Pros
Joined Google via acquisition of Mandiant in Nov. 2022, which was shortly before the layoffs began in early 2023. Most (but not all!) Mandiant staff were retained despite the drastic cuts in headcount globally. As a result, our existing Mandiant stock packages continue to vest and pay out at $23/share, which was the acquisition share price, so that's why the stock figure here is inflated. My Google GSU's for 2023 are valued at roughly $40-50k (there will be slight fluctuations in share price throughout the year), while Mandiant RSU payouts will be about 40k. Benefits at Google are world-class in terms of 401k match, medical/dental/vision, student loan payment matching, legal perks (they have an attorney network similar to a medical network, and will help you find an attorney & cover costs of things like estate planning, closing costs on buying a house, prenups, personal contract disputes, traffic tickets, etc.).
Cons
Mandiant was very people-centric, so when you needed something, it was a matter of who you needed to talk to, and it wasn't hard to find the right person. At Google, it's impossible to operate the same way, given we are now part of an enterprise with about 100x our Mandiant's headcount. The beauracracy of corporate functions (legal, HR, payroll, recruiting, etc) is suffocating. We used to be nimble and quick at sorting out a lot of operational matters; things that took days now take 6-12 months. On the other side of the coin, Google's productivity expectations don't always suit the cybersecurity services industry very well. There is a huge push to bring new services to market, and to scale them faster and more aggressively than we ever would have done as an independent company. While the growth plan is admirable, in the security business rushing out a product or service that is incomplete or faulty can have severe ramifications. Bugs or process failings can lead to enterprise-scale clients having major security incidents, instead of just inconveniences for users of consumer products. It doesn't always seem like Google executives understand the gravity of this, or that their processes are not necessarily well-suited to sustaining or strengthening Mandiant's position as the world's leading cybersecurity firm. As a result, morale among the Mandiant teams is weakening. I suspect that as Mandiant stock bonuses finish paying out and the "golden handcuffs" loosen, existing staff will explore opportunities elsewhere unless they are given substantial raises and GSU refills. This will exacerbate existing headcount challenges, as hiring at Google is 5x slower than it was at Mandiant (cyber roles that used to fill in a month or two now take 6-10 months), and that will have negative ramifications for our clients. Also, the return-to-office campaign is crappy and tone-deaf. Google has exceptional corporate facilities around the world; let them do the talking for you, and the people who want to enjoy working in them will come back in on their own. If someone can't be convinced by all the free food & amenities, they won't be convinced by anything, so it's not worth belaboring the point and alienating those individuals. It's also really tone-deaf to push this on people whose job offers specifically were for remote positions, and who accepted the role with a clear understanding that they would not be required to appear in an office regularly.