Why do big tech companies tolerate employees who do no work, according to Brian Attwell?

Brian Attwell said that at large companies the performance of the company is fairly decoupled from the performance of individual teams. That gap makes it easier for managers to do what is convenient for themselves, such as avoiding a hard conversation with a likable underperformer, even when it hurts the company.

• Attwell said there is also a Google-specific factor: a reported policy of keeping smart people on staff even when idle.
• He added that standards tend to fall at companies of any size because lowering them takes little effort.

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on Ryan Peterman (2026-10-30). Read the whole episode summary →

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