Google staffers put on administrative leave after Israel protests
Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen joins Americas Newsroom to discuss Google employees protests over the companys contract with the Israeli government.
Activist employees may be losing their grip on major businesses as some companies are starting to clamp down on workplace disruptions.
Following multiple anti-Israel protests at company headquarters earlier this month, Google fired 28 employees and issued a new announcement that emphasized a "Mission First" mindset.
"But ultimately we are a workplace and our policies and expectations are clear: this is a business, and not a place to act in a way that disrupts coworkers or makes them feel unsafe, to attempt to use the company as a personal platform, or to fight over disruptive issues or debate politics. This is too important a moment as a company for us to be distracted," Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote on Thursday.
Google’s apparent shift against politics follows other businesses' efforts to tamp down on employee activism in the workplace.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent out a company-wide announcement that emphasized a return to focusing on Google's "mission" over politics. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
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"Business leaders are sending a warning to staff: Dissent that disrupts the workplace won’t be tolerated," according to a report from the Wall Street Journal Sunday. "Bosses are losing patience with staff eager to be the conscience of their companies, especially as employees pressure them on charged issues such as politics and the war in Gaza, executives, board members and C-suite advisers say."
After years of woke capitalism and encouraging employees to bring their whole selves to the office, "The moves are a correction to the last several years, when corporate leaders often brooked dissent and encouraged staff to voice their personal convictions," the WSJ reported.
Hasan Ibraheem, a Google software engineer who was arrested and fired for taking part in the protest, remarked about how Google has changed from "the big company that was still fun and vibrant" where "you were allowed to express yourself."
"I wasn’t expecting that my labor would be going toward aiding a genocide, and that if I spoke up against that I would be instantly fired," Ibraheem told the WSJ.
The New York Times has similarly faced company infighting over the Israel-Gaza war. (Stephen Yang for Fox News Digital)
"The perils of being ensnared in partisan politics is changing the calculus of how responsive companies should be to any issue that doesn’t directly affect business, some executives and corporate advisers say," the WSJ reported, pointing to Disney's battle with DeSantis and the backlash against. Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Bud Light.
Jonathan Bernstein, founder and chairman of Bernstein Crisis Management, explained to WSJ that while companies are struggling with workplace politics, leaders are "are very concerned about public backlash, especially boards of directors."
The New York Times launched an investigation into itself over whether staff members were leaking information regarding the war in Gaza to other media outlets. This followed several insider reports that claimed employees were fighting over how the war was being covered.
In 2023, Starbucks also announced a lawsuit against the union Starbucks Workers United for using its name and logo in a series of pro-Palestinian posts shortly following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.
Outside these companies, some people are congratulating Google’s efforts to tamper down on political infighting within its ranks.
"I'm glad to see Google taking a step in this direction," Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who published a similar work memo in 2020, said.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstong suggested Google take one step further and fire employees against a "mission first" mindset. ((Photo by NOAH SEELAM/AFP via Getty Images))
He added, "Although I suspect a much bigger step is needed, including exiting a material percentage of staff who aren't aligned with this direction. Google is a gem of American innovation, and it's been sad to see it captured by activists, who have disrupted work and squandered their early lead in AI. A culture of merit and innovation is what made Google great, and I hope they can get back to it."
Fox News Digital reached out to Google for a comment.
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