Agree that it is an extreme exaggeration. Some people just can't code and there is a baseline.

> If Google started doing that, the company would collapse pretty quickly.

I'd mention that they are already crumbling:

1.) Search has been deteriorating since 2007 and is now at the level of the engines they replaced (yep, Yahoo, Alta Vista etc actually worked, it was just that Google was extremely much better back then).

2.) They cannot maintain anything except the core services.

3.) Previously everyone including me wanted to work there because it was cool, now I at least don't think of it as cool anymore so I guess they have a harder time recruiting the best and brightest.