Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) employees are pressing executives to bring back a part of the company’s culture that, in the past, made it a desirable place to work: candor.
At a year-end all-hands meeting, held virtually earlier this month, CEO Sundar Pichai read aloud one of the most popular questions from employees, based on the company’s internal system called Dory, which allows staffers to post questions and upvote the ones they want addressed.
"It seems like responses to Dory have gotten increasingly more lawyer-like with canned phrases or platitudes, which seem to ignore the questions being ask," Pichai said, reading the post from Dory. "Are we planning on bringing candor, honesty, humility and frankness back to Dory answers or continuing down a bureaucratic path?"
The question received 673 upvotes. "I understand the sentiment behind the question," Pichai said.
Google’s cultural upheaval has been a major topic for the last few years, as the company that once uprooted Silicon Valley norms with an open and joyful office atmosphere and free discussions reckons with the current realities that come with being one of the world’s largest enterprises.
The uplifting sentiment changed and trust waned after employees learned that company leaders had allegedly overlooked sexual harassment allegations and pursued government deals quietly.
Google leadership then cracked down on internal discussions and fired some employees who were critical of company policies and were
involved with organizing fellow discontented workers.
GOOGL, meanwhile, opened Wednesday trading up $23.01 to $2,892.46
