Bengaluru techie quits Google job, calls it a ‘bitter’ moment: ‘Had no choice left’

Bengaluru techie quits Google over side-project conflict. (Image: @arpit_bhayani/X)

A Bengaluru techie had to recently walk away from his role at Google. This led wider debate on social media about side hustles and creative freedom in the tech industry. The engineer, Arpit Bhayani, who worked at Google in two separate stints, revealed that his last day at the company came much sooner than expected.

While many dream of building a long-term career at Google, Bhayani’s journey due to a conflict involving his work outside the organisation. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Bhayani described it as, “It is not bittersweet, but a purely bitter moment. I had no plans of leaving, but I had no choice left."

According to Bhayani, the reason behind his departure was a conflict linked to his educational content creation work. Alongside his role at Google, he creates online courses and YouTube content focused on software engineering and computer science concepts. Importantly, this was not something he had kept hidden.

The engineer explained, “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."

“I am bummed about leaving a domain that I dearly love - in-memory databases," he wrote. The engineer had been working in a highly specialised area that he was passionate about, making the exit particularly painful.

Equally heartbreaking for him was leaving behind his colleagues and unfinished work. He further expressed, “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."

Despite describing his departure as a “purely bitter moment”, Bhayani did not express anger or resentment towards Google. Instead he wrote, “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 also praised the team he worked with on Memorystore, highlighting the strong sense of loyalty. “This team would take a bullet for each other," he said.

Yesterday was my last day at Google. It is not bittersweet, but a purely bitter moment. I had no plans of leaving, but I had no choice left.

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… pic.twitter.com/6jbsyAfF55 — Arpit Bhayani (@arpit_bhayani) January 10, 2026

Bhayani’s post spraked a wave of reactions from netizens. Many expressed shock that educational content creation could be viewed as a conflict of interest.

One user commented, “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." Another user offered words of encouragement, saying, “Ah, this is sad! But I am sure even better things are coming up next... wish you the best, Arpit!”

A former colleague also shared a personal note, writing, “This is really sad to see Arpit. I will miss seeing you in office. Wishing you the best for what lies ahead and rooting hard for you.”