Tech businesses in Silicon Valley have been under fire in recent years due to claims that their female employees face hostile work environments, including harassment and discrimination. We recently explored this topic when we blogged about an anti-diversity memo that a former Google employee published. Now, allegations have surfaced regarding Google’s mistreatment of female employees. Business Insider published an article where multiple women who work at Google in the present or past talk about their time working for the tech giant.
What Is It Like for Women Who Work at Google?
The women in the Business Insider Article reported overwhelmingly expressed disappointment and frustration about their time at Google, including facing inappropriate treatment due to their gender and race. An Asian American woman who used to work at Google and now works at Spotify reported that a white male coworker at Google suggested to her that the reason she got a job in the tech industry is because people assumed she was good at math due to her race. She also said that not seeing many women of color in the executive ranks at Google discouraged her, because she did not see an opportunity for advancement or a future at the company.
Per the Business Insider piece, 75 percent of those in leadership roles at Google are men. In addition, Google employs very few minorities. Only 35 percent of Google’s workers are Asian, 4 percent Hispanic and 2 percent black.
In the video below, Los Angeles employment lawyer Douglas Silverstein discusses what the Equal Pay Act is doing to combat gender discrimination.