Former Owner of Acquired Company Socratic, Shreyas Bhansali, Describes Working at Google as Having a Second Passport due to the Company’s Immense Size and Uniform Work Culture
The immense scale at which tech giants like Google operate, coupled with their standardized and cohesive work culture, creates an environment where being employed by them feels akin to belonging to a vast, interconnected community. Shreyans Bhansali, an Indian-origin tech entrepreneur and current CTO at Maven, reflects on his time at Google in a blog post. He likens working for Google and possessing its ID card, granting access to the entire company, to holding a second passport. Bhansali’s association with Google stems from the acquisition of Socratic, an edu-tech firm he co-founded.
In his blog post, Bhansali expresses that the Google badge provides entry to well-equipped offices worldwide, offering amenities like excellent food, workspaces, and high-speed connectivity within Google’s extensive network of over 200,000 employees. He describes this experience as “like having a second passport” and draws a parallel to visiting a foreign country, where everything appears familiar yet subtly different due to the substantial influence exported by Google.
Essentially, Bhansali underscores that Google’s vast global presence, with numerous large offices adhering to a specific work culture, imparts a sense of distinct identity. The company’s universal approach to office culture, characterized by free food, unique practices in work, payment, and lifestyle, creates a sense of “home” for Googlers, irrespective of the geographical location of Google offices.
Bhansali emphasizes the equivalence of a Google ID to a passport, noting that once inside a Google facility, employees gain immediate access to all resources with their badges. This observation extends to other major tech companies, such as Facebook and Apple, which have established worldwide networks of offices, offering a standardized work experience globally.
Given the considerable wealth of these tech companies, the employment experience they provide, marked by perks and a uniform work culture, is often perceived as a ticket to a superior quality of life. In essence, securing a job with tech giants like Google or considering migration to developed countries shares similarities in the pursuit of an enhanced life experience.
