If anyone ever wonders how Google justifies those multi-million-dollar golden parachutes when high-valued employees leave the company, here's a case study in how.
Google employs good engineers and politically powerful people. There are consequences for a company that does that when they lose the trust of those individuals.
I find it hilarious that they were trying to virtue signal about inclusivity with their diversity trainings, but instead they resulted in a bunch of racist behavior and actual minorities being extremely offended, even years later.
Oh, I think it's worse than that. I think the company leadership legitimately wants to do right by minority staff and has no idea how, so that defer to third-party programs they lack the skill to evaluate.
He's not suggesting anything like breaking up big tech. He's suggesting government oversight:
"Although the causes and the implications are worth debating, I am certain of the appropriate response. No longer can massive tech companies like Google be permitted to operate relatively free from government oversight. As soon as Google executives were asked by Congress about Project Dragonfly and Google’s commitment to free expression and human rights, they assured Congress that the project was exploratory and it was subsequently shut down.
The role of these companies in our daily lives, from how we run our elections to how we entertain and educate our children, is just too great to leave in the hands of executives who are accountable only to their controlling shareholders who — in the case of Google, Amazon, Facebook and Snap — happen to be fellow company insiders and founders."
Personally, having worked at a big tech company, I couldn't agree with him more.
Given the influence of companies like Google and Facebook in our elections and political discourse these days, maybe Google thinks it's a sure thing that he won't be elected.
Or that even if he is, how much reach will he have anyway?
