Google cutting back on holiday festivities

‘TIS THE SEASON, but this year Google may be toning down its Christmas party extravaganzas and tightening its belt, faced with a very shaky economy.

Google is renowned for its spectacular holiday festivities, which last year included ice sculptures, virtual reality video game stations, karaoke booths, sushi buffets and even burlesque dancers for 10,000 guests at Silicon Valley’s Shoreline Amphitheater.

But this year, with a global credit crunch sucking the tech industry dry and with firms like HP, Yahoo, Sun, Applied Materials, Sandisk and scores of others having to lay off in excess of 140,000 jobs in the last month alone, Google is having to rethink the festive season.

Google itself is not actually doing too badly, considering the fate of its tech brethren, even expanding its workforce of Googlers to 20,000 recently. But the senior management have obviously decided this is no time for greed, gluttony, or Googly excess, instead encouraging departments to host their own, smaller events.

These more intimate, team-building affairs are reported to include volunteering activities in groups accompanied by demure dinner parties and museum outings.

Certainly sounds to us like Google is turning into a bit of a Grinch. Bah Humbug! µ

L'Inq
Reuters