A software engineer from Bengaluru working at Google has sparked widespread discussion online by challenging the authenticity of popular "day in the life" videos shared by employees of major tech companies.
Priyansh Agarwal, who works at Google, took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his views on how such videos often present an unrealistic picture of life in big tech firms like Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google, collectively known as FAANG.
"Most of the day-in-the-life videos you see on the internet by FAANG engineers are from their honeymoon periods (first 6-12 months). The real game begins after a year when you start owning projects and outcomes for your team and realise that you don't get paid to just enjoy," Agarwal wrote.
Most of the day in the life videos you see on the internet by FAANG engineers are from their honeymoon periods (first 6-12 months).
— Priyansh Agarwal (@Priyansh_31Dec) September 7, 2025
The real game begins after a year when you start owning projects and outcomes for your team and realise that you don't get paid to just enjoy.
He suggested that while these videos may feature perks like free food, relaxed schedules, and beautiful offices, they rarely reflect the demanding responsibilities that come later in the job.
His post resonated with many in the tech industry, with several users sharing how the excitement quickly fades and is replaced by long hours and growing responsibilities. One user commented, "Ye mera ek mahine hi chla sayad; now 90% of the time I spend only on my desk working." Agarwal humorously replied, "You had a golden opportunity to make some videos... and grab 10-20k followers... Never mind."
"I swear, I wish someone would put out the part about those deployment war rooms, the excitement of metrics changing, seeing the customer feedback, and all the good, bad and ugly stuff, not the coffee machines and the playrooms," wrote another user.
"It's just that you take all the comforts for granted after a period of time that you feel you are not valued enough," commented a third user.
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