Google’s internal culture seems to be unable to reach a consensus on whether to agree or disagree with a controversial memo about diversity published internally by a software engineer. According to an inside source who spoke with Motherboard, while most Google employees are either saying that the employee’s strongly-worded letter should not be allowed, or at best that it is a poor opinion but should be allowed as an example of free speech, there is a growing subset of Googlers, reportedly mostly men, who are voicing their agreement with the letter and support for the engineer who wrote it.
A large number of Google employees with various backgrounds and from different parts of the company are reportedly calling for the letter’s author to be fired. The internal source that told the media about internal support for the letter’s ideals did not share an opinion on the letter, but another Googler who spoke with the media believes that the letter is correct in some of its assertions, namely that the oppression is going full-circle by aggressively embracing left-wing values and quashing any perceived aggression against marginalized and oppressed groups, consequently creating an “echo chamber” where any dissenting opinions, revolutionary, aggressive, or otherwise, are either forced into silence or shamed. A Googler on Blind, an anonymous social network of sorts for employees of top tech firms, called the company’s culture “actually terrifying,” noting that anybody whose values do not resonate with the vast majority is essentially written off as a “poor cultural fit.” The discussion of the letter is sparking arguments within the company, as evidenced by two Blind posts that called out the firm’s “Diversity and Inclusion” policies as “a pipeline from Women’s and African Studies into Google” and were addressed by other employees who called for those who think that way to quit.
The letter in question essentially posits that Google’s handling of the need for diversity in tech is misguided. Whereas Google’s current program provides incentive for hiring and promoting individuals from marginalized groups, the letter not only presents the classic argument that affirmative action can result in discrimination against greater talent that isn’t part of a minority group, but also that there are innate differences between males and females, among other groups, that account for a lack of their representation in tech. The letter goes on to call for an open debate on the subject and a return to meritocracy. The official response from Danielle Brown, Google’s VP of Diversity, Integrity and Governance, was that Google values diversity in all forms and abhors hate and aggression, but that employees should “feel safe sharing their opinions” as long as their beliefs are in line with the company’s Code of Conduct and applicable federal laws mandating equal employment.