Google: We pass on hiring smart people to help the ecosystem.
An engineer from Google told the VP of Google that “…these people are actually important to have outside of Google. They’re very Google people that have the right philosophies around these things, and it’s important that we not hire these guys. It’s better for the ecosystem to have an honest industry, as opposed to aggregating all this talent at Google.”
I’m not sure how I feel about this one. I’ve read it and re-read it and simply cannot land on an opinion. At first blush, it seems like the nicest “Dear John” broadcast let down ever recorded but then there’s this pesky, nagging thought that maybe they actually believe it.
The first gross assumption is of course that it would be possible for Google to hire all of any kind of talent. The second gross assumption being that brilliant engineering ideas only come from employees of technology companies. These assumptions smack of arrogance, limited and short-sighted vision as well as a disregard for the spontaneity and potential of innovation.
As I type this, I suppose my opinion is being ferreted out as being offended. I’m offended on behalf of all of the talented engineers who have attempted to work for Google and I am offended on behalf of Google’s internal recruiting team who have a serious challenge recruiting under such ridiculous notions. If, in fact they believe their own words, then the recruiters are in a sticky wicket attempting to recruit “not too smart” candidates.
There must be some angle they’re working and all i can think is that they missed the target. I hope to hear better from them soon as this is catastrophic to their employer brand in my mind.
What do you think?
Reaching Hire 