Google CEO Reminds Staff: Office Is Not for Political Debates

Google CEO Sundar Pichai emphasized to his employees on Thursday that the company’s focus will always be on its mission, rather than engaging in political debates.

After the termination of 28 employees on Wednesday, Pichai circulated a 1,200-word memo outlining “structural changes to enhance speed and execution throughout the company.” Towards the end of the memo, the CEO made it clear that the workplace is not the appropriate setting for disruptive behavior or political discussions.

“But ultimately, we are a workplace and our policies and expectations are clear: this is a business, and not a place to act in a way that disrupts coworkers or makes them feel unsafe, to attempt to use the company as a personal platform, or to fight over disruptive issues or debate politics. This is too important a moment as a company for us to be distracted,” Pichai stated.

Earlier in the week, a group of Google employees staged sit-ins and occupied offices in Seattle, New York City, and Sunnyvale, Calif., protesting the company’s $1.2 billion cloud contract with Israel. The activists from No Tech for Apartheid urged for a “day of action” on April 16, demanding that Google “stop powering Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.” The group alleges that Project Nimbus, the initiative in question, supports the development of military technology for the Israeli government.

Following an initial investigation, nine employees were arrested.

Pichai’s statement was preceded by a Wednesday memo from Google’s vice president of Global Security, Chris Rackow, cautioning employees to reconsider their actions testing Google’s commitment to employee conduct. Rackow stated, “Their behavior was unacceptable, extremely disruptive, and made co-workers feel threatened. It clearly violates multiple policies that all employees must adhere to — including our code of conduct and policy on harassment, discrimination, retaliation, standards of conduct, and workplace concerns.”

One of the terminated employees, Emaan Haseem expressed no regrets for participating in the protest. She stated, “There was absolutely no way that I could continue working at Google without pushing these demands.”

“They’re continuing to lie not just to their employees, but to the public and all tech workers,” she added.