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Workers Leaving the Googleplex

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Re: Workers Leaving the Googleplex

#31

Post by tkahn6 »

queensnake wrote: post #24
tkahn6 wrote: post #13

This is literally one of the craziest things I have ever seen. Google is doing absolutely nothing wrong or unethical at all. The guy got fired because he started accusing Google of racism. Wow. Just wow. The sense of entitlement and self-righteousness is just mind blowing.

You have to admit it /could/ be like something out of Brave New World, so, it demands exploring. I mean they come in at 4 and leave at 2. It conflicts with Google's ethos (perhaps) to have truly 2nd class citizens, so they hide it. That's curiosity-provoking.

> to have truly 2nd class citizens,

How is this any different than having guards and janitors that work odd hours? You think they get all the Google perks that software engineers get?

Re: Workers Leaving the Googleplex

#32

Post by guard-of-terra »

latch wrote: post #11
[deleted] wrote: post #4

[deleted]

exploit? i'm sorry...not having access to free meals, shuttle buses, smartphones, etc isn't exploitation. There's nothing in this that says anything close to exploitation.

They are not allowed to communicate with other employees and are told to report such occurences.

Screams exploitation to me.

Re: Workers Leaving the Googleplex

#33

Post by thematt »

g123g wrote: post #17
quizbiz wrote: post #14

Honestly, I'm not sure this is a big deal. They're hiring unskilled labor and giving them a role at an extraordinary company. A rational management team wanting to generate profits for risk taking investors and generate new growth, cuts costs by eliminating benefits when possible. They could easily get this done in India or China. If they are really doing book scanning, I'm shocked this isn't being done in the far ea…

But then how do you explain the overreaction from Google which led to the firing of this guy. There has to be something which Google was trying desperately to keep secret.

Why was it an overreaction? This guy was a contract worker who decided to pursue his own investigation during work hours, taking advantage of the privileges granted to him by Google. They're well within their rights to request his termination or removal from their contract.

Re: Workers Leaving the Googleplex

#34

Post by pstack »

queensnake wrote: post #24
tkahn6 wrote: post #13

This is literally one of the craziest things I have ever seen. Google is doing absolutely nothing wrong or unethical at all. The guy got fired because he started accusing Google of racism. Wow. Just wow. The sense of entitlement and self-righteousness is just mind blowing.

You have to admit it /could/ be like something out of Brave New World, so, it demands exploring. I mean they come in at 4 and leave at 2. It conflicts with Google's ethos (perhaps) to have truly 2nd class citizens, so they hide it. That's curiosity-provoking.

Except this guy wasn't a journalist and he wasn't a whistle-blower and he wasn't a documentarian. He was an employee of a company providing a service who was exploiting the access (and presumably paid-resources) to pursue his own agenda. They don't owe him an explanation or benefit of the doubt or anything else and he doesn't raise any questions and there isn't anything of interest in his commentary that suggests it's deserving of any followup. This smells of someone wanting to play 'Morgan Spurlock'.

Google might be evil. They certainly aren't pure of heart and all that. But there's nothing in this ten minute monotone "expose" that really gives any legitimate concern.

Re: Workers Leaving the Googleplex

#35

Post by kylec »

There's nothing surprising about a company having different classes of employees. If that was all that the article was about, it would be a minor curiosity. However, Google's extreme overreaction to someone trying to get some very basic information about the other set of employees is what's concerning. It's difficult to know how much of this story is speculation vs fact - whether or not the yellow badged employees are really data entry, whether there are really instructions on the back of the badge with a number to call if someone starts asking questions. If true, though, it's highly concerning coming from a company that flaunts the openness of their products, and whose corporate motto is "don't be evil".

Re: Workers Leaving the Googleplex

#36

Post by othermaciej »

tkahn6 wrote: post #31
queensnake wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to admit it /could/ be like something out of Brave New World, so, it demands exploring. I mean they come in at 4 and leave at 2. It conflicts with Google's ethos (perhaps) to have truly 2nd class citizens, so they hide it. That's curiosity-provoking.

> to have truly 2nd class citizens, How is this any different than having guards and janitors that work odd hours? You think they get all the Google perks that software engineers get?

The guy making the video implied that the security guards and janitors have "red badge" status, getting the same perks as any other contractor, but not the perks reserved only to full-time employees.

Re: Workers Leaving the Googleplex

#37

Post by guard-of-terra »

__bjoernd wrote: post #16
guard-of-terra wrote: post #5

"the first girl I had spoken to had followed the instructions on the back of her yellow badge – which is to call a certain manager if anyone asks about the work of the yellow badge class" This scarely reminds of "Jedem das Seine" and "Arbeit macht frei" Both phrases actually match the described situation perfectly

Actually, this comparison is way out of place. Not giving people benefits (but still paying them!) is completely different from imprisoning and torturing people for their race, opinions, or beliefs.

I've heard that segregation is a big deal, and it's what is happening according to the article.

Re: Workers Leaving the Googleplex

#38

Post by xyzzyz »

quizbiz wrote: post #14

Honestly, I'm not sure this is a big deal. They're hiring unskilled labor and giving them a role at an extraordinary company. A rational management team wanting to generate profits for risk taking investors and generate new growth, cuts costs by eliminating benefits when possible. They could easily get this done in India or China. If they are really doing book scanning, I'm shocked this isn't being done in the far ea…

What I find mind-blowing in this story is not how "4th class" workers are treated like at Google, but rather how the author was fired with no serious reason whatsoever, and the whole secretive atmosphere around the issue.

Re: Workers Leaving the Googleplex

#39

Post by guard-of-terra »

jrockway wrote: post #20
lubos wrote: post #10

this made me sad. anyone still got illusion that google left china because of human rights?

Getting paid to go to lectures about books is a "human right" now?

Being treated equally to the people around you is a human right, should be anyway.

Because being treated inequally, deprived of things people around you take for granted, can damage oneself seriously.

Re: Workers Leaving the Googleplex

#40

Post by paulrademacher »

queensnake wrote: post #24
tkahn6 wrote: post #13

This is literally one of the craziest things I have ever seen. Google is doing absolutely nothing wrong or unethical at all. The guy got fired because he started accusing Google of racism. Wow. Just wow. The sense of entitlement and self-righteousness is just mind blowing.

You have to admit it /could/ be like something out of Brave New World, so, it demands exploring. I mean they come in at 4 and leave at 2. It conflicts with Google's ethos (perhaps) to have truly 2nd class citizens, so they hide it. That's curiosity-provoking.

> I mean they come in at 4 and leave at 2.

The article failed to mention that there are shifts throughout the entire day. There's lots of books to scan!

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