Pros
Depending on your product area and expertise, Google can be either the professional playground that media (historically) portrays or it can be the corporate, soul-sucking machine that media (currently) portrays. Regardless of the atmosphere specific to your product area, compensation is outstanding and you will have the autonomy to define and own your specific area of focus. Innovation is still encouraged, albeit through a lens of risk management and direct value add.
Cons
Work/life balance was essentially non-existent in my product area and the long hours we put in brought down our calculated hourly by 20%+. Guidance and direction from top leadership in 2023/2024 feels reactionary and vague. Company's culture is in a period of transition, and there is a general sense of discontent layered with resignation to the new, heavily corporate direction things are going.
