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2024

In the US, students refuse to internship at Google and Amazon over aid to Israel

At the end of June 2024, more than 1,100 students and young engineers from more than 120 universities signed a pledge not to take jobs or do internships at Google or Amazon until the companies stopped supplying aid to the Israeli government through the Nimbus Project, a $1.2 billion cloud computing and other assistance contract.

That group included undergraduate and graduate students at Stanford, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of San Francisco and San Francisco State University, for whom Amazon and Google are traditionally considered the best IT employers. Many students also took part in a rally against Project Nimbus outside Google's San Francisco office along with activists.

In the US, students refuse to take internships at companies at Google and Amazon over aid to Israel

The action was led by NOTA, which is a coalition of engineers, activists and the Jewish Voice for Peace human rights group. Since 2021, NOTA has advocated boycotting Google and Amazon and scrapping the Nimbus project and any other work for the Israeli government.

Palestinians have suffered enough from Israeli surveillance and violence, says NOTA. - By empowering public cloud computing and providing the Israeli occupation government and military with the latest technology, Amazon and Google are helping to strengthen Israeli apartheid, which will only become more effective, tougher and even deadlier.

For several months, NOTA organized several actions against the Nimbus project. Eddie Hatfield, the organizer of NOTA, was fired from Google in March 2024 after placing the job of Google's Israeli managing director at a Google-sponsored New York technology conference. More than 50 Google employees were later laid off after a sit-in in New York and Sunnyvale, also organized by NOTA, to protest the Nimbus project.

Google employees arrested for protests against $1.2 billion contract to develop cloud services for the military

On April 16, 2024, police arrested nine Google employees who staged a strike, opposing the company's participation in the Nimbus project implemented by the Israeli government. We are talking about a joint contract with Amazon worth $1.2 billion to provide the Israeli government with AI services and cloud services. Google itself laid off 28 employees after they took part in protests against the Nimbus project.

The Nimbus initiative provides for the creation of a cloud platform for government agencies and the Israeli defense sector. In particular, it is planned to deploy the necessary local resources that "will store information within the borders of the country in accordance with strict security rules." As part of the project, the Israeli Ministry of Finance has signed a $1.2 billion contract with Google and Amazon to introduce cloud services, including artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. Under the terms of the agreement, the named companies are prohibited from refusing to provide services to any specific state organizations in Israel.

Nine Google employees arrested for protesting participation in Nimbus project

According to CNBC, protests against Google's participation in the Nimbus project were held at the company's offices in California. In New York, in particular, Google employees staged a sit-in in the common area on three floors of the building. And in Sunnyvale, protesters sat for more than nine hours until they were arrested.

Google employees who staged strikes are part of the so-called No Tech for Apartheid group. They say the implementation of the Nimbus project will increase Israeli government oversight of Palestinians and lead to discrimination. After the protests, Google fired 28 workers: they were blocked from accessing service computer devices and corporate services.

I'm furious. It's a completely disproportionate response to workers standing up for moral values and demanding Google deliver on its own promises, "said one of the laid-off employees.[1]

Massive employee cuts

On April 17, 2024, the American company Google, part of the Alphabet holding, announced mass layoffs of employees. The reorganization is aimed at reducing costs and optimizing business processes.

As of the specified date, the number of workers being reduced is not specified. But headcount is known to be reduced across several divisions, including the property department and finance department. Knowledgeable persons clarify that Google will lay off a number of employees in the business services and cash operations divisions.

Mass layoffs began at Google

Some employees, as noted by Business Insider, will be offered other positions within the company. In particular, Google will transfer individual employees to foreign hubs located in India and Dublin. In addition, some of the workers will be sent to Mexico City, Chicago and Atlanta. Other affected employees can apply for open jobs at Google.

{{quote 'We invest responsibly in the most promising projects. To better take advantage of existing opportunities, in the second half of 2023 and in 2024, some of our teams carried out a reorganization aimed at improving efficiency, simplifying the organizational structure and improving performance, says Google. }}

Google, like others in the IT industry, is forced to take measures to reduce costs in the face of economic uncertainty and high inflation. Those workers who, after the reduction, will not be able to get a job in other positions at Google, will receive monetary compensation and support. As of mid-April 2024, nothing was reported about the costs the company will incur in connection with the reorganization. It is also noted that one of the most priority areas of work for Google is artificial intelligence technologies.^[2]

Laying off hundreds of employees working with digital assistants, hardware and engineering teams

In January 2024, it became known that Google was laying off hundreds of employees working with digital assistants, hardware and engineering teams, while continuing to cut costs.

The move follows staff cuts at Amazon ahead of 2024.

Google is under pressure from Microsoft and OpenAI.

Later that month, it was announced that Google was laying off hundreds of employees from the advertising department - Business Insider.

2023

OpenAI poaches Google AI specialists and offers them $10 million a year

In early November 2023, it became known that OpenAI, the developer of the ChatGPT chatbot, is poaching Google's best artificial intelligence specialists, promising them millions of dollars in rewards packages. Qualified personnel are needed by OpenAI to accelerate the development of large language models and further strengthen its position in the rapidly growing AI market. Read more here.

Google salaries revealed

In mid-July 2023, information appeared on the Internet about the amount of monetary compensation for Google employees. The data includes wages, various bonuses and other payments.

According to Business Insider, a table with data on the earnings of more than 12 thousand Google employees in American divisions in 2022 was leaked to the Network. We are talking about a wide variety of positions - from software engineers to business analysts. It is noted that the information is provided by the employees of the company on a voluntary basis.

It is said that in 2022, the total monetary compensation of Google employees averaged $279,802, or approximately $23,317 per month. The highest paid programmer on the list has a base salary of $718,000 per year. Most software engineers reported earning between $100,000 and $375,000 over a 12-month period.

The base salary of the technical head of software development reaches $400,000 per year. The head of direct corporate sales receives $377,000 a year, a legal corporate consultant - $320,000, a UX designer - $315,000. Google researchers pay approximately $309,000 a year, cloud sales managers - $302,000.

