That worked as well as turning a new Googler in the direction of the free cafeterias and snack bin, and saying try not to eat too much. Consumption aplenty happens, with the expanding bottom line as a result.

In July 2007, Google reported operating expenses of 31 percent of revenue. Schmidt said they overhired during that quarter, and promised to keep an eye on headcount.

Judging by what Paid Content found in the grease trap of the customary annual 10-K filing, Schmidt may be a little nearsighted about what the recruiters are doing under his watch:

Our full-time employee headcount has significantly increased over the last 12 months, growing from 10,674 at December 31, 2006 to 16,805 at December 31, 2007…consisting of 5,788 in research and development, 6,647 in sales and marketing, 2,844 in general and administrative and 1,526 in operations.

Six thousand people don’t just slip in the backdoor and start pounding out code. Google expanded to other locations domestically and abroad during the year. Expansions need to be staffed, and given access to M&M’s.

The biggest figure on Google’s annual report remains its revenue stream. 99 percent comes from online advertising, with 48 percent of total revenue coming from international sources in 2007. The company also noted how its fortunes follow the typical pattern seen in retail:

Both seasonal fluctuations in internet usage and traditional retail seasonality have affected, and are likely to continue to affect, our business. Internet usage generally slows during the summer months, and commercial queries typically increase significantly in the fourth quarter of each year. These seasonal trends have caused and will likely continue to cause, fluctuations in our quarterly results, including fluctuations in sequential revenue growth rates.

One other headcount note: despite announcing a forthcoming retirement, CFO George Reyes has not set an effective date for that departure. He first said in August 2007 he planned to retire from the company.

The important thing here is that we did in fact correct and I think going forward, you should be comfortable that we are paying a lot of attention to the headcount.

– Google CEO Eric Schmidt on the company’s hiring practices, October 18th earnings call.

Hi Xxx,

My name is Xxx Xxx and I’m an executive recruiter with Google. I wanted to drop you a line with regards to an excellent development opportunity we have here at Google. Your background at Yahoo! is very impressive. I wanted to see if you would be interested in confidentially exploring an executive level Product Management role within our organization.

– excerpt of a misdirected email that landed in a WebProNews inbox.

Wall Street types have been grumbling over Google’s rampant hiring surge. It had an impact on Google’s second quarter numbers, and appeared to have continued into the third quarter.

Schmidt may explain this away as a cyclical issue, where collegians accept positions with Google early in the year and start after graduation. But pitching someone who works for a competitor isn’t the same thing.

In recruiting, it’s widely accepted that the best candidate for a job probably has a job already, and isn’t looking for another one. That’s where recruiting efforts come in, as a way to possibly detach a worthy individual from the soulless tyrant he or she works for today, to come work for the Utopian paradise the recruiter represents.

If anything, the misdirected email demonstrates Google isn’t finished hiring by a long shot, and really no growing company ever is finished. We figured out where the recruiter got his information and who he wanted to reach, and all we can say is, Google recruiter person, you’re really confused.