Hmm I really kind of hate to do another political post but just
felt I had to comment on the recent story about Google firing some
of their protesting workers. I think 9 activist workers were fired
for protesting Google's contract with Israel's military.
There are 2 takeaways about this situation that I want to share.
The first is that if you as a company are consistently hiring
politically active employees, don't be surprised when they become
extremely politically active. Being politically active means that
they won't just write emails and sign petitions, they will stage
sit-ins and protests. And unlike previous generations, they will
be active not just in the streets or on their off time...but they
will do it at work where they get paid!
The second takeaway is for the activist employees. No matter how
politically aligned you think your company is to a specific set of
values, that company will ALWAYS be MORE aligned with making a
profit and returning shareholder value. When you threaten a
corporation's profit, you are threatening its very existence and
that will always cause a self-protective response...and thus activist
employees are jettisoned.
Thinking otherwise is pure naivete.
It is literally the very reason that Google dumped the "Don't be
evil" corporate motto.