As of the end of June 2023, a total of 181,798 employees were working globally across Google's various divisions. A year earlier, the company had 174,014 employees. Employees who have spent longer at Google tend to earn higher wages. Google emphasizes that it provides its employees not only with a generous salary, but also all kinds of benefits, vacation pay, securities, etc. These additional payments provide a significant increase to the base salary.^[3]

Dramatic reduction in free options for employees

Google employees in April 2023 complain that the company's San Francisco office has cut a wide range of free products that are available in the kitchen. Employees lost dried mango, chips and bags with M & Ms.

Google will reduce fitness costs for staff, change the frequency of laptop replacements and limit options for non-engineer employees. Employees will also stop paying for mobile phones. Also, Google employees noticed a reduction in the supply of office - staplers and tape are now issued only on request.

The company fired more than two dozen full-time massage therapists in the January round of cuts in the United States. Google said it would lay off 12,000 people (about 6% of employees) as revenue growth slowed.

Closing the Everyday Robots division and dissolving the team

At the end of February 2023, it became the closure of the Everyday Robots division, which was developing robots for everyday tasks. The folding of the business occurs against the background of mass layoffs in the Alphabet holding (its basis is Google). Read more here.

Staff rally demanding a pay rise

Google employees in February 2023 rally to demand better pay and protest mass layoffs

At the same time, the average salary of Google employees is $295,884 (about 21 million rubles) per year. The average salary in the United States is about $51,000 - $53,500 per year.

Dismissal of 12,000 employees or 6.4% of the staff

On January 20, 2023, Google, part of Alphabet Holding, reported a significant reduction in staff. As part of the reorganization, approximately 12 thousand people in various divisions will lose their jobs.

The upcoming changes were announced by Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. According to him, the rise in the IT sector led to the fact that the company hired a large number of employees to meet market needs. However, the previous growth was replaced by a recession, and Google found itself in a different economic reality. Therefore, the company was forced to conduct a thorough analysis of projects and product families to ensure that the composition of the work teams corresponded to the highest priorities. And this makes it necessary to reduce the number of employees: the staff will be reduced by about 6.4%.

We decided to cut our workforce by about 12,000 people. I am confident in the tremendous opportunities that are presented to us through the strength of our mission, the value of products and services, and early investment in artificial intelligence. To fully realize the potential, I had to make difficult choices. The positions we are cutting reflect the results of the internal audit, "Sundar Pichai wrote.

It is not specified which units will be reorganized. But it is reported that the dismissed employees will receive comprehensive support. It includes payment during the entire notification period (minimum 60 days), as well as severance pay in the amount of a 16-week salary plus a two-week salary for each year of work at Google. Reduced employees will receive all bonuses for 2022, compensation for unused leave and payment for medical care for six months. In addition, Google will help with employment in a new place.^[4]

2022

Google cuts 6% of state due to weak financial performance

In mid-November 2022, it became known that Google is cutting thousands of employees, whose efficiency leaves much to be desired. We are talking about the dismissal of 10 thousand people, which corresponds to 6% of the company's staff.

Google is going to use a rating system, and employees with the lowest points will fall under the reduction. Earlier, the IT giant also warned that it would slow down the expansion process in the fourth quarter of 2022 due to the current macroeconomic situation and high inflation.

As of the end of September 2022, about 187 thousand people worked at Google. At the same time, the average salary of Google employees is $295,884 per year. Third-party experts emphasize that Google pays its employees much more than other leading IT companies. At the same time, the intensity of hiring personnel from Google exceeds the actual needs.

The holding Alphabet could be pushed to reduce staff by a decrease in profit, which in the third quarter of 2022 amounted to $13.9 billion. This is about a quarter less than the result for the same period in 2021, when the profit was $18.9 billion. Against this background, the implementation of the rating system will provide savings: in particular, employees with mediocre assessments may be deprived of bonuses and other additional payments. In July 2022, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, anticipating difficulties in the IT market, informed his subordinates that they should improve productivity.

A wave of layoffs swept through many other IT companies. Meta Platforms (recognized as an extremist organization; activities in Russia are prohibited) and Amazon intend to reduce approximately 10,000 employees each. And the staff of the Twitter service, which is headed by Elon Musk, has more than halved.^[5]

Google took most employees out of Russia

On May 18, 2022, it became known about the relocation of most of the Google employees working in Russia in other countries. Many of them, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), moved to Dubai, where the American company has a large office. Read more here.

Google is recruiting a "legion" of blockchain specialists

At the end of January 2022, information appeared that Google was forming a group to build a business around applications on the blockchain. This was stated by Richard Widmann, head of digital asset strategy at Google Cloud. CNBC notes that the company is hiring a "legion" of blockchain specialists.

The Google Cloud division offers tools that developers can use to develop various blockchain networks, an infrastructure that provides applications with a registry and smart contracts. First of all, smart contracts are used to create transactions that are distributed over the network and written to a copy of the registry of all peer nodes of the network.

Google Cloud customers include blockchain companies such as Dapper Labs, Hedera, as well as Theta Labs. In January 2022, Google is considering what services the company can offer blockchain software developers. The company is trying to expand beyond advertising to become a more visible player in the rapidly growing computing and storage market in the world.

According to Richard Widmann, head of digital asset strategy at Google Cloud, the cloud computing group plans to hire many people with blockchain experience. Google also offers datasets that people can study using the BigQuery service to view the history of transactions in bitcoin and other currencies. Google is considering what services it can offer directly to blockchain developers, Widmann said. Google's cloud CEO, Thomas Kurian, has identified retail, healthcare and three other undisclosed areas as target areas. Widmann also noted that when customers in these industries decide to introduce blockchain technologies, Google will be able to help them in this.^[6]

Google leads top-secret pressure campaign on employees to keep them out of unions

In early January 2022, it became known that Google it launched a full-fledged campaign to prevent employees from joining trade union organizations, after the publication of the decree of the National Labor Relations Board. USA Google is accused of launching the Project Vivian project, which began work at the end of 2018, when the active position of workers began to grow. The goal of the project is aimed at combating trade unions, suppressing activism, as well as combating protest sentiments among its employees.

