Google staff are staging a mass walkout around the world with offices in Zurich, London, Tokyo, Singapore and Berlin all taking part.
They are walking out over the company’s treatment of women within the company & are demanding Google makes key changes in how sexual misconduct allegations are dealt with at the company. You can follow the progress of the walkout on the twitterfeed @googlewalkout which has been documenting the walkout from a number of locations.
“The company’s treatment of women within the company”
Google chief executive Sundar Pichai told protesters he supports their right to take action. “I understand the anger and disappointment that many of you feel. I feel it as well and I am fully committed to making progress on the issue that has persisted for far too long in our society … and, yes here at Google, too.” he stated in an email to all staff with the company.
What caused the protest?
The outrage was caused when it was revealed by the New York Times that a high profile executive had been given a $90 million payout after he left the company. Despite a “credible” allegation of sexual misconduct made against him. Andy Rubin who received the payout was known as the creator of the android mobile operating system, denies the allegation.
The stats behind the Protest
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- 30.9% Women make up Google’s workforce globally
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- 25.5% of leadership roles across the world are taken by women in 2017
- 22% of the highest paid in the UK workforce are Women
What do the employees want?
The formal demands that are being made are:
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- A commitment to end pay and opportunity inequality
- A publicly disclosed sexual harassment transparency report
- A clear, uniform globally inclusive process for reporting sexual misconduct safely and anonymously
- The evaluation of the chief diversity officer to answer directly to the CEO, and make recommendations directly the board of directors
- The appointment of an employee representative to the board
- An end to forced arbitration in cases of harassment and discrimination of all current and future employees
Whats next?
Google’s next move will be an interesting one with chief executives supporting the walkout and with the worlds eye’s watching Google’s next move will certainly be a topic of conversation that those in the search marketing industry will be having for a while longer.