Eli5: Why do companies like Snapchat, Uber, Google, etc. need thousands of engineers when they’re product is already made?

Question

I understand a good portion of them are there to work on new developments, but why does Snapchat need 5,000 software engineers for example? What do they do on a day-to-day basis? Why does Google need 27,000 software engineers when they’re website works fine as is and most of their products and apps have already been made?

In: 1

Answer 1

Additional development, the same reason that any automaker keeps a design team employed after building and selling their first cars. If all you do is sell one thing, you’ll start losing out to competitors who sell something similar to yours, but slightly better. Software can always be streamlined or optimized. Bugfixing is also an endless process. And new capabilities can always be developed.