In a ruling submitted on January 7, 2022, an administrative law judge for the National Labor Relations Board ordered Google to turn over to a lawyer representing a group of current and former employees some 180 internal documents related to Vivian's project and the hiring of a consulting firm that advises employers fighting attempts to form a union.

Google Labor Law Director Michael Pfil, in internal documents, called this project an opportunity to more positively involve employees in work and convince them that trade unions suck! According to a report by The New York Times, Google hired IRI Consultants back in 2019, which specializes in fighting union organizations. IRI Consultants managers thought through various strategies and tactics that were aimed at suppressing activists or others if they disagreed with any of Google's decisions. So, as part of the project, the company fired four employees who are now challenging this decision in court.

Harassment of workers by Google management eventually led to the creation of a large trade union organization Alpha Global. It is open to all employees of the Alphabet holding, which includes Google, and has been operating since the beginning of 2021. Hearings in the case began in August 2021, but were soon suspended when Google failed to meet a number of requirements. Meanwhile, a lawyer for the workers has asked a U.S. federal court to enforce the subpoenas because the authority of union organization Alpha Global is limited.

The hearing is due to resume in February 2022, but it could be delayed as long as the subpoenas are fought. In the event that hearings resume, workers plan to call Google's president of global affairs, Kent Walker, and a top lawyer to testify.^[7]

2021

Salaries of Google employees

In February 2022, it became known how much Google employees earn. The company does not disclose staff salaries, but US law requires the disclosure of information about the earnings of specialists working on a work visa. Based on this data, Business Insider has prepared a study.

The data covers the salary of the company's employees for 2021. However, these figures reflect only base pay, not additional stock options, which can significantly increase the total compensation amount. The data also does not cover all offers made by Google, but only those made to workers who came on a foreign work visa.

Development, science about data:

• Software engineer: $98 thousand - $330 thousand
• Full-time software engineer: $178 thousand - $248 thousand
• Senior Software Engineer: $182 thousand - $210 thousand
• Director of Software Development: $291 thousand - $385 thousand
• Safety Engineer: $141,000 - $197,000
• Privacy Engineer: $112K - $206K
• Data research specialist: $113 thousand - $200 thousand

Search engine, user experience analysis:

• Leading specialist in search products: $128 thousand.
• Search quality analyst: $114 thousand - $173 thousand
• Leading Search Automation Specialist: $140,000
• UX researcher: $109 thousand - $223 thousand
• UX-engineer: $132 thousand - $260 thousand

Equipment:

• Hardware Engineer: $97K - $262K
• Full-time Hardware Engineer: $221K
• Chief Hardware Engineer: $305,000
• Hardware Testing Engineer: $106,000 - $180,000
• Firmware Engineer: $166,000

Study:

• Research engineer: $126 thousand - $182 thousand
• Junior Researcher: $135 thousand - $146 thousand
• Senior Researcher: $135 thousand - $277 thousand

Trust and Security:

• Trust and Security Manager: $158,000 - $175,000
• Safety Engineer: $163K

Cloud:

• Cloud Partner Manager: $186K
• Cloud Sales Engineer: $144,000 - $186,000
• Cloud Technician: $78K

Top Management:

• Senior Vice President, Human Resources: $650,000
• Senior Sustainability Director: $398,000
• Global Consulting Partnerships Director: $311K^[8]

Google begins sending employees without being vaccinated against COVID-19 on unpaid leave, followed by dismissal

In mid-December 2021, Google informed its employees that they would lose their salaries and eventually be fired if they did not comply with the rules for vaccination against coronavirus (COVID-19) infection. According to internal company documents, employees who did not comply with vaccination rules until January 18, 2022, will be placed on paid administrative leave for 30 days, and after that Google will send them on unpaid personal leave for up to six months, followed by dismissal.

A memo circulated by management said employees must declare their vaccination status by December 3, 2021, and upload documents to prove this, or apply for a vaccine exemption on medical or religious grounds. Google management noted that after this date, managers will begin to contact employees who have not reported their status or have not been vaccinated against coronavirus infection (COVID-19), as well as those whose applications for exemption from vaccinations have not been approved.

Google management requires its employees to eventually come to physical offices three days a week, this rule will be valid until the end of 2021. The company is showing limited patience with those who refuse to vaccinate, which are already available in the United States from September 2021.

We expect that almost all positions at Google in the United States will be subject to the decree. Anyone entering a Google building must be fully vaccinated or have an approved device to allow them to work or be on company premises. Frequent testing is not a valid alternative to COVID-19, said CEO Sundar Pichai.

The administration of Joe Biden ordered American companies with 100 or more people to ensure that their employees are fully vaccinated or regularly tested for COVID-19 by January 18, 2021. Although the federal court suspended this order, Google nevertheless asked more than 150,000 of its employees to upload information about the state of their vaccination to their internal systems, regardless of whether employees plan to come to the office or not, and the company announced that it plans to comply with the order of US President Joe Biden.

The vaccination mandate was not universally accepted by employees. Several hundred Google employees signed and distributed a manifesto against the company's demands, which management said would apply to all employees, even those working from home, who are directly or indirectly involved in federal government contracts.

In the latest guide, Google details some options for those who don't want to get vaccinated. The company said employees can look into whether Google has items that don't contradict the executive order. The company can also request exemptions for religious beliefs or medical reasons, which company management says will be considered on a case-by-case basis.^[9]

Adeira Fox-Martina is the new head of Google Cloud

In early July 2021, Google Cloud appointed SAP and Oracle veteran Adeira Fox-Martin as head of its cloud division in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Read more here.

Transfer of 20% of employees to remote work

Google permanently transfers 20% of employees to remote work, which the company announced in early May 2021. The company is switching to a new format for organizing work in the context of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to transferring every fifth employee to work from home, some of the staff will combine a remote labor format with an office one. 60% of the state will work in the office about three days a week. It is also reported that 20% of employees will be transferred to new offices and work there 5 days a week.

