I worked at Google as an SRE for almost six years. While no place is perfect, it was an amazing place to be. Why then did I leave?
The short version is that I didn't agree with the decisions and decision-making process surrounding social networking and identity in Google products, most specifically the highly-criticized mandatory "real names" policy for Google profiles which was introduced with Google Plus.
I know that many people disagree with the official stances of their employers' on many issues, and very few quit their jobs over it. I told myself this for some time, trying to convince myself that I could continue working at Google -- a company that does so many other things that I think help to make the world a better place.
But working at Google was making me frustrated and stressed, making me feel hypocritical and generally unhappy. I felt so strongly about the importance of pseudonymity and autonymity, but it was obvious that wasn't the direction the wind was blowing. I had ideas, but I didn't have any confidence that I could get them to be heard. I worried about possible outcomes. I wanted to tell my non-Google friends what I was thinking, but didn't really feel like I could. Rather than being inspired and wanting to throw myself at my work 120%, I found that despite my still-rewarding primary project and the cushy employee perks, I wasn't enjoying being at Google anymore. I'd been looking at buying a condo, but stopped because I didn't want to commit to another two or more years at Google.
I was taking language and linguistics classes part-time, because I like learning new and different things, and because it helped me to have something resembling a work-life balance. I found that I was enjoying classes so much more than working. I used my accumulated vacation days to attend a linguistic institute in July.
I'd been in a holding pattern for a long time, waiting for the folks making decisions to relax the strict name requirement. I didn't want to be waiting indefinitely. I decided that if the "real names" and gender requirements were still in place at the end of the month, I would quit. I had the extreme privilege to afford being willingly unemployed.
So I left Google and will be studying computational linguistics at San Jose State University instead.
Would I consider working at Google again? Sure, I'd consider it. I consider a lot of things. I still like many things about Google, and of course with time both myself and the company will change. But I'm also not holding my breath.
(Last updated, Aug 2011)