> Google is groaning under the weight of sacrifices made specifically so these SREs can play in their engineering playground every day
they're literally doing that. google has +$300B net positive assets. [1] they could distribute that to stockholders, go to the bahamas and call it a day. but they keep this wealth there so that SWEs can "play" and create stuff for others to use.
yes, they're not a humanitatian org. they do it so that they earn more, then invest more. but they are sacrificing short term gains and risking actually losing money.