As Google CEO Sundar Pichai noted, most of the company's employees will work in the office on average three days a week, but in general it will become easier for them to choose their preferred mode of work. In addition, the company will allow all employees to work outside their office for up to four weeks a year.

The company also offers "reboot" days - an extra weekend, the closest of which will be May 28 or the next working day for those who are already resting on that date. The head of Google promised to publish the details of this plan in June 2021.

Before the [coronavirus COVID-19 - approx. TAdviser] pandemic, thousands of our employees worked in different places that were not geographically connected with their main teams. I expect this to increase in the coming months as we develop remote formats, including the organization of fully remote subgroups... The future of work: flexibility, "Pichai notes. "The above changes are the starting point to help us do the very best work and enjoy it," Pichai wrote in an email to employees.

It is noted that most of the 135 thousand Google employees will be able to work from home until the end of September 2021.^[10]

Creation of a union

In January 2021, employees of Google and parent company Alphabet announced the creation of a union, exacerbating a long-term confrontation between workers and the leadership of the Internet giant.

In recent years, Google has clashed with some employees over military contracts, differing attitudes toward contract workers and generous severance pay for an executive fired on sexual harassment charges.

Protests by Google workers in 2018 forced the company to terminate its contract with the Pentagon in the field of artificial intelligence.

Alphabet's efficient union will be able to limit executive powers, while inspiring similar efforts across Silicon Valley, which has so far largely avoided union membership.

2020

Google fires employees for trying to form union and attending rallies

In early December 2020, the National Labor Relations USA Board (NLRB) accused Google of violating labor laws. The company fired employees for trying to organize a union and hold rallies. The council also accuses Google of illegally controlling and interviewing its employees about their union activities.

The NLRB complaint concerns workers who were laid off in November 2019. Google fired four workers, including two women, Laurence Berland and Catherine Spears, for allegedly violating Google's security rules. In fact, they were fired for union activities, as well as for speaking out about the company's policy.

The NLRB complaint says that in late 2019, Google illegally cut several employees who openly opposed the tech giant's cooperation with IRI Consultants, a consulting company specializing in suppressing union organizations.

The investigation showed that Google conducted surveys of employees about their participation in trade unions, and also monitored the organization of meetings on the company's territory in order to prevent protests. Google illegally monitored staff and thwarted their attempts to express dissatisfaction with the workflow in apps developed by the company, the NLRB reported. Google had access to calendars and personal documents of laid-off employees, which also broke the law.

Lawrence Berland, an ex-Google employee, noted:

Workers who speak out on ethical issues, harassment, discrimination and similar issues are no longer welcomed to Google as they used to be.

After the NLRB's statements, Google CEO Sundar Pichai promised to look into the problem, but illegal layoffs due to the participation of employees in the protests continued.^[11]

Implementation of initiatives that help employees not to burn out remotely

At the end of November 2020, it became known that Google continues to actively pay attention to the health of employees who are forced to work remotely and are stressed due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Building on long-term plans for remote work, the company began providing employees with wellness support training materials and additional days off for a "reboot."

Google Health Manager Lauren Witt noted that in search of strategies that will help more than 130 thousand company employees cope with the ongoing crisis, the company relies on "sustainability training." The company has expanded existing programs and created weekly short training videos from athletes, coaches and psychologists, which employees have observed watching increasingly.

Looking for the best solutions for employees, Lauren Whitt's team settled on a series of digital clips called "Meet the Moment." Each video is five or six minutes long and focuses on a specific topic, such as sleep, breathing, parenting and avoiding anxiety.

Breathing and sleep video content is the most important, given the significance of these ways of resting and recovering, as well as brief breaks during the working day, Whitt said. The main characters of the resilience training videos are people who have experienced stressful situations, including participants in sports games, fights, etc.

Sustainability is a skill that can be shaped, practiced and developed, Google's sustainability guidelines for employees say.

As part of employee training, the company also expanded some of the existing activities it organized shortly before the pandemic, including the TEA check-ins initiative, which is an acronym for "thought, energy and attention." Google has also begun practicing a "week without meeting," all programs designed to address common burnout symptoms.^[12]

Hiring four new directors for EMEA's cloud division

On September 18, 2020, it became known that Google hired four new directors for the cloud division in the EMEA region to support its growing customer base in this market.

Google initially reported that former Salesforce executive Pip White headed the company's cloud business in the UK and Ireland. White's appointment was followed by three more regional appointments in the EMEA region.

So, Daniel Holtz headed Google Cloud the DACH region and the Northern countries. Europe Holtz joined Google after 12 years at, SAP where he most recently served as managing director at. Google's new vice president's Germany former employers also include the company and. Oracle IBM

Samuel Bonamigo, who has long worked at Salesforce, will take the position of vice president of Google Cloud for Southern Europe, we are talking about the following countries: France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Bonamigo worked at Salesforce for more than 10 years and was previously senior vice president and deputy CEO of the company in France.

Google Cloud was also joined by Lawrence Lafon. For the last eight years, she worked at Microsoft, where she served as chief operating officer of the company (business in France). Lafont is tasked with driving and supporting the digital transformation of customers and expanding new industry sales departments in the EMEA market.

Google Cloud EMEA President Chris Chiauri, said:

Today, many leading brands in Europe, the Middle East and Africa are turning to us for help in digitally transforming, optimising and reimagining their business models. Pip, Lawrence, Daniel and Samuel join us at a time of significant growth as we continue to grow our business to support customers and partners across the region when entering [13]]

Zoom app blocked on Google desktops

On April 8, 2020, Google announced the blocking of the Zoom video conferencing service on the computers of all employees of the company and explained its decision by concerns for data security. Read more here.

Google forces freelance workers to work in the office

In mid-March 2020, it became known that Google is forcing freelance employees to work in the office. A group of Google employees demanded that management take stronger measures to protect the most vulnerable members of the Google team, primarily contract employees.

