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A religious sect landed Google in a lawsuit

nytimes.com

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Re: A religious sect landed Google in a lawsuit

#81

Post by Tyr42 »

typon wrote: post #31
mcntsh wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to dream about working at Google until I interviewed with them. I got dragged along for months and largely ignored between interviews. The interviews themselves were impersonal and non interactive. They gave the impression that I should just shut up and write code in front of them and when I asked clarifying questions I barely got anything in response.

Had a similar experience. The recruiting part of the process went pretty smoothly, until I got to the onsite. Had 5 on-site interviews (excluding lunch), all exactly the same format: walk in the room where my interviewer is waiting with a question written on the white board, they say "hello" to me and I'm expected to read the question, clarify it a little bit and start coding. Not a single interviewer cared about my…

(Googler, my opinions are my own, etc)

When interviewing we are instructed to write up the interview question and answer and score on a rubric with citations into the interview notes. These notes then go to the hiring committee who makes the decision without knowing the human side at all. I think the point is something like this

https://www.theguardian.com/women-in-leadership/2013/oct/14/...

where the hiring committee is intentionally blinded. There just isn't anywhere in the notes to record "what kind of a person you are". There is a separate interview which tries to capture that, but the rest of this is in the name of avoiding bias, and maybe being more lenient with someone who went to the same school as you, or makes you laugh or whatever.

Re: A religious sect landed Google in a lawsuit

#82

Post by [deleted] »

[deleted] wrote: post #64
dang wrote: post #46

We changed the URL from https://twitter.com/alphabetworkers/status/15373969466917724... , which points to this. Submitters: " Please submit the original source. If a post reports on something found on another site, submit the latter. "- https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Commenters: please don't post shallow/unsubstantive/flamey things to this thread—or any HN thread, but this one seems to have been unu…

[deleted]

[deleted]

Re: A religious sect landed Google in a lawsuit

#83

Post by goatcode »

devnull3 wrote: post #3

Until last year I too use to dream working in Google. But increasingly the attractiveness is decreasing. I cannot put a finger on one specific thing. It has gone too large from a career pov.

Same. The culture of early tech (nap pods, free food, work whenever) isn't compatible with the more mainstream kind of employees they're now bringing on. Gone is the passion, from all sides, and the perks and allowances given to truly obsessed developers just aren't sustainable with both the bloat and complexities hiring anyone but brings with it.

Good devs create easy times, etc.

Re: A religious sect landed Google in a lawsuit

#84

Post by pvg »

tokai wrote: post #79
pvg wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'Closer to the story' is not a virtue in this case because it's essentially one side of the story - without context and only from one of the parties in a multi-party dispute.

It's not about virtues of the link, it's about the rules. Don't lecture about onesided sources or whatever. It's beside the point.

The guidelines are intended to promote better, more curious discussion, not strict compliance to the letter. An NYT story about a dispute is a better starting point than one interested party's story and it's the kind of url change that's both pretty obvious and common on HN.

Re: A religious sect landed Google in a lawsuit

#85

Post by lisper »

This is just one example of a much bigger issue, which is religious institutions quietly taking over secular businesses without anyone realizing it. It is so pervasive and so stealthy that it is hard to even talk about it without sounding like a crackpot. It has become a little more evident recently with the emergence of evangelical Christian activism in politics, but it runs much, much deeper than that. The LDS Church, for example (a.k.a. Mormons) has vast business holdings, all of which funnel tax-free money back to the Church. Downtown Menlo Park is largely owned by the Presbyterian Church. I could go on and on.

All of this is driven by the fact that churches are not taxed in the U.S. They are legal tax havens, and they are very much used as such by oligarchs of all stripes.

Re: A religious sect landed Google in a lawsuit

#86

Post by IYasha »

Is this another case of "corporate religion"? It's not new, I've seen studies of cases a few years ago. Terrifying to know some managers are adopting it and people get dragged into it. I understand individuality, free will and consciousness are not exactly valued in the brave new world paradigm, but I'd rather stay clear from such places.

Re: A religious sect landed Google in a lawsuit

#87

Post by bena »

lisper wrote: post #85

This is just one example of a much bigger issue, which is religious institutions quietly taking over secular businesses without anyone realizing it. It is so pervasive and so stealthy that it is hard to even talk about it without sounding like a crackpot. It has become a little more evident recently with the emergence of evangelical Christian activism in politics, but it runs much, much deeper than that. The LDS Chur…

Weren't the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) up until recently owned by the LDS?

Re: A religious sect landed Google in a lawsuit

#88

Post by noasaservice »

xhkkffbf wrote: post #69
ginko wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Changing the URL to a paywalled article no one can read isn't very helpful though.

Not to be picky, but everyone can read the article. They just have to pay. We have to support journalism some how.

For the rest of us who don't want to "sign up online and forced to call to cancel":

I present Firefox plugin "Bypass Paywalls Clean". Used in conjunction with "Ublock Origin" and you'll have the easiest and best use of the web to date.

Re: A religious sect landed Google in a lawsuit

#89

Post by causi »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #49
thaeli wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And Google/Alphabet _really_ doesn't like anyone talking about caste. Because then they'd have to acknowledge they have a problem.

Given Google is probably one of the most woke organizations, I find this hilarious.

Google, like almost every large organization, is de facto psychopathic. Its values align with "woke" values because its profits do not depend on the favorable opinions and/or work performance of racists, sexists, homophobes, transphobes, or other traditional Western bigots. Its profits do depend on the work performance of casteists, therefore Google will use every means at its disposal to preserve that profit.

If tomorrow the Google board of directors and executives found that someone had created an AI that could single-handedly replace every single other Google employee with the caveat that it absolutely hated left-handed people, Google would be posting thoughtful articles about how anyone not right-handed deserved to be rounded up and put in camps.

Re: A religious sect landed Google in a lawsuit

#90

Post by prirun »

FiloSottile wrote: post #66
thrownawayalre wrote: post #52

It is Google so it gets that much publicity which is good for that particular case because it will be investigated and sorted out. Sexual abuse and discrimination enablers will be investigated. Good. Too bad for the other large size company where similar things happen which won't get similar publicity and won't ever be investigated. Not working at GOOG, but I don't get the hate in the comments or the idea that it is…

The original link presented a detailed argument for what is Google specific about this, namely that it was enabled by the two tier workforce system. https://twitter.com/alphabetworkers/status/15373969466917724...

From the Twitter link:

"I was a TVC — which stands for “temps, vendors, and contractors,” a designation within Google for workers who aren’t full-time employees and are hired by third parties companies, not by Google itself. We do the same work as full-time Google employees — I worked right alongside them — but we don’t have the same corporate benefits."

This is another way to screw workers, allowing large companies to hire "employees" without having to pay benefits or FICA taxes. If Google managers are directing and controlling these contractors as if they were actual Google employees, doesn't this violate IRS rules on independent contractors?

For example, if I hire a company to do my video productions, that's fine. But if that company's employees all are required to work in my building, and I supply the desk, chair, computer, and have a employee/manager who directs their daily actions, they are not functioning as independent contractors according to IRS guidelines. In that case, the contractors might be able to sue Google for benefits and past taxes they've had to pay that Google employees don't have to pay.

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