Google's new Zurich office

If your ideal workspace includes a slide, a games room, a 'chill-out' aquarium and plenty of free food then you had better get your CV into Google. Dotcom companies were defined by beanbags and pizza but Google, a company that came to prominence after the bubble had burst, has taken that image to a whole new level. Meeting 'pods' in the style of Swiss chalets and igloos, fireman poles to allow easy access between floors and a slide to ensure that people can get to the cafeteria as quickly as possible are all part of a design of its new European engineering headquarters in Zurich Switzerland. The building was designed for - and partly by - the 300 engineers who will work there. The wacky office is both a showcase for Google's unconventional approach to business and a symbol to prove that Google is no longer a US-centric firm. But as the search giant expands its wings so criticism about its dominance becomes ever louder. The civil liberties lobby is hot on its heels with questions about what it plans to do with all the data it is collecting while others question its expansion into new areas - with its purchase of advertising outfit DoubleClick causing particular controversy. Google stresses that it puts users before making money but an 18% drop in its share price at the beginning of the year proved that it wasn't immune to the US economic downturn and some question how long its good intentions can last if profits continue to fall.

Google's new Zurich office

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