5 ms·

Who wants to work for a company where they're living in constant fear of being outed as a non-leftist and losing their job? I get the frequent recruiting email

by jcadam 6y ago

Who wants to work for a company where they're living in constant fear of being outed as a non-leftist and losing their job? I get the frequent recruiting emails from FB and (much less frequently) Google, but am really too afraid to pursue them.

jcadam 6y ago
And the downvoter(s) prove my point. Read between the lines: I'm saying that there are a lot of people selecting themselves out of the candidate pool for the large SV tech companies based on the perception of SV corporate culture being promulgated through the media and forums like this one, further reinforcing the group think in those organizations. That should make you happy.
- ilikehurdles 6y ago
  What an obnoxious strawman you're holding up. If you're not sending political manifestors on the company's listserv you're probably fine. There are right-leaning people at every company. Even facebook. Especially facebook.
  - thu2111 6y ago
    That's clearly not the case. People have been harassed by coworkers at Google for something as anodyne as using the word "family": https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6605539/Google-staff-complained-word-FAMILY-offensive-homophobic-referring-children.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6605539/Google-staf... And there are far more stories like that which didn't get into the press. The right leaning people at tech companies certainly exist. They don't tend to spend all day insisting their coworkers are fired for having left wing views. That's why these firms seem left-leaning - it's those people who kick up all the fuss and make all the demands.
dirtydroog 6y ago
Not sure why you're being downvoted. I can't imagine working for either company, especially in SV. I would be walking on eggshells lest someone hear, or overhear, something 'toxic' and my career gets ruined. It'd be safer to just not talk to anybody, or limit conversations to work topics only. That's an awful work environment. My demographic would make me a target, not a colleague.
- jasonlotito 6y ago
  FYI: At this point, he's probably in part being voted down because he's complaining about being voted down.
- slantyyz 6y ago
  > limit conversations to work topics only. That's an awful work environment. Ok, maybe it's because I'm older (but not a boomer), but I don't think that's an awful work environment. I use dinner party rules on social media and at the workplace. That means I avoid talking about politics, religion, etc. It's not because I'm afraid of being outed for my views or anything, it's because I look at work as work, and not a place to socialize or broadcast my views.
  - SauciestGNU 6y ago
    I'm an older millennial and I don't bring my "whole self" to work. Work is for work, I'm not there to share my beliefs or values with my colleagues. It's really not a terrible way to operate, and I think it's often foolish to "show your hand" at work as it can give people ammunition against you.
  - seneca 6y ago
    I'm 100% aligned with you on this. The problem is that many people, especially younger millennials, don't follow these social rules. Aside from it being exhausting to listen to them preach their political beliefs at work, you can also be "outed" just by not agreeing with them vocally enough. I've had friends have to leave teams because of this dynamic.
    - iron0013 6y ago
      It’s funny, my experience has been the exact opposite. Conservative boomer and older-gen-x employees where I work are very outspoken, loudly rehashing Fox News talking points in the cafeteria, seemingly projecting their voices as loudly as possible to try to get a rise from everyone else. I don’t know if they feel “safe” because they are nearer to retirement and have pensions (which have since been phased out and none of us younger folks have them) or what, but the younger workers keep their heads down and don’t tend to chat about politics.
ravenstine 6y ago
That's one of the key reasons I never apply to companies like Facebook and Google. I'm sure there's a lot of greatness to be had at those companies, but having already experienced working at a left-wing media company, I imagine the fear of being made a pariah by coworkers could only be greater at Facebook.
lesstenseflow 6y ago
It’s really remarkable how much downvoting one gets if one says “SV tech company cultures are strongly left leaning.” This is such a widely known thing to anyone who’s worked in that environment that I’m surprised it’s controversial. Perhaps people just don’t like having this fact stated? The high ratio of downvotes to rebuttals is also telling: people want to anonymously disagree but not to disprove. (I have a comment further down thread to the same effect that got a similar reception.)

by jcadam 6y ago

jcadam 6y ago

And the downvoter(s) prove my point. Read between the lines: I'm saying that there are a lot of people selecting themselves out of the candidate pool for the large SV tech companies based on the perception of SV corporate culture being promulgated through the media and forums like this one, further reinforcing the group think in those organizations. That should make you happy.

ilikehurdles 6y ago
What an obnoxious strawman you're holding up. If you're not sending political manifestors on the company's listserv you're probably fine. There are right-leaning people at every company. Even facebook. Especially facebook.
- thu2111 6y ago
  That's clearly not the case. People have been harassed by coworkers at Google for something as anodyne as using the word "family": https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6605539/Google-staff-complained-word-FAMILY-offensive-homophobic-referring-children.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6605539/Google-staf... And there are far more stories like that which didn't get into the press. The right leaning people at tech companies certainly exist. They don't tend to spend all day insisting their coworkers are fired for having left wing views. That's why these firms seem left-leaning - it's those people who kick up all the fuss and make all the demands.

dirtydroog 6y ago

Not sure why you're being downvoted. I can't imagine working for either company, especially in SV. I would be walking on eggshells lest someone hear, or overhear, something 'toxic' and my career gets ruined. It'd be safer to just not talk to anybody, or limit conversations to work topics only. That's an awful work environment. My demographic would make me a target, not a colleague.

jasonlotito 6y ago
FYI: At this point, he's probably in part being voted down because he's complaining about being voted down.
slantyyz 6y ago
> limit conversations to work topics only. That's an awful work environment. Ok, maybe it's because I'm older (but not a boomer), but I don't think that's an awful work environment. I use dinner party rules on social media and at the workplace. That means I avoid talking about politics, religion, etc. It's not because I'm afraid of being outed for my views or anything, it's because I look at work as work, and not a place to socialize or broadcast my views.
- SauciestGNU 6y ago
  I'm an older millennial and I don't bring my "whole self" to work. Work is for work, I'm not there to share my beliefs or values with my colleagues. It's really not a terrible way to operate, and I think it's often foolish to "show your hand" at work as it can give people ammunition against you.
- seneca 6y ago
  I'm 100% aligned with you on this. The problem is that many people, especially younger millennials, don't follow these social rules. Aside from it being exhausting to listen to them preach their political beliefs at work, you can also be "outed" just by not agreeing with them vocally enough. I've had friends have to leave teams because of this dynamic.
  - iron0013 6y ago
    It’s funny, my experience has been the exact opposite. Conservative boomer and older-gen-x employees where I work are very outspoken, loudly rehashing Fox News talking points in the cafeteria, seemingly projecting their voices as loudly as possible to try to get a rise from everyone else. I don’t know if they feel “safe” because they are nearer to retirement and have pensions (which have since been phased out and none of us younger folks have them) or what, but the younger workers keep their heads down and don’t tend to chat about politics.

ravenstine 6y ago

That's one of the key reasons I never apply to companies like Facebook and Google. I'm sure there's a lot of greatness to be had at those companies, but having already experienced working at a left-wing media company, I imagine the fear of being made a pariah by coworkers could only be greater at Facebook.

lesstenseflow 6y ago

It’s really remarkable how much downvoting one gets if one says “SV tech company cultures are strongly left leaning.” This is such a widely known thing to anyone who’s worked in that environment that I’m surprised it’s controversial. Perhaps people just don’t like having this fact stated? The high ratio of downvotes to rebuttals is also telling: people want to anonymously disagree but not to disprove. (I have a comment further down thread to the same effect that got a similar reception.)