Google Hiring Freeze Updates - Week of 10/03/22
Creating a separate thread to track the any progress on this topic for this week. There has be a tremendous response and a ton of useful information posted in the past couple of months. In the last 2 weeks, the views/comments have trended lower and hence I created a quick pool to gauge the interest in continuing this thread. 85% of the respondents wanted me to continue this weekly thread. (See poll here - https://www.teamblind.com/post/neeDwMoj). Let us continue doing so going in to week #9 (post official freeze date). FYI, the summary is updated every week with some nuances. Summary from past few weeks: 1. Google is NOT under a hiring freeze anymore. A freeze by definition is ZERO new offers being extended and that is not the case. We saw offers being generated in some selected orgs since week of 08/15 and more candidates have gotten clarity, either moved forward or back to TM. 2. The above statement does not mean that hiring is back in full swing, in fact far from it. Critical roles are being prioritized and suitable candidates are being moved forward in the process. Open positions pre to post freeze have almost been slashed by more than 60%. Impacting most of L3/L4 positions. L3 positions seem feasible only in 2023 (with some exceptions) and L4 seem to dwindle down rapidly (with some exceptions). Several L5/L6/L7 positions have been cut in the last few weeks. Google is shifting focus to prioritize more on the revenue generators as opposed to cost centers. Days of pet projects and pure research might be behind us. GCP Update: Several cuts even in L6/L7 positions in GCP. With that being said, Google also ramps up on hiring in Q4, not sure if this year will be different. 3. We are seeing a patterns of very specialized roles or must fill roles (regardless of level) being prioritized in the recent weeks. Some hot areas are AI/ML, TPM for certain teams, specialists in certain areas, etc. Even some L3/L4 SWE positions if they have been prioritized. Another data point is that looks like GCP has completed prioritization for sales/customer facing roles (at least for North America). This means that they will be reaching out to candidates that are further along the pipeline (HC approved + TM done in the past) and almost were hired, but were impacted by the freeze. My RC is working on new TM for me. https://www.crn.com/news/cloud/google-cloud-to-unfreeze-hiring-process-by-next-month 4. I cannot emphasize enough of how important it is for you to have a great relationship with your RC. It is up to them to set you up with currently approved open roles. They generally like to keep you role/location/level in finding these matches. Try to stand out as the positions/candidates ratio has dramatically shifted. We have seen open positions being cut from 4900 or so to 2300-2400 until now. Most RCs know a lot less than the collective wisdom we gather from threads like this, but being in touch with RC is beneficial especially if you have not had a TM or back in the line cuz the role that you were previously matched is gone. This means you can expect anywhere from a purely TM get to know call with a HM to a semi-interview style approach by them. Be very prepared for these calls. 5. Macroeconomic factors: Not directly related, but inflation not being tamed will pose a threat to the economy & a potential recession (at least that is the perception) This will force FED's hand to raise interest rates and funny money days are over. It means companies (including Google) tightening down their belt, bonuses, stock buy backs and most importantly head counts. The upside here is lower stock price = potentially more RSUs (if you can negotiate well). Brace yourself for a target of 3000-3300 fall in S&P and imagine what that could do to the corporate sentiment and hiring. October is also notorious for market crashes and market bottoms :) 6. Last but not the least, as frustrating as the current situation is... no point in flaring out on RCs, leadership at Google, etc. I rather have them think this through than HIRE in a rush only to FIRE after. Plus, nobody is stopping you from seeking other opportunities. It would be great to know if anyone (regardless of level, role, etc.) are receiving offers (share numbers if you are comfortable with it) and please post any useful updates provided by your recruiters. Just to standardize the format of information sharing, I urge everyone to follow this format: My Situation: Role/Level: Principal Architect (L7) Team & Location: GCP (Bay area) Last stage cleared: HC, TM done. Stuck in last stages of compensation negotiation when freeze started. Got an update on 09/23 that the team & HM that I was aligned with could not keep their HC. This is a step backwards and in the wrong direction for me. Next step: RC is trying to line up other TM calls. For now, just assuming it is not going to happen and started exploring other opportunities. Please refer here for this history of this thread. -------------------------------------------------------------- Google Hiring Freeze Updates - Week of 09/26/22 https://www.teamblind.com/post/MWABMWbg [439 comments and 7.6K views] Google Hiring Freeze Updates - Week of 09/19/22 https://www.teamblind.com/post/m7gK1UcU [675 comments and 10.0K views] Google Hiring Freeze Updates - Week of 09/12/22 https://www.teamblind.com/post/VeNgYiq7 [790 comments and 15.5K views] Google Hiring Freeze Updates - Week of 09/05/22 https://www.teamblind.com/post/eU6ccGYz [697 comments and 10.5K views] Google Hiring Freeze Updates - Week of 08/29/22 https://www.teamblind.com/post/7yRsJsvc [707 comments and 15.6K views] Google Hiring Freeze Updates - Week of 08/22/22 https://www.teamblind.com/post/gkOcYhaY [659 comments and 11.6K views] Google Hiring Freeze Updates - Week of 08/15/22 https://www.teamblind.com/post/hS2HDS1W [609 comments and 10.6K views] Google Hiring Freeze Updates - Week of 08/08/22 https://www.teamblind.com/post/jwx8XnW2 [243 comments and 6.9K views] Do you find this thread useful/helpful? Should we continue the weekly Google Hiring Freeze Updates Thread? PLEASE VOTE BELOW!!!
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What is a RC?
Recruiting Coordinator
Do some people use RC to refer just to a recruiter? I swear I’ve seen it used (misused?) like that
My interview with Google is unfrozen now. I’m sure I’m not unique
Level, location and position?
These threads have kept me going during the freeze. Good luck everyone!
He posts these on a Sunday every week, go make some curry with all your L3 free time and fuck yourself.
And this is a service OP is doing which I am very thankful for … as an L7 this will go a long way OP even when u join google to care for people … ( can tell u as being in that spot )
Op, you are doing an awesome job with these weekly summary threads
Rooting for everyone still hanging on this week 🙏 I’m hopeful that within another few months max they will prioritize people who have been waiting forever.
IIRC, you were waiting for L6 EM. Is yours done?
Yes, signed 2 weeks ago and starting in early Nov. was in freeze for 9 weeks prior after passing everything including TM. Fortunately my role got prioritized.
Allegedly gcp roles will start to open up this week, right?
No guarantee!
GCP roles opened up the week of 9/12
The amount of relief I gain from these posts is immeasurable. The feeling of “I am not alone” and “we are all together in this” makes a lot of us feel safer in this volatile market. Thank you OP for your awesome work.
One advice I can give (this worked for me) is to not trust your RC to do all the work for you. If you know you haven’t interviewed for a specific team, and still stuck in the role prioritization phase, try looking up managers on LinkedIn and DM them. A few of them also posted that they were hiring and linked the roles. I wrote to 6 managers and 2 of them connected directly with the RC expressing their interest.
Here’s to hoping this next week brings some of us good news 🤞🏻