Google fires more workers after CEO says workplace isn’t for politics

If it wasn't for politics then they shouldn't take government contracts

Or lobby.
- Indeed ! This Would be much easier to take seriously if Sundar hadn’t meet with Sunak, Modi, Biden et al. In the first year or so since getting the job.
Or fire people because of politics.
I'm just hearing Google advocating for a strict ban on lobbyism.
I mean, otherwise it's discrimination, no?

The workplace, or at least career progression, is like 50% politics lol. Google is no different.

Oh good, so Google has stopped all political donations and canceled all government contracts so they can stay out politics?

No? Ok fuck you.

Sounds to me like these tech workers could really use a good union to protect them.....

Why do you need to bring politics into it?
/s
There was a subset of Google contractors trying to unionize but while the group was campaigning at city hall. Google executives decided to not renew the contract and all of them were jobless.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/03/01/youtube-union-contractor-layoffs/

"THE WORKPLACE IS NOT FOR POLITICS"

— With love, your employer who is investing amounts of money beyond your comprehension in a government of a country now being tried for genocide with undenial and ongoing human rights violations.

"Google isnt the place for your politics. It is only a place for my politics. So get in line with my thinking or get the fuck out!" - Googles Chief Cunt.

Ok, so if I find out I work for Nazi contractor and object to that, it is politics?

Discussing politics at the work place has been an HR violation for some time, but speaking against the company policy or its customers has always been a fireable ofense. I’m not sure why this surprises anyone.
Sure, google is an evil corporation and there’s lots of reasons to hate them, but why are we focusing on this specific thing which is common across all workplaces?
And yes, if you find out your employer is constructing concentration camps and you openly speak against that, you’re probably going to lose your job. Why is this even a question?
- which is common across all workplaces?
  In your shithole country, maybe.
- It's just a Tuesday in the Capitalist Hellscape © of U.S.A.™
- Discussing politics at the work place has been an HR violation for some time, but speaking against the company policy or its customers has always been a fireable ofense. I’m not sure why this surprises anyone.
  Looks like a navel-gazing USA thing. Here in Europe I cannot imagine that there's many companies who'd fire workers for protesting or tells them to shut up forever.

Again the excuse of 'no politics'

YOU CAN'T AVOID POLITICS

Accepting contracts from Israel is just as political as denying contracts from Israel. You just stated your political stance by accepting. Why do people think it's a free copout?

"Workplace is not for politics" is just doublespeak for "We don't value ethics here"
- "Swallow all your morals they are a Poor Man's quality"
"Politics is everything I disagree with"

The little-known genocide assistance exception to “don’t be evil.” You have to read the fine print these days.

They dropped that line some time ago

"The workplace isn't for politics" is about social etiquette, not criticizing what your own company is taking part in you stupid fuck.

I would argue that firing them seems like a pretty strong political statement.

Insightful 👍

"The workplace isn't for politics" says company that exerts coercive political power to expel its (ex-)workers for disagreeing.

@theluddite@lemmy.ml @jeffw@lemmy.world Since most people spend most of their best hours at the workplace, what this person is really saying is that there shouldn't be any politics at all. I.e., this is a confession: "I am an authoritarian".
- Every boss is an authoratarian. Places of employment under capitalism are top down totalitarian structures. What the guy above you says is what goes.

Riiight... the fact that corporations are petty dictatorships isn't political at all.

Right.

Well maybe Google shouldn’t take political contracts.

Massive respect to the workers who sacrificed their jobs to highlight Google's scummy behaviour.

google the company needs to be garroted with their old "don't be evil" line.

Everything is politics, especially the mega corpos that lobbies the governments of the world.

The only problem is that many people can't afford to be fired because of them.

Didn't read the article. But what I take from the title is that Google is going to stop paying lobbyists....

No politics in the workplace ftw!

yay

Weird how all the right wingers that constantly yell about how silencing nazis is censorship are suddenly very quiet when a ceo comes out and explicitly says you will be fired for your speech.

I'm honestly somewhat surprised that these firings haven't triggered a mass walkout or something at Google offices yet. They're being very cavalier with employees they spend so much effort (at least historically) on keeping in the office to work "free" hours.

Would you walk out of your 250,000/year software engineer gig over this? Most people won't and don't. Go to work, get paid, and live your life how you want.
- When my co-workers get terminated for political criticism? Yeah, I would. Lots of tech workers would and do — remember the Blizzard walkout several years ago? At the very least, this is the type of thing that spurs white collars to form unions.

Never worked for one of the big tech firms, but I have been in the working world for ~16 years and one of the few things anyone that has been around for awhile can and will agree on is you don't talk about salary within earshot of the boss, you don't badmouth company decisions within earshot of the boss, you don't talk about politically charged topics, and you certainly don't combine 2 of those 3 and protest company decisions on politically charged issues literally in the office.

You also don't do those things on company provided equipment, software, or services. If you want to bitch about something the company is doing, you go out to lunch or do it after hours, preferably without written or video evidence.

While I think it is gross that Google fired them for this, given the history of the company almost encouraging such things, I can say these people just got a hard lesson that most of us learn about the corporate world long before we make it to working for the likes of Google.

Rightly or wrongly freedom of speech, assembly, etc protects you from the Government, not your boss. And your boss is a petty little ego maniac that controls your livelihood, so best to stay out of his gaze on matters you know he/she would view negatively where at all possible.

All of which is a problem, not something we should passively accept as the status quo. These employees were advocating for change to fix exactly those sorts of problems.
Unless the goal is to make a political statement with your departure.

Bringing protest signs = ABSOLUTE LUNATICS!!!
Proceeds to whataboutism questions far less impactful than the Genocide of Gaza which is by far the worst human rights violation worldwide right now.
I don't get the comment here, they didn't 'express their opinion' about Israel. They behaved like a bunch of lunatics within Google's offices.
Yes, they did express their opinion on the ongoing genocide. They did that in a fashion that disturbed the workplace - which some comments seem to deem holy ground that should never be disturbed by anything - but they did express their opinion.
If you want to protest Google's actions send a signed letter of resignation stating the reason, send it to the press and form a union of techies that won't work for companies that work with Israel recursively.
Iirc they tried some regular stuff before resorting to this method. Also, it's always funny how when people try to change things, they never seem to do it the right way.
On a side note, I like how none of them mind building mass surveillance tools, pushing ads, Google-China relations, etc... But Israel's genocide is trending, so they jump on that. What a bunch of shallow fucks.
Well congrats on being less of a hyprocrite than the rest of us.
The world is shit, nothing goes in the right direction, and some of us are more sensitive to some issues than others.
I mean I despise alphabet and their business model, but I also understand than people are less horrified by their work being used to serve ads than it being used in a genocide. And again, I hate that ads exist.
Protestation and strike are supposed to inconvenience the higher ups, please stop advising to use methods that don't disturb anything.

The pendulum is swinging back hard. Let's just hope we don't end up way deep into the danger since zone just because woke idiots couldn't leave "good enough" alone.

Lol I can't help but laugh at the disparity between the left vs. the right, when it comes to just general ability to speak coherently. Like is this even a coherent thought?
Like this is the best they've got. I guess it's no wonder then that charlatans like Jordan Peterson can sink their hooks in so easily.
Good enough alone.... Please elaborate on that.
- If you are a woman, do you think society was in better shape in 2012 or today? Standing Confederate monuments, hostility to trans people, and all?