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Discussion on: Google's Certificate Training Program is About Power

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v6 profile image
πŸ¦„N BπŸ›‘

They are, in effect, a white supremacist organization. They must be treated with the highest level of suspicion.

My various acquaintances at Google would probably disagree with this extreme characterization based on little evidence.

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lethargilistic profile image
Michael MacTaggert • Edited

Super don't care. This is a scrapped opinion post, not a newsletter.

The sole fact that their own reported diversity numbers were so abysmal for so long that they changed their reporting to downplay the exact figures would be enough for me to come to this conclusion. Compare 2018, page 8 (breaking out tech hires), to 2020, page 15, to see that the charts no longer break out tech to shed light on their higher-paid positions. They know the significance of this. In 2020, you have to go to the data appendix on page 52 to see that break out. In 2020, you have to go to page 58 to see their overall workforce numbers quietly tucked in. They know most people don't read those.

And before you point to the rise in Asian employees that accounts for most of the decrease in white employees (referring to 2020 page 58), just pause for a second and ask yourself how it is possible that Google authentically engaged in a broad diversity initiative when one non-white demographic that was already favored in tech (Asians) increased by 12% in 6 years when non-white demographics that were not already favored (Black, Latinx) increased by 1% in the same 6 years. Or, in the case of Native Americans, decreased. And after you do that, remember the Asian cohort includes South Asians, who are typically paid far less than their East Asian counterparts and certainly less than their white counterparts. For all we know, that Asian number could include the contractors Google buys from South Asian temp agencies like Tata Consultancy Services or Infosys, which pay South Asian people far, far, far less than they're worth because they can get away with it.

Let alone the anecdotal evidence I've encountered from Googlers I've know. They don't hide.

Google is a Silicon Valley tech company founded in the 90s. Absent a huge shift away from the white monoculture it helped create--a shift which we have never seen--the company is culturally white supremacist by default, IMHO. If you're interested in a broader attack at the software industry's hiring practices, I wrote one for Juneteenth and it links out to a lot more stuff you could read about these issues.