this post was submitted on 09 May 2024
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At an all-hands meeting last week, Google executives responded to employee questions about declining morale even with financial performance improving.

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[–] [email protected] 281 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (17 children)

“Despite the company’s stellar performance and record earnings, many Googlers have not received meaningful compensation increases” a top-rated employee question read. “When will employee compensation fairly reflect the company’s success and is there a conscious decision to keep wages lower due to a cooling employment market?”

With this leadership, when you unionize. It's literally what they're for.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago (1 children)

You would be mortified at how many people in big tech, including those that have directly experienced injustice or unfair treatment at work, simply want no part of a tech union.

Frankly, some industries absolutely need it (e.g. games). If they'll put up with what they put up with and still choose not to unionize I don't really know how software engineers will...

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Oh I'm aware, am part of the industry. I think the disparately higher compensation relative to the rest of the economy has given us a false idea we're paid fairly (perhaps even unfairly high) for what we produce. Which I have definitely felt myself. In fact I've felt very strange of the disparities within the industry itself. However that's completely the wrong way to look at it. There's no magical upper number that our labor deserves. Everything is determined by what people pay and how much they buy. (I'm not saying that's the only way it should be) So if the revenues and profits are sky high, and we know labor makes most of it happen, then our labor is simply worth that much more. Given that someone will collect the difference, we may as well get a larger share of it. The sooner we recognize that, the sooner we'll get even higher compensation which will be much more beneficial for people in the wider economy than a much smaller proportion of the exec class getting wealthier. But that can't happen without unions. We mistake the temporary labor shortage for stable and strong negotiation leverage.

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