The diversity and inclusion policy in big tech companies has come under scrutiny in recent years. In many companies, there are conversations around why most of the employees are just Indians or Chinese. A recent post on TeamBlind noted, “Google is no longer diverse, all just predominantly Chinese and Indians; 1/5 are white or another race. Unacceptable.”
Earlier this year, Google hinted at rolling back from DEI policy with parent company Alphabet removing references to DEI from its annual report, including, “We are committed to making diversity, equity, and inclusion part of everything we do and to growing a workforce that is representative of the users we serve.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, Fiona Cicconi, Alphabet’s chief people officer, told employees, “Because we are a federal contractor, our teams are also evaluating changes to our programs required to comply with recent court decisions and US Executive Orders on this topic,” Cicconi goes on to say that “in the future, we will no longer have aspirational goals.”
“Let’s ban Google from operating outside USA”
Netizens are pouring in their opinions on the post. A user said, “That explains why Google products are buggy garbage compared to 10 years ago.” Another added, “When layoffs and forced rankings happen, people protect their own kind. Is it on purpose? Most of the time, not really. We all relate to people who have the same cultural/linguistic background, and thus if someone acts more like me, I obviously think they are better than someone who doesn’t. Is it racism? Absolutely. Is upper management aware of this and do they allow it? Absolutely.” “That is with every large company. Come to Adobe during lunch hours, it seems like you are in a mall at Bangalore with few white folks,” added another. A netizen further said, “let’s ban Google from operating outside USA.”