Searching questions for Google chiefs
Staff protest over harassment cases
● Google employees around the world staged walkouts this week to protest against the company’s handling of cases of alleged sexual misconduct.
Employees and contractors at offices from Dublin to Singapore said they were unhappy with a “workplace that doesn’t work for everyone” and attacked the company for not being more transparent, both over sexual misconduct cases and pay inequality.
Google has become the latest Silicon Valley company to come under fire for its handling of sexual harassment claims after it emerged that two male executives had left the company with substantial pay packages despite complaints against them being found to be credible.
A new Twitter account set up specifically for the protest outlined five demands: an end to forced arbitration in cases of harassment and discrimination; a commitment to end pay and opportunity inequality; a publicly disclosed sexual harassment transparency report; a clear, uniform and globally inclusive process for reporting sexual misconduct safely and anonymously; and for Google’s chief diversity officer to be elevated to report directly to CEO Sundar Pichai and make recommendations directly to the board of directors — to which an employee representative should be added.
Execs will be held accountable
“I understand the anger and disappointment that many of you feel,” Pichai wrote in an email to staff, according to the BBC.
“I feel it as well, and I am fully committed to making progress on an issue that has persisted for far too long in our society … and, yes, here at Google, too.”
Employees who took part in the walkout left leaflets on their desks, which read: “I’m not at my desk because I’m walking out in solidarity with other Googlers and contractors to protest sexual harassment, misconduct, lack of transparency, and a workplace culture that’s not working for everyone. I’ll be back at my desk later.”
A post on Google Walkout’s Instagram account featured the words: “Execs will be held accountable for their actions.”
In London, many Google employees downed tools inside, rather than outside, because of rain. Hundreds of workers filed out of its European headquarters in Dublin shortly after 11am local time.
Companies worldwide have come under pressure to bolster their mechanisms for the reporting of harassment and to ensure whistle-blowers and potential victims are supported in the wake of last year’s Harvey Weinstein scandal and the #MeToo movement it sparked.