Ask HN: Is Google Hiring? (and other big tech companies)

Does anyone know what Google's current hiring outlook is? I know they slowed hiring a few months ago. So are they still reducing headcount growth? Are they only considering really exceptional or specialized candidates?

I know several people who have applied with internal referrals (included myself) and been denied with semi-automated emails. This is surprising considering some of these people have been fast -tracked in the Google interview or have gotten offers from other competitive tech companies (FB, Amazon, etc.)

This seems odd, so I was hoping someone on HN could shed some light.