Google Software Developer reviews

As the company has grown bigger, it has become more siloed--groups are segregated off into their own buildings, and inter-group communication lessens. As a result, the diversity of the people I interact with regularly has lessened by the year. The promotion process can seem arbitrary--a secret committee reviews your information and makes a decision. You receive very little feedback about the process and have no opportunity to present your case to the people who make the decision (other than by writing a "self-assessment" before the fact). Recently there seem to have been an increasing number of cutbacks in the name of reducing company expenditures, I suspect mostly due to the fact that company growth has exceeded revenue growth in recent years. The company has grown more faceless and bureaucratic as it has gotten bigger. It is easier to feel like a cog in a machine now than it was in the past. Many projects seem overstaffed due to the rapid growth of the company.

Your career is in your hands. One downside of little management is the fact that no one cares about your professional development. If you can manage this yourself you'll likely do well. If not, you probably won't get promoted.