Google’s former SVP of people launches HR startup

Lazlo Bock, former senior vice president of people operations at Google, is venturing into the realm of HR startups. Together with Google’s ex-director of engineering Wayne Crosby, Bock is launching a new company with a mission to "make work better everywhere through science, machine learning, and a little bit of love".

Bock announced the launch in a LinkedIn post earlier this week. In the post, he points to the lack of enjoyment and fulfillment many people experience in their jobs. "Only about a third of people believe their work is also a calling, a source of enjoyment and fulfillment where you’re doing socially useful work," he writes.

He continues to state that work should, and needs to be better than that, given that we devote most of our lives to it. "We should be constantly learning and growing, and surrounded by people who are doing the same. We all have good days and bad days, but what would work be like if every day were like our best days? Imagine what we could achieve."

To accomplish that, Bock and Crosby are launching humu, apparently named after the humuhumunukunukuapua'a fish. Aside from the fact that it's named after a sea creature and they're now hiring, not much has been revealed about the venture, leaving different media to speculate about the nature of the startup. HR software, productivity software, job board, and recruitment have all been suggested as the possible focus.

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