You NAILED it.

I wrote about my internship experiences at Microsoft and Google a while back: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=227162>. What you say pretty much sums it up.

Google is just so used to being the hot cool shit and they haven't been large enough for long enough to realize that simply isn't true any more. Don't get me wrong, they are both incredible places to work, but Google needs to adjust to their new count and composition of employees.

Luckily, the original article is just one of many bits of proof that Google is aware of problems and is working to resolve them. Microsoft would never show this level of transparency for (the obviously justified) fear of these sorts of forum posts leaking.

When I was interning at Amazon a little while back I was quite surprised to hear from Google interns how little they were being paid (in comparison, the salary is still respectable). I'd always imagined Google to be the type that showered you in money/perks simply because of their Googliness.

Turns out they rely on the "but we're GOOGLE!" schtick a lot when hiring.

I can't say much for full time employees, but I've heard the exact opposite for interns. The Google interns I've spoken with all said Google was their best offer as far as compensation goes.

I got internship and full time SWE jobs at Google. They're competitive. About the same as Microsoft (though, they have better insurance and different tax situation), I'd say pay is comparable (I am getting quite a bit of income out of the food lets say). All in the last two years.

The people I know directly also got Google offers as good or better than anything else - keeping in mind this was 2+ years ago.

Microsoft has gone from the company that promised you the ability to never work again in 7 years to a place that's your usual 5pm parking lot traffic jam. Compared to those days, compensation has fallen off a cliff.

However, with respect to slinging code at any non-equity day gig, Microsoft's rates are great. Microsoft has a lot of Partnerships with other large companies that stretch their benefit package.

Put it another way, when I interviewed there and asked about compensation, the recruiter simply said, "You can still go to any dealership in the area and say, "I just got hired at Microsoft" and expect to be approved on the spot, regardless of past credit history."