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Google engineer jumps to death in NYC, second worker suicide in months
- dukemitchell20 4y agoThere are many issues regarding mental health, so speculation is that. Speculation. There is a a correlation that it's the second Google employee to die by sucide. That's not clickbait, just journalism.
- zelphirkalt 4y ago[flagged]
- FartyMcFarter 4y agoIf you're trying to imply something about Google, this is probably not the place to do it. If that's not what you're trying to do, I honestly don't see the point of your message.
- arberx 4y agoRIP. I hope it's not related to the work env...
- lnsru 4y agoFull back to the office? I am experiencing it right now and honestly hate it. After work in quiet room alone for couple years I am forced to sit with another 11 individuals in open office. My mental state is really bad. There is only one solution - find new job. I even don’t care anymore about my stocks vesting in autumn.
- grugagag 4y agoTill you find a new job try listening to white noise on your headphones, it mitigates some of the open office shittiness. https://noises.online/ https://noises.online/
- FartyMcFarter 4y agoIf it's possible, take a break between jobs.
- whywhywhywhy 4y agoPoor taste to use this as a platform for your back to office complaints.
- skyyler 4y agoAre you tone deaf? The comment you’re replying to is softly stating that going back into the office is making them feel suicidal. This is a perfect venue to discuss that…
- lnsru 4y agoDue to forced back to office somebody must drop their remote master studies. Somebody will not see pregnant wife whole day. Somebody will not be able to pick/bring kids from/to school. Another one must cancel his weight loss program during lunch break (funny enough, this guy is the most productive and kindest one in the whole floor). It’s rude silent layoff, only management wins reducing headcount with such clever measures.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- CoastalCoder 4y agoPlease forgive a tangent on this terrible news, but do Google and Waymo share the same office building in NYC?
- 1-6 4y agoSad to see such talented people take their life. Until a further investigation is made, it's hard to determine the cause. Getting into Google can be the pinnacle of one's life and ending it there is certainly symbolic. Edit: Upon further reading, how do we know exactly they jumped if there's no video evidence? Was it an accident? The article does not state enough.
- byyyy 4y agoCertainly given the information available one can make a fuzzy speculation on the cause. The cause likely has to do with Google and the location given that this is the second suicide from the same company and location.
- stcroixx 4y agoIdentifying with your employer to the extent you view it as the pinnacle of your life isn’t likely to end positively. It’s just too much control to cede to a third party who has a business relationship with you.
- justrealist 4y agoAt some extremes, this is false, right? What about someone becoming an astronaut? Getting elected president? Be cautious who you cede your identity to, but it's OK to be genuinely excited about some career outcomes.
- dragonwriter 4y ago> At some extremes, this is false, right? What about someone becoming an astronaut? Getting elected president? No, I’d say both of those are definite examples where the rule applies; particularly the latter, which is an extremely limited term gig, overidentifying with the job is dangerous, for you in most jobs, but also potentially for others in that last one, depending on how the overidentification manifests.
- Atlas22 4y agoNo, its perfectly fine to reach goals or ones you've had for most of your life, but its absolutely crucial that you make new goals to work towards. Its the same if you give up or change your mind about a goal, it has to be replaced. From what I've heard (not my expertise) the brain chemistry primarily rewards the pursuit, not as much the outcome. I've been there a few times myself after both achieving and deciding to drop a major goal (because I learned more about the outcome that made it no longer desireable). Having no major goals is an almost certain recipie for clinical depression among other issues if one is not found quickly to replace it. I believe its because the intrusive thoughts of fundamental questions like "what is my life's purpose" now definitely have no answer in your own head.
- bloblaw 4y agoWithout an understanding of their motive, I think tying "google" to a person's mental health crisis is clickbait. Folks dealing with mental health issues might end their lives for a variety of factors. This is very sad to hear, but the headline (and article) that attempts to connect an employer to a person's death without any evidence is unfair. Note: I do not work for Google.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- protonimitate 4y agoAn employee of Google who jumped from the Google office is a pretty obvious connection. Don't really see how this is clickbait.
- Ferret7446 4y agoTheir living in NYC is a more obvious connection, as there are studies showing that urban populations have significantly higher rates of mental disorders.
- woooooo 4y agoI don't think they'd have put Duane Reade in the headline if one of their employees killed themselves. Probably wouldn't be a story at all, actually.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- everly 4y agoIf it happened on the job then, yeah, they probably would. Just like there is a Walgreens security guard in the news currently for killing a shoplifter in SF. If he had killed someone outside his capacity as a Walgreens security guard, they wouldn't describe him as such. If this engineer had killed themselves in another manner besides jumping off the top of their workplace, they might not be described as a Google engineer. Edit to add: Statistically, I suspect that there have to have been many instances of Google employees committing suicide outside of work. I doubt those got headlines at all, let alone headlines including Google's name.