Google has been known to hire huge numbers of contracted workers to cut costs. Unlike full-time employees, the company does not provide them with additional benefits, such as access to certain transportation and dining benefits, stock options, paid leave and premium health plans. At the same time, Google's contractor workforce includes not only service personnel, but also programmers, graphic designers, human resources department employees and many other office workers. This "shadow workforce" of Google has grown so much that it is almost equal in number to the company's full-time employees.

The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the division between Google full-time employees and contract workers. The company's employees - both full-time and freelance - sent statements to the management, in which they demanded to provide home work for all Google office workers and provide a guarantee of paid leave in the event that employees are forced to stay at home due to quarantine measures or when their work includes services that cannot be performed remotely.

A number of Google contractors from Pittsburgh were forced to work in the office during the pandemic, despite the fact that full-time Google employees were first allowed and then instructed to stay at home. Some contractors wore black in protest in the cafeteria of Google's Pittsburgh office. Later, under the pressure of rebellious employees, Google also transferred them to remote work.^[14]

Closure of all offices in China due to coronavirus

At the end of January 2020, Google closed all of its offices in China due to the coronavirus outbreak. The measures covered all offices in mainland China, as well as the internet giant's offices in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

A Google spokesperson told The Verge that the company plans to close its offices as directed by the government. In addition, temporary restrictions on business trips to mainland China and Hong Kong were introduced.

The company also advised employees in China to return home as soon as possible, but to spend at least 14 days from the date of departure at home working remotely. The same applies to employees whose next of kin are returning from mainland China.

The move marks efforts by the tech industry to reduce the risk of infecting its employees. With the tech industry closely tied to China, which is the world's largest internet market and manufacturing hub, many of these companies "employees regularly visit China, and nearly every major company in the industry has offices there.

While Google is unable to use most of its most popular web services in China due to tensions between the American and Chinese governments, the company has opened four offices in the country. Google also maintains close ties with Chinese manufacturers, as many of Google's product development teams responsible for devices such as Pixel phones and Google Home speakers work with Chinese suppliers and factories.

Many other companies also canceled business trips of their employees to China. AppleCEO Tim Cook announced the new restrictions following the release of its quarterly earnings report. Apple also said it has closed at least one retail store in China and regularly takes temperature measurements from employees.^[15]

2019

Larry Page and Sergey Brin quit their posts but will be involved in Google life

On December 3, 2019, Larry Page and Sergey Brin announced their resignation from the positions of CEO and President of Alphabet, respectively. At the same time, the founders of Google will remain on the board of directors and shareholders of the holding, which they previously headed. Read more here.

Google first has a director of medical projects

In mid-October 2019, Google hired former Obama administration official Karen DeSalvo as chief medical projects officer. Previously, there was no such position in the company. Read more here.

What Google bosses allowed themselves at work

At the end of August 2019, the post of a former Google employee, published in Medium, again raised the topic of harassment in the workplace and sex without obligations, which Google bosses allowed themselves.

Jennifer Blakely, formerly a Google employee, accused her former head of Alphabet's legal department, David Drummond, of having entered into an extramarital relationship with her, forced her to leave a well-paid workplace and left one with her child.

In her post, Blakely noted that the company's culture begins with guidance that asked far from the best behavioral models. Drummond explained to her that executives like him were not subject to the usual rules, and cited as an example an article about the infamous former Alphabetdirector Eric Schmidt, who led a rampant lifestyle.

In retrospect, I can see how the low standards I was willing to come to terms with in the beginning have become common and even welcome behavior within the company as Google's global prominence has grown and its executives have become increasingly influential, Blakely wrote.

She noted that female Google colleagues approached her after the publication and talked about harassment and dirty jokes, which became a common practice for some Google bosses, including top-tier executives.

David Drummond does not deny engaging in an extramarital affair by Jennifer Blakely, a senior contracts manager in the legal department who was accountable to one of his deputies. They began dating in 2004 and had a son by mutual agreement in 2007. However, according to the company's policy, employees of one department could not enter into a relationship, and one of them had to leave. Drummond led the legal department, so it became clear that Blakely should leave, and she accepted this sacrifice, trusting the stalls. In October 2008, Drummond left her and their son.

Drummond's behavior seems to prove the idea that there are no consequences for the elect, and this is wrong, Blakely believes. Google's policy on sexual harassment states that violators can be fired, but in fact these rules apply with much less serious consequences. So, Google hid the fact of allegations of harassment in the workplace brought against Andy Rubin, an Android developer. The management could dismiss Rubin without maintenance, but instead he was honorably retired with an impressive amount of $90 million. In addition, as it turned out during a journalistic investigation, Google paid considerable sums to all persons who knew about Rubin's accusations in order to hush up the scandal.

In Silicon Valley, it is widely known that Larry Page, co-founder of Google, met with Marissa Mayer, one of the company's first engineers, who later became CEO of Yahoo; both were single at the time. Eric Schmidt, Google's former chief executive officer, once left his mistress to become a consultant to the company. Sergey Brin, who with Larry Page owns most of the shares in Google's parent company, Alphabet, entered into an extramarital affair with his employee in 2014. Blakely and other victims advocate for women's rights in the workplace, but so far their efforts have broken down into long-established behind-the-scenes rules in place internally.^[16]

Why Google employees refuse to comply with US Customs and Border Protection cloud contract

In mid-August 2019, Google employees called on the corporation to abandon the cloud contract with US Customs and Border Protection. The new petition was set up by a group of staff who are calling for the immigration contract to be waived until it stops "violating human rights." More than 600 people signed the petition. Read more here.

A fine of $11 million for discrimination against age-old programmers

On July 20, 2019, Google agreed to pay $11 million to settle a lawsuit, the authors of which accuse the company of discriminating against age-related employees.

227 people over the age of 40 who joined the collective complaint will receive an average of more than $35 thousand. Lawyers representing the interests of the plaintiffs are entitled to $2.75 million, reports Bloomberg news agency.

