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UPI reports ( https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2019/08/23/5291566589999/ ) that Google has published and communicated to employees on Thursday new guidelines regarding communication by employees. The new policy, oddly available to the public at https://about.google/community-guidelines/ , is described as official and applying to employees while in the workplace.
Prominently mentioned are political discussions:
While sharing information and ideas with colleagues helps build community, disrupting the workday to have a raging debate over politics or the latest news story does not. Our primary responsibility is to do the work we've each been hired to do, not to spend working time on debates about non-work topics. Avoid conversations that are disruptive to the workplace or otherwise violate Google's workplace policies. Managers are expected to address discussions that violate those rules.
As well as internal matters:
Do not access, disclose, or disseminate Need-to-Know or Confidential information in violation of our Data Security Policy. You are responsible for adhering to these guidelines, our Code of Conduct, and other workplace policies. If discussions or behavior don't align with this policy, managers and discussion owners/moderators are expected to intervene. If necessary we will remove particular discussion forums, revoke commenting, viewing, or posting privileges, or take disciplinary action.
Is the party dying down a bit?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by ilPapa on Tuesday August 27 2019, @02:03PM (5 children)
You mean a giant corporation wants its employees to do their work instead of fucking about? But muh freeze peach!
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 2, Offtopic) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday August 27 2019, @02:46PM (2 children)
I'm curious how bad it is. There is mention of people making political rants, for instance. Are there any examples of such disruptive rants? That kind of stuff will get you fired anywhere, unless it's a family owned business, and you're part of the family. Or - do managers just sometimes catch a couple people chatting about something or other, when they ought to be working? FFS, it happens, in every company. As a rule, management may collectively waste the entire day, while peasants my only waste a couple of minutes, two or three times a day.
I have nothing to base this on, but I suspect that politics are pointed out, because some employees have different political opinions to management. I'd call that a good thing, actually.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 27 2019, @03:18PM
If it's like the discussion at one of their sourcing schools, it will be endless discussions like why changing your gender is natural and just, yet changing your race à la Rachel Dolezal is racist, appropriating and hateful.
Any topic is ok to start with, the more esoteric the better, because part of the game is showing off your intelligence by signaling the breadth of your thought. To participate, avoid any established wrongthink, and the banter can go on for hours. Sometimes someone falls into the wrongthink trap and he then becomes the target of the 15 minutes of hate (like Damore).
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 27 2019, @06:24PM
This is becoming utterly inescapable in todays politically charged, media hysteriazed society. In a lot of ways, our "erudite" public sphere at least, is ripping itself asunder in apoplexy. It's become impossible to have a conversation about anything anymore. No I don't care if you-know-who is President, that doesn't give everybody a day-pass to lose their minds.
I remember when political conversations used to be about bills in the legislature. Now they're about tweets. No it's not an improvement.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 27 2019, @09:46PM (1 child)
Workers already do more than enough work, and even though their productivity has gone up, their wages have not gone up to match that increase in productivity. Time for a 30-hour work week, paid vacation time by law, and parental leave? Nah, let's all just be slaves to mega-corporations until we're dust. What a great standard of living that is!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 28 2019, @06:18AM
I've heard Google employees in Silly Valley get paid $200k+, which is pretty high even with their cost of living.
Go do some work, and not waste time on political discussion as if you were still at university.