I'm not suggesting there aren't top tier people but I know firsthand that just being there for 10yr (specifically the past 10 years at G) does not in any shape or form imply you're top tier. You could have been literally coasting for a decade.
Yes, will this is in part the Faustian bargain that is often made to work at Google. People often become mediocre working there, and Google is on the whole frankly fine with this because it keeps those people from going & working at potential competitors.
That this is now changing, is interesting.
In any case, like I said above, this round of layoffs doesn't seem to be indexed on performance. At least not completely, from what I've heard.
It should be interesting to see how many new startups get built out in the next year as a result of this.
