The New York Times: The golden age of Silicon Valley tech giant employees has come to an end.

Silicon Valley tech giants were once a paradise for job seekers, but now the aura of high salaries and benefits has faded. Employees face layoffs, strict controls, and fears of AI replacement; the golden era has come to an end, replaced by an uncertain future. This article is sourced from a piece written by The New York Times, organized and translated by Dongqu. (Background: "Windsurf Blood Acquisition" 200 employees forced to sign an 80-hour "workaholic contract" or leave, Cognition CEO: does not believe in Work-Life Balance) (Background Supplement: AI programming Cursor founder: what is valuable in the post-programming era is "taste") In 2007, Rachel Grey started as a software engineer at Google, a wonderful time for a Noogler (Google's term for new employees). During the two-week onboarding at Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California, the various benefits dazzled Grey. The company's cafeteria offered steak and large shrimp, fresh juice was available in the kitchen, and the gym provided a variety of free classes. In addition to salary, employees received stock options; for every dollar employees saved in their retirement account, the company matched it with an additional half; and there were $1,000 Christmas bonuses in envelopes. During the onboarding, Grey was also deeply impressed by the number of data center servers revealed by Google. "I witnessed the company's transparency," she said when discussing this usually confidential information. Over the years, as Grey was promoted to software engineering manager, her feelings have changed. The Christmas bonus has shrunk; the company no longer openly shares internal information with employees as it once did; the company has abandoned its commitment not to use its artificial intelligence for weapons; the promotion budget has dried up, forcing her to lower the performance ratings of her subordinates, a process she described as "painful." In April of this year, on the verge of her 18th anniversary at the company, 48-year-old Grey resigned from her once-dream job. Life for employees of Silicon Valley giants has changed dramatically. Google, Apple, Meta, and Netflix once became the dream destinations for tech talent with high salaries, luxurious campuses, and a free corporate culture. Now, these giants have transformed into bloated bureaucracies. Although many of these companies still offer free meals and high salaries, they are ruthless during layoffs, mandating a return to the office and suppressing employee disputes. Employees lament that it is now an era of keeping one’s head down and saying little. "Tech companies may still be the best in terms of free lunches and high salaries," Grey said, but "the fear index has skyrocketed." She added, "I think having lunch but being scared to death is better than having no lunch and being scared to death, but I’m not sure if staying there is wise." A Google spokesperson stated that many employees have been promoted and that the performance management system has been optimized to reward outstanding employees. Company policies aim to motivate employees to focus on work while adhering to Google’s goals and culture. As tech companies have expanded, employee numbers have surpassed many towns, leading to a corresponding rise in costs and increased scrutiny. Companies like Meta, Google, and Apple have been forced to make changes as employees and the public question their excessive power. A turning point occurred in 2022 and 2023 when Elon Musk acquired Twitter (which he later renamed X) and laid off three-quarters of its employees; meanwhile, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg cut thousands of jobs in what he called "efficiency year." Google and Amazon also conducted massive layoffs. Many companies attributed their responsibility to over-hiring due to the surge in demand for digital services during the pandemic. During this process, the company’s candor with employees has become less tolerant. After employees protested issues including workplace sexual harassment, management reinforced control. With an oversupply of engineers in the job market, critics can easily be replaced. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said last year in a blog post, "This is a business, not a place to disrupt colleagues or create unrest, nor a platform for personal promotion or a battleground for political debate." Some might say these changes merely align tech industry employees with those in other American companies, where employees are accustomed to fulfilling the company's priorities. However, the rise of generative artificial intelligence has intensified this transformation in the tech industry, with executives stating that AI has made some jobs redundant. In January of this year, Zuckerberg indicated that he believed AI would replace some mid-level engineers this year. Musk went further, predicting last year that AI would ultimately replace all jobs. "Things are moving in a direction unfavorable to tech workers," said Catherine Bracy, founder and CEO of the nonprofit TechEquity, which advocates for economic inclusion in the industry. "Companies have more means to deal with employees, and AI is exacerbating this." Liz Fong-Jones, a former Google employee now at Honeycomb, stated that the impact of AI on tech industry jobs is still uncertain. Jackie Dives for The Washington Post, via Getty Images. Liz Fong-Jones, CTO of Honeycomb, a San Francisco company that helps engineers discover and debug code issues, stated that the impact of AI on jobs has been exaggerated. However, she warned that the situation might change in five years. Fong-Jones, who has worked at Google, said tech workers could prevent AI from taking over, "but we are all too afraid to do anything but comply, training our replacements." For some tech workers, the changes in the workplace have been abrupt. 32-year-old Adam Tretler, a human resources strategist who worked in Twitter's New York office before and after Musk's acquisition, said the initiatives under the new boss were shocking. "From the moment Elon took over, the company overnight transformed from 'how do we improve HR management' to 'how do we pay employees with the least steps and the fewest people,'" Tretler said. He joined Twitter in 2021 and left in January 2023, now working at jewelry company Pandora. X did not respond to requests for comment. Others indicate that this transformation has been gradual. 40-something Ava Zosopa, a designer in Seattle who joined Meta in 2022 to develop tools to help users set privacy, said she felt empowered to help address some tech issues that concerned her as a parent. She mentioned that Meta allowed flexible work arrangements so she could accompany her children to appointments, and the company's LGBTQ-friendly policies made her feel accepted, as she has gay family members. However, Zosopa said that over time, Meta has cut family benefits. This January...