Google Cancels Town Hall To Discuss Diversity In Its Ranks (nbcnews.com)

NBC News originally reported: Google employees will gather for a town hall meeting Thursday afternoon to discuss the tensions ignited by a memo circulated inside the company that claimed to explain why more women are not engineers. Town hall meetings are nothing new at Google, but this one will likely be different after the so-called "Google Manifesto" went viral over the weekend, adding fresh fuel to the debate around gender bias in Silicon Valley. Google CEO Sundar Pichai told employees in an email earlier this week that he would cut his family vacation short in order to facilitate the forum. "The past few days have been very difficult for many at the company, and we need to find a way to debate issues on which we might disagree -- while doing so in line with our Code of Conduct," he wrote. "I'd encourage each of you to make an effort over the coming days to reach out to those who might have different perspectives from your own. I will be doing the same." The town hall comes amid a report from The Guardian that as many as 60 women are considering filing a class action lawsuit against Google, alleging sexism and wage disparity.
UPDATE: NBC News now reports the event has been cancelled, with Google CEO Sundar Pichai saying "Googlers are writing in, concerned about their safety and worried they may be 'outed' publicly for asking a question in the Town Hall... we need to step back and create a better set of conditions for us to have the discussion." Instead of the company-wide format, Google will now hold several smaller forums "to gather and engage with Googlers, where people can feel comfortable to speak freely," Pichai wrote.

Comments

Count the bumper stickers

[Distan]

You want to measure diversity at google? Count the political bumper stickers on the cars that park there. You'll have no problem finding Hillary and Sanders stickers, but Trump stickers are rarer than hen's teeth.

They built this absolutely toxic environment for conservatives under the cover of "diversity". Why should anyone believe they are going to do anything except continue to make conservatives feel like pariahs?

Re:Count the bumper stickers

[GerryGilmore]

Dude, you're "thinking" is fucked up and shows that you are obviously a hyper-partisan. I'm a Bernie fan, but in my career I've hired well over a hundred people. Never once did any political leanings come into the interview or any subsequent review. I had one guy who was an anti-tax radical (sadly, he went to jail and I had to replace him), a gay guy who was "Out" and proud of it. We all loved the guy. I hired gun owners and gun haters. NONE of that had anything to do with job performance which is the ONLY thing that any real boss cares about. If you (or Google or anyone) is hiring for PC reasons of any stripe, you should resign immediately as you are not worthy of any management role. Period.

Re:Count the bumper stickers

[Mr307]

I love it, 'everyone who thinks differently than me isn't intelligent'.

You have just given a near perfect example of at least one of the main points in the memo, that its a different kind of thinking and using polarizing language such as yours is very divisive. If you were 'smarter' maybe you would be able to see that and perhaps even find some common ground. Heck maybe you are even wrong about some of your most closely held beliefs.

Or you can just lump half the country into the 'bad' pile and continue to pretend they are all stupid because they dont think the same as you.

Re:Canceled.

[iMadeGhostzilla]

I wonder if this "manifesto" will do for Google what that sexual harassment post did for Uber.