For years, Google was considered one of the best places to work. However, its reputation is now completely different, as there are many reactions from its employees.
Tensions between workers and management appear to be reaching a breaking point. On Monday, Google fired several outspoken employees in an internal memo for allegedly violating its data security policies. Now, of course, some employees are accusing Google of trying to suppress its critics.
Some Google employees who organized protests described the layoffs as an attempt to intimidate the employees.
"With these layoffs, Google is retaliating against employees who create organizations," they said in a statement.
On Tuesday, a Google spokesperson told CNN Business that the employees were fired for attempting to access information that was restricted due to data security policies. One of the employees, the spokesperson said, had unknowingly signed up for other Google employees' work calendars.
However, the policy changed recently, according to the joint statement of other Google employees, and thus it eliminated this category for the employees, even though they were dismissed.
Across Silicon Valley, hundreds of Facebook (FB) employees have spoken out to oppose the company’s stance on its policy. Amazon (AMZN) workers staged a walkout in September to pressure CEO Jeff Bezos for more action on climate change. And leaders at Microsoft (MSFT) and Salesforce (CRM) have received letters from employees asking them to end government contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The layoffs, together with the announcement of hiring a consulting firm linked to activities against trade union organizations, indicate a shift in its approach to employee dissent.
This month, as layoffs approached, Google said it would limit weekly meetings for all employees.
This could strengthen the perception that the company is focusing more and more on actions aimed at identifying sources of internal dissent.
