Google Opens Doors at Ann Arbor Offices to the Public

By Margarita Bauza, Detroit Free Press

May 17–Google Inc. opened its Ann Arbor offices to the public today, revealing a colorful cubicle emporium that is the home of the first 100 employees the Internet company hired.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company plans to hire 1,000 Googlers — what it calls its employees — in the next five years.

Earlier this year, Fortune Magazine named Google the country’s No. 1 place to work. Employees enjoy a vast menu of in-house perks, including massages, free gourmet lunches and gyms.

Cubicles are bursting with personality. Mr. Potato Heads, Elmos, plastic swimming pools, hammocks and plastic blow-up superheroes peak out of cubicle corners and hallways.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm attended the open house and welcomed employees to its Ann Arbor offices.

“This is the most obvious example of what we are trying to become,” she told a roomful of Googlers at a reception this morning.

Contact MARGARITA BAUZA at 313-222-6823 or mbauza@freepress.com.

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Copyright (c) 2007, Detroit Free Press

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