The Google child care mess has been getting more and more coverage. First in the NY Times, and now in the San Jose Mercury News. The snark on these things is so deep you could swim in it. A few choice points:
Susan Wojcicki - What do we know about her from these articles? She’s the sister-in-law of a founder. She has a VP title but nothing do and evidently not much respect outside the executive suite. She likes trendy Italian things, like day care philosophies. She’s not so concerned about the other folks at Google as long as she gets her kids into a day care with a $37,000 per year subsidy. No wonder there isn’t room for other people’s kids.
Google - Here’s an insight into how the place is run. They’re spending share holder money like it’s their own, but only lavishing perks on the inner-circle elites. They provide the Four Seasons of Day Care, and then make it so expensive that you can’t afford it if your options didn’t hit big time. (And no one that started in the last two years is particularly psyched about the stock these days.) But just to make sure that the Most Expensive Day Care Program In The World isn’t polluted with other people’s kids, they restrict it to people who made millions on the stock and don’t really need the subsidy anyways. Charging money just to be on the waiting list? That’s a kick in nuts when you’re already down. Do no evil indeed.
But the truth is if you have kids, Google doesn’t really want you. They’re trying to be an extension of college, with bikes, cafeterias, ski trips and unbelievably childish politics. No one at Stanford had kids. And you shouldn’t either.
