Google workers protest against office harassment, inequality
News & Trends •
the report energised a months-long movement inside google to increase diversity improve treatment of women and minorities and ensure the company upholds its motto of dont be evil as it expands1 hundreds of google employees and contractors in asia staged brief midday walkouts on thursday with thousands more expected to follow at offices worldwide amid complaints of sexism racism and unchecked executive power in their workplace1 they also asked for changes to googles human resources practices intended to make bringing harassment claims a fairer process1 google chief executive sundar pichai said in a statement that employees have raised constructive ideas and that the company was taking in all their feedback so we can turn these ideas into action1 the dissatisfaction among alphabets 94000 employees and tens of thousands more contractors has not noticeably affected company shares1 but employees expect alphabet to face recruiting and retention challenges if their concerns go unaddressed1 the demonstrations follow a new york times report that said google in 2014 gave a 90 million dollars exit package to andy rubin after the then-senior vice president was accused of sexual harassment1 rubin denied the allegation in the story which he also said contained wild exaggerations about his compensation. google did not dispute the report1 in a statement the organisers called on google parent alphabet inc to add an employee representative to its board of directors and internally share pay-equity data1 much of the organising earlier this year was internal including petition drives brainstorming sessions with top executives and training from the workers rights group coworker.org1 on thursday employees posted on social media about the walkout and were set to deliver speeches in public plazas1 since its founding two decades ago google has been known around the world for its exceptional transparency with workers1 executives goals and insights into corporate strategy have been accessible to any employee1 but organisers said google executives like leaders at other companies affected by the metoo movement have been slow to address some structural issues1 while google has championed the language of diversity and inclusion substantive actions to address systemic racism increase equity and stop sexual harassment have been few and far between organisers stated1 they said google must publicly report its sexual harassment statistics and end forced arbitration in harassment cases1 in addition they asked that the chief diversity officer be able to directly advise the board. reutersnan1