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Tech Employees Disagree With Their Companies on BLM
Nearly 1/3 of Facebook staff members aren’t satisfied with the company’s response
According to a new survey of tech professionals from data company Blind, a significant number of tech professionals at major companies disagree with their company’s response to the Black Lives Matter movement. More troubling, a large number also feel that they can’t discuss their perspectives openly at work.
The survey revealed that 30% of Facebook employees disagree or strongly disagree with their company’s stance on Black Lives Matter and the death of George Floyd, as do 20% at Microsoft. More than half (56%) of Facebook staff members don’t feel comfortable raising their opinions on the situation to colleagues, and the same goes for 49% of people working at Google.
This is a surprising result, especially for Google. The company usually prides itself on encouraging lively discussion and debate among its staff, using a network of Google-only private chat rooms and affinity groups. These groups often shape the company’s policies.
When Google considered inking a deal with the Department of Defense to use its AI capabilities to analyze drone footage, staff members quickly organized using these internal groups and shut the efforts down. In an infamous…
