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I've been taking many DEI trainings at Google. I'm wondering how that will work at a Google Riyadh office. Is DEI a global truth? Does it survive contact with

I've been taking many DEI trainings at Google. I'm wondering how that will work at a Google Riyadh office. Is DEI a global truth? Does it survive contact with reality in KSA (and other locations that don't share western liberties)? What is the internal messaging to employees of multinationals investing so much in DEI when they work in (or travel to) KSA? Can I drive myself to the office if I'm a woman? Do I need to be escorted to work by a man? Are my questions outdated and I need to be educated on life in the KSA? What if I'm a Christian? Where can I go to Sunday Mass in Riyadh? So many questions...

ramphastidae 6y ago
I think we all know the answer to that. Saudis will get special treatment because they have money and oil. Their barbaric treatment of women and decades of financing terrorism (Wahhabism) will be ignored. DEI is mostly about profit. It’s profitable in the US to virtue signal via DEI but not in KSA.
sandworm101 6y ago
Yes to all and no to all too. The reality in the country is that all is forbidden and all comonplace at the same time. You will find laws saying women (or men) can or cannot do X but then you will also meet woman on the street doing X openly. The country is dominated by class and priviledge levels. The laws apply differently to different people. So the best question to ask is who will you be working for? Who is your employer/sponsor/protector going to be? What are thier chosen rules?
yial 6y ago
DEI = Diversity, equity and inclusion. KSA= Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. (Just in case others have a hard time, it look me a moment to parse KSA as not “knowledge, skills, abilities.”)
- tchalla 6y ago
  I’m not sure how people post publicly to a worldwide forum expecting everyone to know the meaning of acronyms. Thank you for posting these.
  - 177tcca 6y ago
    A varying-in-size part of everyone believes that the whole world is the 5 people closest to them.
  - mxmilkb 6y ago
    google Riyadh KSA?
    - Macha 6y ago
      Forming that question presupposes that you know that KSA refers to a place, as opposed to e.g. an organisation or a division of alphabet
      - meepmorp 6y ago
        > Does it survive contact with reality in KSA (and other locations that don't share western liberties)? What is the internal messaging to employees of multinationals investing so much in DEI when they work in (or travel to) KSA? Was that not enough information to tell, at very least, that KSA refers to a location?
      - mxmilkiib 6y ago
        That's not lateral thinking enough. The point of googling is to find the relationship between "KSA" and "Riyadh". (Aside the textual clues already mentioned)
znpy 6y ago
> I've been taking many DEI trainings at Google. I'm wondering how that will work at a Google Riyadh office. Google is already hypocritical enough to virtue signal DEI stuff and then discriminating anyway in the US. I would expect Google in the KSA to just plainly play by the local rules.

ramphastidae 6y ago

I think we all know the answer to that. Saudis will get special treatment because they have money and oil. Their barbaric treatment of women and decades of financing terrorism (Wahhabism) will be ignored. DEI is mostly about profit. It’s profitable in the US to virtue signal via DEI but not in KSA.

sandworm101 6y ago

Yes to all and no to all too. The reality in the country is that all is forbidden and all comonplace at the same time. You will find laws saying women (or men) can or cannot do X but then you will also meet woman on the street doing X openly. The country is dominated by class and priviledge levels. The laws apply differently to different people. So the best question to ask is who will you be working for? Who is your employer/sponsor/protector going to be? What are thier chosen rules?

yial 6y ago

DEI = Diversity, equity and inclusion. KSA= Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. (Just in case others have a hard time, it look me a moment to parse KSA as not “knowledge, skills, abilities.”)

tchalla 6y ago
I’m not sure how people post publicly to a worldwide forum expecting everyone to know the meaning of acronyms. Thank you for posting these.
- 177tcca 6y ago
  A varying-in-size part of everyone believes that the whole world is the 5 people closest to them.
- mxmilkb 6y ago
  google Riyadh KSA?
  - Macha 6y ago
    Forming that question presupposes that you know that KSA refers to a place, as opposed to e.g. an organisation or a division of alphabet
    - meepmorp 6y ago
      > Does it survive contact with reality in KSA (and other locations that don't share western liberties)? What is the internal messaging to employees of multinationals investing so much in DEI when they work in (or travel to) KSA? Was that not enough information to tell, at very least, that KSA refers to a location?
    - mxmilkiib 6y ago
      That's not lateral thinking enough. The point of googling is to find the relationship between "KSA" and "Riyadh". (Aside the textual clues already mentioned)

znpy 6y ago

> I've been taking many DEI trainings at Google. I'm wondering how that will work at a Google Riyadh office. Google is already hypocritical enough to virtue signal DEI stuff and then discriminating anyway in the US. I would expect Google in the KSA to just plainly play by the local rules.