- darth_avocado 4y agoSuch a sad news. It’s really tragic someone go through this. I know the incident could be unrelated but it is also a good reminder the human cost of decisions. The fed taking decisions for the economy, companies taking decisions to maximize shareholder value and ceo pay, etc. all have huge impact on people’s lives, some of it is visible, while some of it is not.
- tempsy 4y agoThe article says no note, no video, and they found handprints. This was nearly midnight at an outdoor terrace in the office. I guess I don’t see how anyone can say he “jumped” on purpose yet when at some point he must’ve been hanging which could have been a result of tripping on something.
- threadweaver34 4y agoI worked somewhere in midtown. We had access to a small roof above the main terrace. We were up there drinking after a party at 2 AM, sitting on the wall 8 stories up. I'm thinking don't fuck up because if you lean back, there's nothing between you and Sixth Avenue. This is one of my "I could have died" moments.
- tempsy 4y agoYes could have been a drunken fall, or someone who climbed up a ledge to try to take some nighttime photos and tripped which I’ve seen plenty of times on social media especially in NYC.
- meragrin_ 4y ago> I don’t see how anyone can say he “jumped” on purpose yet when at some point he must’ve been hanging which could have been a result of tripping on something. Wouldn't having a barrier low enough someone can trip and fall over be a recipe for a lawsuit? I imagine the barrier was high enough planting hands would be the natural way for most people to get on top or over.
- mmmeee22 4y ago[flagged]
- 1-6 4y agoGood at his PitchAI
- bko 4y agoThis is a tangent, but it reminds me of the plot of The Three Body Problem. The story begins with a series of suicides from top physics researchers because physics just stops working for some mysterious reason which is revealed later in the book. I loved that series of books and this highlights why I like it so much. It's an "optimistic" view of humanity. People are serious in the book so its entirely plausible that physicists are so distraught at the futility of their efforts to understand the universe that they end their life if the universe is broken. And government officials are worried and dig into the issue. The book follows that theme as humanity puts forward a strong centralized effort to combat a threat. Human's aren't just a joke or a stepping stone. It's really a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of sci-fi that makes humans out to be idiots or malevolent. I don't know if it has to do with the book being from a Chinese author
- tedivm 4y ago> It's really a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of sci-fi that makes humans out to be idiots or malevolent. Did we read the same book? A huge portion was devoted to the cultural revolution, and it definitely made humans look pretty "malevolent" there. I don't think the book really tries to be optimistic, just realistic, which means it calls out a lot of good and bad.
- bko 4y agoIt's been a while since I read it, but I think the cultural revolution served as character development and how the trauma effected some of the characters in the story. It also served as an analogy for suppressing scientific research. It's something that has been overcome and is (somewhat) overcome in the rest of the book and the subsequent novels from the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy. It's not that people are all good, but they are serious, as are the governments involved. It might be more obvious from books 2 and 3. Compare that to something like "Don't look up" (humans stupid) or "Avatar" (human bad)
- tedivm 4y agoI guess my point- which I think we're mostly in agreement with- is that the trilogy was really complex, rather than being "humans stupid" or "humans bad" (or even "humans good"). I love my space opera (Peter Hamilton gets my love) but I also love those really good complex scifi stories such as this.
- david-gpu 4y agoA coworker of mine committed suicide a couple of weeks before the date in which the company had announced that they would lay off some of us. This period of time in which we know layoffs were coming but we didn't know who was going to be let go was morale-destroying and I have no doubt in my mind that it pushed him over the edge. He left behind his wife and two children. His name was Dave Brackman.
- Ancalagon 4y agoSorry for your loss.
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- renewiltord 4y agoInteresting. Google and USPS are among the most trusted organizations in the US. They also both have a reputation for being good to work at for different socioeconomic classes. The former has some rate of people killing themselves and the latter has some rate of people killing others to the degree that they're now slang for flipping your shit. I wonder what the difference is.
- tedivm 4y agoGoogle is among the most trusted organizations in the US? That doesn't seem right.
- renewiltord 4y agoWhy not? They've pretty much only provided great products to the average consumer. Google and Amazon have a great positive direct impact on most Americans' lives. Here's a report from direct surveys: https://morningconsult.com/most-trusted-brands-2020/ https://morningconsult.com/most-trusted-brands-2020/ Most people don't really care about a Doubleclick pixel or Amazon gazumping sellers with an Amazon Basics thing. For many, the latter is a positive thing and a trusted brand.
- mydogcanpurr 4y agoDon't make me point at the sign... https://killedbygoogle.com/ https://killedbygoogle.com/ That's just one example, and I really don't care enough to list more reasons.
- renewiltord 4y agoIt would appear most people don't care about those products, then. I scrolled through and didn't care about the first page. Maybe Hangouts? And I have free GSuite still so don't know why that's on the list.
- tedivm 4y ago
- pcvarmint 4y ago"An engineer who endured and passed Google's exhausting Whiteboard interviews and ambiguous organizational chart, finally reached his breaking point."