At the Google Office in Zurich, you don't work in an office

Google is growing and growing. In 2010, 4500 new employees were hired across the Group. The company expects a similar development in 2011. In Zurich alone, 300 new jobs will be created. There are no problems with recruitment. Google receives over 3000 applications worldwide every day. In addition to the magic of the Internet, the unconventional jobs certainly play a role here.

The working environment at Google is designed to enable employees to be as innovative as possible. The goal is to drive innovation. Over 700 specialists work in Zurich. However, they are organized in very small teams. Small teams have the advantage of correspondingly short decision-making paths. Speed is a crucial element. Google also cultivates a "bottom-up" culture worldwide. Goals are not imposed from above, but ideas can also be brought in "from below". "Our employees can define their own goals. At the beginning of each quarter, the employee presents their manager with their own idea of where their work should lead," explains company spokesperson Matthias Meyer at Google Zurich. Time planning is also the responsibility of the employees themselves. In order to be able to work in such a culture, Google naturally does not just need executive employees, but entrepreneurial types.

The office is a space for creativity. Each floor at the Zurich headquarters - and equally worldwide - allows for different topics. "Whether you hold a meeting in a gondola or in a room with four gray walls naturally makes a difference," says Meyer. The working environment therefore has a direct influence on the process of innovation. To design these rooms, Google asked its employees: What does your dream office look like? A wide variety of suggestions were received, from a "jungle in the office" to a high-tech oasis, a slide or a nostalgic library. These ideas were then creatively implemented by Camenzind Evolution architects. In Zurich, an office in a "tunnel" decorated with boulders, a music room with drums and keyboards and a bistro in a replica of the Paris metro have just been put into operation.

Everyone goes through ups and downs in their daily work. There are various ways to keep yourself active at Google in order to find new and different ideas in such situations. A fitness trainer is employed at the in-house gym. There are dance classes as well as yoga lessons. Or massages. So everyone can relax individually.

Good ideas are not necessarily born at the desk, but often during a relaxing game of billiards or table football. Google has also recognized that employees are more productive when they are allowed to work on projects that really excite them. That's why the company gives its engineers as much freedom as possible to choose the projects they want to work on. To this end, everyone is even allowed to spend 20 percent of their time completely freely - perhaps to come up with a new idea themselves. Various successful Google products, such as Google News, G-Mail or Google Talk and Orkut, have already been created in Zurich alone as part of this free time.

Andreas Panzeri