Google walkout: Sundar Pichai reacts to ongoing protest; Says he is still the boss

More than 20,000 Google employees across the globe staged a walkout to protest against various issues including leaks about an effort to get back into China, demands to stop building artificial intelligence for the Pentagon and even sexual misconduct.

Recently, Google employees walked out of their offices worldwide to protest the company’s handling of alleged misconduct by some executives. (Image: AFP)

New Delhi: More than 20,000 Google employees across the globe staged a walkout to protest against various issues including leaks about an effort to get back into China, demands to stop building artificial intelligence for the Pentagon and even sexual misconduct. However, company's chief executive officer Sundar Pichai signaled on Thursday that he’s still in charge and won’t be constantly swayed by staff uprisings. “We don’t run the company by referendum. There are many good things about giving employees a lot of voice, out of that we have done well,” Pichai was quoted as saying by news agency Bloomberg. The internal dynamics may appear chaotic to outsiders, but they’re not as intense as some have characterised them to be, he added. With more than 50,000 ful-time employees, Google has been known for being transparent with staffs openly debating on internal forums and are free to speak their minds at weekly all-hands meetings where executives take questions. On Thursday, thousands of Google employees walked out of their offices worldwide to protest the company’s handling of alleged misconduct by some executives. Starting in Asia and spreading across Europe, photos posted with the hashtag Googlewalkout began flooding Twitter as employees gathered outside Google offices in Zurich, Dublin, Singapore, London and even in India. In the US, walkouts began in New York, including at Google’s Manhattan offices and in Atlanta. The employee group, Google Walkout For Real Change, said 47 offices worldwide were participating in the walkout on Thursday. According to a report by New York Times, Android creator Andy Rubin received a $90-million payout after leaving because of a sexual harassment accusation by an employee, last month. However, the global tech giant says it doesn’t offer payouts to people it fires for sexual harassment anymore. The company has also gotten heat from US politicians for ending an AI contract with the US military. Pichai said on Thursday that the company still works with the military on many other projects.