encourage collaboration, to break down barriers between functions, and to stimulate individual creativity and innovation,” according to Dr. John Sullivan.

In the founders’ letter that Larry Page and Sergey Brin distributed to prospective Google shareholders, they wrote, “Google is not a conventional company. We do not intend to become one.” As they continue to pump out innovation after innovation and remain at the forefront of technology, who can blame them for serving their employees gourmet free lunch and having an on-campus sand volleyball court and climbing wall? Not me.

What do you think?

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