It's interesting that even Google's offices have become celebrities. For instance, when I toured Sprint's headquarters, not a single person reacted with, "I'm jealous. You must tell me all about it." Yet that's exactly the reaction I got when I mentioned I was touring a Google office today. Perhaps Sprint should try supplying their employees with free gourmet meals.
Most people know about Google's main office in Mountain View, California. The Googleplex is actually one of many offices in the US and around the world. I'm in New York City for an About.com event this weekend, so I went to visit Google's New York office, which boasts the largest Google engineering team outside of California. Sean Carlson, Manager of Global Communications, was kind enough to give me a tour.
The main office is located in a former Port Authority building, complete with an elevator big enough to move a bus. Although the exterior was rather inconspicuous, the interior was decorated with Google's bright colors. The primary means of transportation within the building seemed to be the kick scooter.
Many American businesses seem to have the notion that employees are either working hard or hardly working. At Google, the corporate culture encourages play and relaxation during the work day. Google employees can enjoy snacks, play ping pong, or fiddle around with Lego blocks. Perks like this encourage collaboration, creativity, and long work days. They also let Google be highly selective in hiring. Would the Google culture work outside of Google? That's hard to say, but it certainly works outside of Silicon Valley.