Google Protest: An Insulting Anniversary

November 2, 2019

DarkCyber noted this write up in CNet, an online information service, which may not be capturing too many Google ads in 2020. Here’s the title and subtitle of the story:

Google Walkout Anniversary: Workers Say Management Response Is Insulting. Last November, 20,000 Google workers protested the company. Employees didn’t get everything they wanted, but set a tech industry precedent.

The headline is Googley; that is, it is designed to make the story appear in a Google search results list. The jabber may work. But what may not be as efficacious is building bridges to the Google itself. For example, the write up states:

The Google protests [maybe about sexual matters, management decisions, money?] didn’t achieve everything their organizers were seeking. Several Google workers and former workers are dissatisfied with the company’s response. Organizers say the company has done the bare minimum to address concerns, and employees allege that it has retaliated against workers and sought to quash dissent. “They’ve been constantly paying lip service,” said one Google employee who was involved with the walkout. “It’s insulting to our intelligence,” said the person, who requested anonymity because of fear of retribution from the company.

Then the observation:

Google declined to make its senior leadership team, including co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, CEO Sundar Pichai and human resources chief Eileen Naughton, available for interviews. In a statement, Naughton touted changes Google has made over the past year, including streamlining the process for people to report abuse and other problems.

A few observations may be warranted:

  1. Google’s management methods may follow the pattern set in high school science clubs when those youthful wizards confront something unfamiliar
  2. A problem seems to exist within the GOOG
  3. Outfits like CNet are willing to explain what may be a Google shortcoming because Google is not longer untouchable.

Interesting? If paid employees won’t get along and go along, how will that translate into Google’s commitment to enterprise solutions? What if an employee inserts malicious code in a cloud service as a digital protest? What if… I don’t want to contemplate what annoyed smart people can do at 3 am with access credentials.

Yikes. Insulting.

Stephen E Arnold, November 2, 2019

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