This is sloppy and lazy in its generalizations from Google and Amazon to "tech companies" in general. They should really say something like "monopolistic tech behemoths that are in the top 10 of the S&P 500".

I've worked in tech before, during, and after the hiring boom; but not for any of these companies. I have seen very little of the sort of make-work that is described in the article. Sure, there is no guarantee that research efforts will be utilized, but making that the goal from the start for political reasons is so terrible that it's likely that only FAANG bureaucracy is bloated enough to sustain it.