The proceedings began with an appeal to the court of programmer Cheryl Fillekes. The woman claimed that due to her age (she is over 50 years old), Google refused to take her to work, despite her high qualifications and programming experience.

For seven years, Fillekes went to Google interviews four times, but each time she was denied employment. After that, the woman accused Google of systematic discrimination against age applicants.

In addition to the fine, the settlement agreement includes the following condition: Google will have to wean employees and executives from age prejudices, as well as create a committee that will deal exclusively with issues of age diversity when recruiting. In addition, the company will monitor the proper investigation of complaints from applicants.

Although Google agreed to comply with the requirements and pay compensation, the company announced its disagreement with the allegations. The company believes the plaintiffs did not demonstrate the technical ability needed for the job they were applying for.^[17]

Age-based discrimination is a problem that needs to be addressed in the IT industry. We are very glad that we managed to achieve a fair settlement for our clients in this case, "attorney Fillekes Daniel Low told Bloomberg.

Accusations against Android creator of pimping

In early July 2019, it became known about the accusations brought by Andy Rubin's ex-wife Ri Hirabaru Rubin. She claims that her ex-husband was engaged in pimping. The Android creator's lawyer called the claims "false." Read more here.

Investing $1 billion to knock down San Francisco housing prices

On June 18, 2019, Google announced its intention to invest $1 billion in housing construction in San Francisco. In this city, the problem of a shortage of houses and apartments is very acute - there are few offers on the real estate market, and prices are overestimated due to the abundance of highly paid IT specialists.

According to the Google blog, the CEO of Sundar Pichai, over 10 years, $750 million will be spent on transforming Google's commercial and office space into residential ones. Another $250 million will be provided to a fund that was created for developers to build affordable housing in San Francisco. Finally, the corporation will transfer $50 million to non-profit organizations dealing with homelessness and displacement.

Due to the new initiative, Google plans to build at least 15 thousand new houses in the San Francisco Bay Area, where more than 45 thousand employees of the company live by mid-June 2019. In total, 3,000 new homes were built in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2018, the head of Google recalled.

Our goal is to help the population achieve success in the long term and ensure that everyone has access to opportunities, regardless of whether they work in the technological sphere or not, Pichai wrote.

He called the problem of a shortage of affordable housing for people of low and middle income especially acute and difficult for San Francisco.

According to TechCrunch, San Francisco is considered one of the most expensive regions to live in. Locals have a hatred of tech companies that they believe are driving up prices. The publication calls Google's program to support the construction of affordable housing an "act of conscience" and an attempt to raise its reputation. The city authorities noted that negotiations with Google over housing construction had been going on for a long time.^[18]

Google has more freelancers than full-time employees

At the end of May 2019, it became known that the number of freelancers working for Google exceeds the number of full-time employees.

According to The New York Times (NYT), citing documents intended for internal review by Google, by the end of March 2019, 102 thousand people worked at the company on an ongoing basis. At the same time, the number of freelance workers reached 121 thousand. The latter, as a rule, are attracted by personnel agencies, earn less and cannot count on paid leave in the United States and on most of the other privileges that full-time staff have.

The OnContracting website, which specializes in finding a contract job in the IT industry, a technology company like Google can save an average of $100,000 a year using a freelancer instead of a full-time employee.

People working for Google have repeatedly staged protests demanding better working conditions and the treatment of contract employees. The latter believe that Google's culture involves treating temporary employees as "consumables."

If someone doesn't have the right experience, we provide many ways to report complaints or raise concerns, says Google's vice president of human resources, Eileen Naughton. "We are investigating, we are holding individuals accountable and we are working to make sure that everything is right about every person.

When Google management did not respond to the demands of workers, they sent a letter to the CEO in which they opposed the dismissal of almost an entire team of 43 people who were developing an artificial intelligence system. And then Google promised to adjust the policy towards contract workers.^[19]

Google employee diagnosed with measles

In mid-April 2019, a measles case was reported at one of Google's Silicon Valley campuses. The United States has recorded the most powerful outbreak of this infectious disease in 25 years.

Measles is a highly contagious disease, its pathogen virus can persist in the environment for a long time even after the patient leaves. At risk were everyone who was in the Google office at 1295 Charleston Road - a sick employee worked there. It was believed that by 2000, the measles virus in the United States was eliminated, but the cases identified in 2019 indicate the opposite. As of April 2019, there are 555 cases of measles in the United States, 21 of them in California.

Body officials health care believe the return of measles is linked to the spread of misinformation about vaccines on social media. Google has already faced criticism for distributing YouTube anti-vaccination videos on videos. YouTube said such videos are "dangerous or harmful," but creators can still post it on the site. At the same time, YouTube does not allow monetization of content containing calls against vaccination, that is, the video is not accompanied by advertising.

According to BuzzFeed, some Google employees received an email reporting a campus-registered case of bark and noting that the company was cooperating with the Santa Clara County Health Department on the matter. The notice was described as a "simple precaution."

A spokesman for the Santa Clara County Health Department confirmed that one of the county residents who visited Google's office did indeed have measles. However, this case does not pose an additional risk to the public due to the sanitary measures taken in time.^[20]

Google set a minimum wage of $15

In early April 2019, Google raised the minimum wage and began providing additional benefits to staff in response to employee protests.

Google has obliged recruitment companies with which the Internet giant cooperates to set the minimum wage for employees and contract employees at $15 per hour. How much they received before is not reported, but Google is talking about increasing rewards.

In addition, freelance workers will be able to count on a cash sickness allowance for 8 days and paid 12-week parental leave. An annual subsidy of $5 thousand is also entitled to improve the level of qualifications.

Freelance workers make up 54% of Google's workforce worldwide. Such employees work in the office on an equal basis with the rest, but not on a permanent basis, but under contracts that are concluded for a period of 2 months to six months.

Google has improved working conditions for employees and contract employees following a petition signed by more than 900 employees. They demanded to equalize their rights with regular employees. The authors of the letter complained about the insecurity of freelance employees who earn less than colleagues from the state and do not receive various benefits. They can also be fired without warning.

