GOOGLE - BEST COMPANY TO WORK FOR 2008
9 COOL REASONS WHY ?1. Movie nights
How do you get more than 6,000 Googlers to see a first-run film? You rent an entire theater for the day. That's exactly what Google's done for movies like "Lord of the Rings," "Transformers" and other blockbusters. As an extra benefit, employees get to bring a guest
2. Goo-goo Googlers
Your toddler may be too young to work at Google, but that doesn't mean the search engine doesn't care about your precious baby. In fact, a new policy lets Google moms enjoy up to 18 weeks of paid maternity leave; dads get seven weeks. Another perk: free Google baby "onesies."
3. Google's own Facebook
Google's intranet, Moma, provides all the usual corporate info, like benefits, internal newsletters, and a new employee handbook. It's used most often, however, for searching out other Googlers. Why? The directory provides photos of the company's 15,916 employees.
4. Google air
Solar panels, recycled carpets and complimentary public transportation are just some of the "green" practices Google has adopted. On its Mountain View campus, the company has recently installed a special environmentally friendly air-filtering system designed to flush out toxins and particulates. If you're stuck indoors coding all night, you might as well breath clean air. 5. Google's Fools!
Don't believe everything you find on Google - at least not till you check the calendar. It's a company tradition to design elaborate pranks to play on its users and potential employees every April 1st. Past gags include a job listing for engineering positions on the moon and a fictitious product, the brain-boosting energy drink Google Gulp (flavors included "Beta Carroty" and "Glutamate Grape"). But the jokes backfired when, on April 1, 2004, Google launched Gmail and many readers thought it was another April Fool's hoax.
6. Employee clubs
One of the many ways Google recruits and retains talent is through its club offerings. It funds the Black Googler Network, Google Women Engineers and the GLBT - Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Googlers.
7. Google's grand entrances
Orkut, Google's homegrown social network, is a big hit in Brazil. Coincidentally, Brazil is the source of the elegant hardwood used to build the
Googleplex's enormous staircase. The entrance to the company's New York headquarters is no less impressive - it's got a huge all-Lego logo built by a certified Lego designer along with a 6-foot model of the Empire State Building built by Google engineers.
8. Free food, Google style
First-class dining facilities? Check. Custom-made milkshakes and onsite farmers' market? Definitely. Yes, Googlers are a well-fed bunch: The company even has a rule -- workers can never be more than 100 feet away from food. Hence the elaborate free snack stations and restaurants scattered throughout the Googleplex.
9. Scooters are out... bikes are in
After years of getting around their sprawling Mountain View headquarters on two-wheeled Segways (which kept breaking down) and electric scooters (which employees kept falling off), Googlers now use bicycles as their primary mode of transportation at corporate
COURTESY:CNN MONEY
