Google CEO: Distributing free food to employees has helped increase creativity

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, revealed the most prominent traits the company looks for in entry-level employees, indicating that people looking to work at the giant search company in a field such as engineering need not only to be excellent; they must also be willing to learn, grow and adapt to new situations.

According to CNN, Sundar Pichai said in an interview with The David Rubenstein Show: Peer to Peer Conversations that the company is currently looking for outstanding software engineers.

He explained that applicants must be hungry both figuratively and literally, the figurative meaning being the passion for work, and the literal meaning being for the free food that the company provides.

Asked about the free food for employees, Pichai said the company’s long-standing policy of providing meals to employees has become a standard in tech workplaces, noting that he remembers meeting people in the company cafeteria and talking to them about the idea and they were excited about it.

“It has increased creativity among employees because it creates a community, and the benefits are much less than the cost associated with it,” he said.

Alphabet had more than 179,000 employees worldwide as of the end of June.

Pichai said he is proud of the policy because when the company makes an offer to a potential employee, about 90 percent of people say yes.

It’s no surprise that most candidates accept the job, given that it’s a prestigious company, but working at Google also requires finding a way to stand out, according to Nolan Church, a former Google recruiter.

Church told Business Insider that it’s no surprise that people who want to interview should make sure they’re prepared, by studying the company, its policies, its values, and its mission to fit in. He explained that job candidates should have stories ready on topics like a successful project they’ve completed or a career highlight, noting that having such stories helps candidates show their motivations and what motivates them to work and makes the interview more conversational and engaging.