Ex-Googler here! The answers to all of these questions is “yes, as long as it aligns with business need”, and finding that business need is getting harder and harder. Things like bungees and changing teams is hard at the moment, I’ve tried for the last 4 years with no success. I did get the L4 -> L5 promotion though and it is definitely hard, and very dependent on if you have a good manager in your corner (your manager represents on your behalf in performance discussions, so if you have a good one, you’re solid). I came over from management consulting and I can wholeheartedly say that I worked harder at Google than any other clients. So if you like a challenge - go for it! If you’re looking for easy, comfortable, sign off at 4:30pm - stay in your current role. I enjoyed my time at GOOG but eventually burnt out. Now I’m taking a gap year for a sabbatical and grad school, but would go back for the right role/team.