This is a good point I think many people are overlooking. (Full disclosure - I work at Google now.) Your project matters too. People working for great managers on things like search algorithms, Android or open source initiatives are much more likely to love their job. People working for managers they hate on things like Orkut, ATS, or cross-browser compatibility testing are much more likely to leave.

In a company as big as Google, different employees can have very different experiences. When you read this group set up for employees who quit, you're seeing the least happy segment of the employee population. I know it doesn't work out for everyone, but I think the average Google employee really likes their job, and I would recommend working there to any programmer who was thinking about it.

Just my 2 cents.

I would imagine orkut dev is being done by Google India, otherwise it is gonna be frustrating, just like you can't make a shop in India work on Facebook: because none of your friends are using it!

Orkut was initially developed in Mountain View and I know for some people it was a frustrating job for exactly the reason you describe. I am not sure but I think it is primarily developed in Brazil now (where Orkut is very popular).

Orkut dev in Mountain View had a lot of Indian engineers. They've since moved all dev work to Brazil and India.