From a commenter over at Hacker News:

I work on your legacy applications, but you pay me new development wages, generally below what I can get elsewhere. You don’t challenge me enough, so I end up watching cat videos to spend time between bursts of getting things done, because there’s just not enough actual work to be done. When I come to you with problems, you talk about how you’ll get some people together to look into it; I’ve never heard back.

When Google contacts me, they treat me like a human that wants to grow, learn, and expand beyond the walls of the company, not just inside it. I don’t want to play politics. I want to build cool stuff, make money, and learn something new every day. You don’t give me that, so I’m leaving.

I had a similar experience earlier this year. I left. Now I’m making cool things and solving interesting problems. I have complete control over my environment and I see how my efforts are directly impacting the company.