Google is
consistently ranked as the best company to work for and its employees are among
the highest-paid in the world. Long hours are reportedly quite common at
Google, but it turns out some employees almost never leave the campus and start
living in the parking lot! There’s even a Quora thread about
it. Here’s a look at 5 reasons
Google employees prefer to live in parking lots and how easy it is...
Rents are
too high :
Ben Discoe
lived at the Google campus for 13 months (October 2011 to November 2012)
because the rent in South Bay area was too high. He already had a house payment
and alimony to pay, and turns out living in a parking lot is convenient.
The
security team at Google did check up on him when he started living on the
campus, but left him to it once they were certain that he was just an eccentric
Googler.
To save
money :
23-year-old
Brandon Oxendine lived in a Google parking lot from June 28 to September 22,
2013. He purchased a station wagon, decked it up with two mattresses and put up
curtains on the windows.
In his
blog, Oxendine says he chose to live in the parking lot because 20s for him is
the time to save some money and attain financial freedom. "If I do plan on
traveling the world, I'll need to be comfortable with unconventional living
situations, and this is certainly a good place to start,” he says.
Another
Google employee, whose name was not mentioned in the Quora thread, lived on
campus in a tent-like camper. In 2-3 years, he saved up enough to buy a house.
On a dare :
Matthew J
Weaver started living in a Google parking lot on a dare and says “it was excellent for my career.” Though Google does not have a policy of allowing employees to
sleep in campus, the security team “even kept a lookout on
Weaver’s mobile home when he was
away,” according to a Fox News
report.
Weaver
wrote that he would even hold parties in his RV on Thursdays when the weather
permitted. However, it became a little difficult for him to explain to women he
was dating why he lived in a parking lot, he says.
Not able
to find housing :
One
Googler who had moved to the London office from the Mountain View headquarters
could not find a place to stay. So, he stayed at the office till a permanent
residence could be arranged; the duration for him was just one week. However,
instead of staying in the parking lot, he slept under his desk.
How
difficult is it?
Turns
out, living in a Google parking lot, or somewhere else for that matter, is not
really difficult. The employees who have lived on campus for extended periods
say that they showered at the gym and ate their meals at the office (Google
provides free meals for all employees). Employees can also do their laundry on
campus, so even that is not a problem. And anytime you feel the need to use the
restroom, "just walk the short distance to the nearest Google building and
badge in," writes Discoe.
Source : TOI
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