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Google Fires Additional Workers After Protests Against Israeli Contract
Following protests against its cloud computing contract with the Israeli government, Google has terminated more than 20 employees, adding to the two dozen previously fired individuals. This action comes after a series of sit-ins organized by workers who objected to the company’s collaboration with the Israeli government.
Retaliation Against Protesters
No Tech for Apartheid, the group behind the protests, reported that Google engaged in retaliation against more than 20 additional employees, including bystanders who did not participate in the sit-ins. This brings the total number of terminated employees to around 50. Google confirmed these additional terminations and stated that every individual fired was directly involved in disruptive activities during the protests.
The company’s investigation included input from coworkers who were affected by the disruptions, as well as employees whose identities were partially concealed during the sit-ins. Google emphasized that the decision to terminate these individuals was based on confirmed evidence of their involvement in disruptive behavior.
CEO’s Response
After the initial protests, Google CEO Sundar Pichai communicated to employees through a memo, urging them not to engage in disruptive behavior or political debates within the workspace. Pichai underscored that Google operates as a business and should not be used as a platform for personal agendas or actions that make coworkers feel unsafe.
History of Controversy
This recent wave of protests is not the first instance of employee backlash against Google’s business decisions. Previous objections were raised over the company’s $1.2 billion cloud computing contract, Project Nimbus, with the Israeli government, a venture also involving Amazon. In the past, Google and Amazon employees have publicly criticized this collaboration, citing concerns over its ties to the Israeli military.
Employees who have spoken out against Google’s relationships amid the ongoing conflict have faced repercussions. In a notable incident, a Google Cloud engineer was terminated for protesting against Project Nimbus during a keynote speech by a Google Israel executive. The engineer’s stance against technology that could facilitate human rights violations led to their dismissal.
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