The problem came to a head in March 2019, when the company laid off 34 workers involved in the development of the Google Assistant voice assistant.

The minimum salary of $15 for all Google employees, regardless of the type of registration in the company, will be valid from January 2020. The rest of the innovations will come into force until January 2022.

Google Vice President Eileen Naughton told employees in a memo that the company will terminate the contract with all partners who will not be able to fulfill the established requirements.^[21]

In fight for women's rights, Google started paying men less for the same job

Google pays male employees less than women for the same job. The company learned about this after conducting a special salary study. The purpose of the study was to establish whether women and representatives of various minorities are infringed on the issue of remuneration. No one expected that the exact opposite cases would be discovered, writes The New York Times^[22].

At this time, the company is under pressure - the US Department of Labor is checking whether Google has systematic infringements on women's salaries. In addition, the company is suing former employees who accuse it of paying women less than men with equal qualifications.

Research on sufficient pay covered 91% of Google employees. According to the results of the survey, the company paid $9.7 million in compensation this year, which was received by 10,677 employees. At this time, men make up about 69% of Google's workforce, but they account for a larger percentage of salaries.

The company has been conducting this study since 2012, but before that, compensation was not so significant. For example, in 2017, Google limited itself to adjusting only 228 salaries totaling $270 thousand. This year's study included newly hired employees than the company and explains the difference in results.

2018

Mass employee protests against sexual harassment, inequality and racism

In November 2018, thousands of Google employees staged protests around the world. They have spoken out against sexual harassment, gender inequality and racism.

Firing 48 employees accused of sexual misconduct

On October 25, 2018, it became known that in the previous two years, Google fired 48 employees accused of sexual harassment. The company's CEO Sundari Pichai said this in an email sent to workers in response to rumors about harassment from Android creator Andy Rubin.

The letter notes that among those dismissed for allegations of harassment, 13 held high positions in the company. None of these employees received severance pay.

We want to reassure you that we review every complaint of sexual harassment or inappropriate behaviour, we investigate them and take action... In recent years, we have introduced some changes, including adopting a tougher approach to inappropriate behavior of employees in senior positions, Pichai said.

A few hours before the publication of this letter, The New York Times , citing Google employees who wished to remain anonymous, wrote that in 2013 one of the company's employees accused Andy Rubin of sexual harassment. According to the girl, a top manager forced her to have oral sex in a hotel room. Google management investigated the incident and concluded that Rubin was guilty. He was notified of the commission's decision, and in 2014, the company's then CEO  Larry Page signed a firing order.

According to the publication, Google paid Rubin $90 million after his departure in 2014. The former senior employee of the company himself denies the allegations.

These false claims are part of my ex-wife's smear campaign to humiliate me during the divorce and custody battle, commented the article to Rubin, who resigned from Google in late October 2014.[23]

Google stopped requiring higher education when hiring

In August 2018, the major recruiting agency Glassdoor presented the results of a study in which it named large companies that stopped requiring higher education when hiring. Among such corporations are Apple, IBM and Google. Read more here.

Equipping all employees with USB security keys

Google has provided all its employees with USB security keys, Business Insider reported on July 23, 2018. These devices provide protection against phishing attacks on corporate employees.

Google workers have long used some form of two-factor authorization to prevent fraudulent attacks. Until 2017, one-time code generators and mobile phone notifications were used - such measures are typical for banking web resources and mobile applications.

But from the beginning of 2017, the transition to "physical" security keys in the form of USB key chains began. According to company representatives, since then none of Google's 85,000 employees has been the victim of a phishing attack.^[24]

Phishing is a kind of cyber attack aimed directly at the user. Even the most technically trained specialists can fall victim to fraudsters, especially if they are motivated enough to collect personal data about a potential victim and her circle of communication for a long time and scrupulously, "said Georgy Lagoda, CEO of SEQ (formerly SEC Consult Services). - Google Corporation works with a huge amount of valuable information of interest to cybercriminals, which means that the company's employees are constantly exposed to phishing and other cyber attacks. The decision to provide all of them with physical authorization is a very logical and practical step.

Google uses YubiKeys devices from Yubico. This is a USB dongle that stores a unique identifier according to the Universal 2nd Factor (U2F) standard. Many other network services offer similar keys as an additional protective measure - Dropbox, LastPass, Github and others. The device complements traditional authorization systems, so that an attacker, in order to successfully take possession of someone else's account, will need not only to know the login and password, but also to steal a physical device from the owner.

Creating shared toilets for men and women

In March 2018, it became known about the creation of shared toilets for men and women in Google offices. So the company, which has been repeatedly accused of gender discrimination, wants to prove its desire for sex equality.

The appearance of floor-independent toilets at Google's London headquarters, located in the Kings Cross area and built for £1 billion, was reported by Financial News.

We know people work better when they know they can be themselves. We are pleased that Google is introducing gender-neutral toilets to help all employees and visitors feel accepted and able to do their daily business, a spokesman for the LGBT organization Stonewall told the newspaper.

While Google's California offices have previously started to feature toilet booths that both men and women can use, such an initiative in the UK was the company's first outside the US.

At the same time, Google is far from the first company to abandon divided toilets in London. It was previously done by law firm Hogan Lovells, insurance provider Aviva and consultancy Ernst & Young (EY).

Google has become more focused on gender equality issues after repeated allegations of sexism. In 2017, about 90 former and current female employees sued the company for discrimination in pay and promotion. Google itself denies salary differences between men and women.

As Fortune writes in the March 26, 2018 issue, the discussion of mixed toilets has intensified significantly in recent years amid the emergence of numerous supporters and opponents. The former say that sex-segregated latrines infringe on transsexuals and drag queens, and opponents point to the important advantage of such toilets - a safe space for women.

In the United States, the use of public toilets is governed by municipal and state regulations. One reason the issue has taken on such significance is that, unlike previous generations seeking to change sex with hormones or surgery, current transsexuals agree to a less defined sex background.

