‘Googly’ work amenities rival some holiday resorts

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: It's amazing that Google employees can get any work done. Between the three daily catered meals, on-site massage therapist, free gym membership and game room (complete with air hockey, darts and Foosball), Google’s new development centre in Seattle’s Fremont neighbourhood boasts amenities that rival some resorts.

Just in case there aren’t enough entertainment options, kayaks are available so staffers can go for a mid-day paddle on the nearby Lake Washington Ship Canal. There’s even a “quiet room”—complete with lava lamp, massage chair and wonderful views of the water—where Google employees can presumably dream up the next great Internet application while their muscles are relaxed.

Google opened the Seattle development centre in October 2007 and has already hired about 75 people to work there. It will focus on systems development, the back-end infrastructure that makes the company’s applications hum, but also has projects going on in Web site testing and mapping.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based Internet search giant, which also has a sales office in Fremont and a development centre in Kirkland, pulled back the covers on the new Seattle office to the media and members of the technology industry Tuesday.

The message was clear. Google, which is aggressively competing with Amazon.com, Microsoft and hundreds of start-ups for smart people, wants to portray itself as a fun place to work that does things a little differently. In the lexicon of the Internet company, that new approach to business is called Googly — a word that was uttered throughout the tour and demonstration.

The war for talent was on the minds of Google executives. Brian Bershad, the University of Washington computer science professor who was picked to lead the new Seattle office about three months ago, avoided the topic when asked how the company competes against Microsoft and others.

“We have a tremendous number of really strong people who have come out of UW who are here at Google today. Where else they may have chosen to go, I have not had that conversation.”

But Shiva Shivakumar, vice president of engineering at Google, quickly followed up on that comment. “We have not lost too many to other companies in the area,” Shivakumar said to laughs from the crowd.

Bershad added: “That’s a slightly stronger way of putting it.” And he noted that the company attracts people from all over the world. “People come to Google. We don’t so much take from other employers,” he said.

The executives declined to say how many people they plan to hire in the Seattle area in the coming years, though the company has quickly grown from two people four years ago to more than 450 people today.

“In the case of Kirkland and Seattle, the growth rate has been astounding because we have been able to find some really, really talented people,” said Alan Eustace, senior vice president of engineering and research. “That has fueled, I think, one of the highest growth rates we have had worldwide and I expect we will continue to try to grow as we find the best people.”

Technology insiders who attended the open house said it is a good thing that Google has chosen to grow in Seattle.

Google’s new office, along with Yahoo’s plans to expand in Bellevue and the new startup companies that are being formed, create what venture capitalist Tom Alberg calls “intellectual stimulation”. “I think ultimately it is a cycle of people,” said Alberg, a founding partner of Madrona Venture Group. “They will attract people, those people will do interesting work and then they will go do their own thing. Overall, it is extremely positive that Google is here.”

For years, Alberg said, economic development officials talked about ways to attract corporate headquarters or manufacturing plants to the region. But what has really proved successful for the region is building “intellectual centres” around companies like Google, RealNetworks and Amazon.com.