Bengaluru techie quits Google over side-project conflict, calls it 'Purely bitter moment'
A Bengaluru techie has claimed that he quit Google after a conflict over his YouTube and course work escalated legally.
A Bengaluru-based software engineer has shared what he described as a “purely bitter moment” after quitting Google, saying he had no choice but to leave following a conflict over his work outside the company.
Taking to X, Arpit Bhayani wrote that his last day at Google had come unexpectedly. “It is not bittersweet, but a purely bitter moment. I had no plans of leaving, but I had no choice left,” he said, explaining that the issue stemmed from his outside work involving online courses and YouTube content.
“I had to leave because of a conflict with my outside work (courses and YouTube), and once legal gets involved, there is not much you can do,” Bhayani wrote.
“I am bummed about leaving a domain that I dearly love - in-memory databases. I am bummed because I was working with some exceptionally good engineers and genuinely good people. I am bummed because there was so much good stuff left to build,” he continued.
Bhayani, who has worked at Google in two stints, further said both tenures were fulfilling and helped him grow as an engineer and operator. “I will forever be grateful to Google for giving me two stints. Both were extremely fulfilling and something that made me a better engineer and operator,” he wrote, while also cheering on his former team working on Memorystore. “This team would take a bullet for each other!” he said.
HT.com has reached out to Arpit Bhayani. The article will be updated once a response is received.
(Also Read: Google techie gives parents a tour of her workplace, heartfelt video goes viral: ‘This gave me a kind of sukoon’)
Social media reactions
The post sparked strong reactions on social media, with several users questioning the nature of the conflict. “That’s sad! Someone got jealous otherwise I don’t see any conflict of interest between your official responsibilities and YouTube/courses. It’s Google’s loss. You are going to do amazing stuff whatever you choose!” one user commented.
Another wrote that Bhayani’s educational content had helped many engineers, including those at Google. “Oh no! I remember, we have interacted through your posts about Memorystore when you got in Google. I didn't understand what conflict is here. You create educational videos that help even Google engineers at least some of them. This was a win-win situation,” the user wrote.
“Damn, that’s so unfortunate. Hard to imagine such a conflict happening at Google. Best of luck for what’s next,” wrote a third user.
Others echoed similar sentiments, expressing surprise that such a conflict arose after years of him balancing corporate work with content creation.
“This sucks! All the best for whatever is lined up next. I wonder how there’s suddenly a conflict when you’ve been openly doing both corporate and YT for years,” said one user.
“I thought google might be the last company that would get bothered by what their employees are doing in their free time, but looks like times are changing. Best of luck for your next gig!” commented another.
