5 ms·

How about judging us on our performance at our jobs then, and not treating us as children?

scarface74 7y ago
In most professional settings, it’s considered a norm not to talk about sex, politics, and religion unless your business is dealing with one of those areas specifically.
- Dobbs 7y ago
  This is wonderful when your very existence isn’t political. So cis het white men. For the rest of us we don’t have this luxury. This is the pinnacle example of white and male privilege.
  - anoncake 7y ago
    > So cis het white men What are you complaining about? Clearly you don't mind racism and sexism.
  - simplecomplex 7y ago
    What forces a homosexual black man into talking about politics at work? Could you give an example ?
  - daenz 7y ago
    I know a couple of non-white/cis/het/male developers who are able to behave like mature, goal-oriented adults and do stellar work. It's not a luxury, it's called being professional.
    - scarface74 7y ago
      I’m as “non white” as you can possibly get and I have no interest in talking about politics or any other hot button issue st work.
  - fernandotakai 7y ago
    i was born and raised in a 3rd world country in south america. i don't talk politics (or sex, or religion) -- that's not what i'm paid for. i'm paid to be professional and do my job. there's nothing to do with being male or white.
- kranner 7y ago
  But do most professional settings go to this extent to police their employees: > creating a team of moderators to monitor conversations on company chat boards
  - bhhaskin 7y ago
    Yes. It's called HR and they will just fire you.
  - jonas21 7y ago
    Most professional settings would not have permitted these company chat boards in the first place.
    - adambyrtek 7y ago
      Are you really trying to argue that companies which for example use Slack (or a similar service) are "not professional"?
      - jonas21 7y ago
        No, I'm arguing that most large, "professional" companies would not have allowed employees to create create chat groups whose sole purpose was to discuss politics or any other non-work-related topic (whether on mailing lists, Slack, or whatever). In doing so, Google was treating its employees more like adults, which is the opposite of what a previous comment in the thread was suggesting.
        scarface74 7y ago
        How did Google “treating employees like adults” work out? The only reason an employer goes to work is to make money. The only reason an employer hires someone is to make them money or to save them money. Bringing anything else into the workplace is an unnecessary distraction from both the employee’s and employer’s standpoint. I go to work to have money deposited into my account twice a month and go home to spend time with my family and friends. The more time I spend at work spending energy not doing work either I will be less effective or spend more time away from family/friends/hobbies to be effective at work.
mc32 7y ago
I guess the issue is people no longer act as adults (having rational discussions over differences) when confronted with differing or worse opposing views? A small but large enough group (on many issues) get enraged and genuinely feel threatened by alternate opinions.
bluehex 7y ago
If someone spends a significant portion of their day in heated debate about subjects unrelated to their work they aren’t performing to their ability no matter how they spin their output story to make it look like they are performing well. I think freedom to step away from work for an hour or two to unwind is great but it needs to be in moderation - I think people going too far and spending multiple hours of a day in flame wars is what the policy is meant to address.
ilikehurdles 7y ago
Google probably has a higher concentration of "children" (loose sense of the word) than your average tech employer, as it aggressively poaches junior engineers, focusing heavily on academic technical proficiency over other professional aspects, and then many don't stick around long term.

In most professional settings, it’s considered a norm not to talk about sex, politics, and religion unless your business is dealing with one of those areas specifically.

Dobbs 7y ago
This is wonderful when your very existence isn’t political. So cis het white men. For the rest of us we don’t have this luxury. This is the pinnacle example of white and male privilege.
- anoncake 7y ago
  > So cis het white men What are you complaining about? Clearly you don't mind racism and sexism.
- simplecomplex 7y ago
  What forces a homosexual black man into talking about politics at work? Could you give an example ?
- daenz 7y ago
  I know a couple of non-white/cis/het/male developers who are able to behave like mature, goal-oriented adults and do stellar work. It's not a luxury, it's called being professional.
  - scarface74 7y ago
    I’m as “non white” as you can possibly get and I have no interest in talking about politics or any other hot button issue st work.
- fernandotakai 7y ago
  i was born and raised in a 3rd world country in south america. i don't talk politics (or sex, or religion) -- that's not what i'm paid for. i'm paid to be professional and do my job. there's nothing to do with being male or white.
kranner 7y ago
But do most professional settings go to this extent to police their employees: > creating a team of moderators to monitor conversations on company chat boards
- bhhaskin 7y ago
  Yes. It's called HR and they will just fire you.
- jonas21 7y ago
  Most professional settings would not have permitted these company chat boards in the first place.
  - adambyrtek 7y ago
    Are you really trying to argue that companies which for example use Slack (or a similar service) are "not professional"?
    - jonas21 7y ago
      No, I'm arguing that most large, "professional" companies would not have allowed employees to create create chat groups whose sole purpose was to discuss politics or any other non-work-related topic (whether on mailing lists, Slack, or whatever). In doing so, Google was treating its employees more like adults, which is the opposite of what a previous comment in the thread was suggesting.
      - scarface74 7y ago
        How did Google “treating employees like adults” work out? The only reason an employer goes to work is to make money. The only reason an employer hires someone is to make them money or to save them money. Bringing anything else into the workplace is an unnecessary distraction from both the employee’s and employer’s standpoint. I go to work to have money deposited into my account twice a month and go home to spend time with my family and friends. The more time I spend at work spending energy not doing work either I will be less effective or spend more time away from family/friends/hobbies to be effective at work.

mc32 7y ago

I guess the issue is people no longer act as adults (having rational discussions over differences) when confronted with differing or worse opposing views? A small but large enough group (on many issues) get enraged and genuinely feel threatened by alternate opinions.

bluehex 7y ago

If someone spends a significant portion of their day in heated debate about subjects unrelated to their work they aren’t performing to their ability no matter how they spin their output story to make it look like they are performing well. I think freedom to step away from work for an hour or two to unwind is great but it needs to be in moderation - I think people going too far and spending multiple hours of a day in flame wars is what the policy is meant to address.

ilikehurdles 7y ago

Google probably has a higher concentration of "children" (loose sense of the word) than your average tech employer, as it aggressively poaches junior engineers, focusing heavily on academic technical proficiency over other professional aspects, and then many don't stick around long term.