In Britain, this problem is not as discussed as in the United States, but in a European country there is an increase in the number of "asexual" toilets. This is supported by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. In 2018, Oxford University also voted to create sex-neutral toilets. 

According to data from the Gender Identity Research  and Education Society, by March 2018, approximately 1% of the British population refers to people with gender nonconformity. According to a study by the World Economic Forum, no country in the world has achieved absolute equality of rights between men and women. 

In Russia, the situation with navigation in the field of public toilets looks somewhat more progressive than in the west: modern street toilet modules  are intended for use by both women and men, and the famous "blue booths" are most often not equipped with signs at all. However, this does not prevent the organizers of public events, such as festivals, from organizing separate toilet areas for men and women, and the double icon on the M/F door still secretly supports binary gender division.^[25]

2017

The average salary of employees is $197 thousand.

The average salary of Google personnel in 2017 was $197 thousand, which is the fourth indicator among participants in the S&P 500 stock index (includes five hundred American companies with the largest market capitalization).

Former employees accuse Google of discriminating against white men

James Damore, a former Google engineer, filed a class action lawsuit against a former employer in Santa Clara, Northern California^[26].

In his lawsuit, Damor accuses Google of discriminating against white people whose political views are at odds with those of the company's management.

Damor's group open suit has already been joined by David Gudeman, another former Google engineer who has been developing search algorithms at the company for three years, TechCrunch said. According to Gudeman's current LinkedIn profile status, he left Google in December 2016 and has been a private entrepreneur ever since.

Google allocates $1 billion for retraining IT specialists

On October 12, 2017, the CEO Google Sundar Pichai (Sundar Pichai) announced the Grow with Google program, according to which the company is ready to allocate 1 billion to non-profit organizations dollars to train Americans and help them create their own business.^[27]

Also within the framework of the initiative, the company allocates $10 million to the Goodwill organization. This will be a record high amount ever allocated by a project Google.org one organization. The funds will be used to launch the Goodwill Digital Career Accelerator, a Goodwill program aimed at accelerating career building in high-tech industries. "Grow with Google" will be implemented in the form of a nationwide tour with the support of libraries and public organizations and is aimed at organizing training and vocational guidance seminars directly in small towns.

This program is part of the company's intention to devote 1 million hours annually to volunteer activities for five years. Over the past 12 years, Google has contributed 1% of its profits to non-profit organizations for the purpose of career guidance and increasing the mobility of the high-tech labor market. In May 2017, the company announced a new service to help people find new jobs. Later, in July 2017, she allocated $7 million for a program in which teachers in unfinished schools are offered additional technical courses and tools.

Google's mission is to put into practice a situation where information serves everyone, not just the chosen ones, says Pichai. - A schoolboy in Pittsburgh should have access to the same information on Google as a Carnegie Mellon University professor. After all, the Internet, in the end, equalizes the possibilities of access to information and allows you to move forward new ideas and people.

Other online training courses can be found on the Grow with Google program portal.

Gender discrimination: Men are paid more women in the same jobs

In April 2017, US authorities convicted Google of gender discrimination. According to the US Department of Labor, the Internet giant assigns women working in it a lower salary than men who hold similar positions.

We identified a systematic underreporting of salaries in women. This applies to almost the entire labor collective of the corporation, - said the regional director of the US Department of Labor Janette Whipper (Janette Wipper) during a court hearing in San Francisco, reports USA Today.[28]

In January 2017, the US Department of Labor filed a lawsuit against Google, thus trying to force the corporation to provide the government with more information regarding the payment of wages. As a federal contractor, Google is obliged to share this data with the authorities, but the Ministry of Labor claims that the company has repeatedly refused to transfer the information necessary to analyze payment to the department.

During the investigation, which is still ongoing, representatives of the Ministry of Labor received convincing evidence of Google's discrimination against women in the most common positions, said ministry lawyer Janet Herold. She also added that gender discrimination in Google is strongly expressed even for the area in which she works.

In turn, Google categorically denies all accusations.

Every year we conduct a comprehensive and thorough analysis of wage data among women and men and have not found a gender pay gap, "the statement released by the corporation said, excerpts from which are published by The Guardian.[29]

It is worth adding that Google is far from the first technology company to which the US Department of Labor has complaints. Earlier, the ministry filed a similar lawsuit against Oracle Corporation and accused it of systematically underestimating the salaries of women and employees with non-white skin color.

2015: Collusion with other IT companies to ban the poaching of employees

In mid-January 2015, Google, Adobe, Apple and Intel announced their intention to pay compensation of $415 million to pre-trial settlement of a class action lawsuit accusing IT companies of personnel conspiracy.

A lawsuit filed back in 2011 on behalf of 64 thousand employees of Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe claimed that these employers secretly agreed not to poach employees from each other, thereby limiting for them the possibility of salary growth and finding a more attractive job in a competing company.

According to Lucy Koch, in the case of conspiracy to prevent the employment of workers, there is enough evidence of violation of antitrust laws, as a result of which, without a pre-trial settlement, Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe face a fine of $9 billion or more.

Technology companies claim that in recent years, their employees' salaries have increased, so that even in the case of any employers' agreements, employees' incomes have not been undermined.

2009: Hiring 200 goats

In 2009, Google, which is known for its careful attitude towards the environment, employed 200 goats. The company's management drew attention to gasoline lawn mowers constantly operating on the territory of the company's headquarters in Mountain View. The developers admitted that they are ready to abandon noisy devices that pollute the atmosphere with exhausts in favor of a more environmentally friendly method of cutting grass. Taking care of the grass cover of the territory outside Google offices was taken over by pets, or rather, goats. California Grazing has allocated 200 animals for the corporation's agricultural needs. Bearded workers will walk on lawns, eating grass, fertilizing the ground and simply entertaining Google employees with their appearance. The order in the herd should be monitored by a specially prepared shepherd named Jen.

Links

• Photos of Google workplaces around the world

Notes