Google: it’s time to make a public commitment to ethical hiring practices.
Google recruiters have approached me several times over the last few years. Each time, it hasn’t quite been right for me: I’ve been happy with the job I was in, didn’t want to leave my life in Los Angeles for San Francisco, or they were recruiting for a product that didn’t excite me.
This week, though, I sent their recruiter away for a more serious reason: Google, Apple, Adobe, and other major tech companies apparently conspired not to solicit each other’s employees in an effort to keep wages low. This is brazenly illegal behavior, and deeply unethical to boot.
So here’s my challenge to Google’s management: make a public statement that you now have no such hiring pacts in place with any other companies, and that you will never agree to such pacts in the future. If you aren’t depending on these practices right now (even if you did in the past), this would cost you nothing, and would be excellent press. Until you do, I won’t consider working for you — and I encourage all my fellow developers to do the same.
My labor — and yours— is valuable and employers should be willing to compete for that value in a fair arena.
Until Google (and other major tech companies) make such a public commitment I will not entertain any offers from them. I’ll stay in the small startup and medium-sized company world, where I feel the corporations respect what I bring to the table and treat me with ethics, respect, and fairness.
Here’s my exchange with Google’s recruiter:
From: <recruiter>@google.com
Hi Evan,
I hope this email finds you well! It looks like you spoke with my peer <other recruiter> about a month ago and expressed interest in potential opportunities at Google LA! <other recruiter> is now supporting a different team, so I wanted to reach out to you and introduce myself as a new contact here at Google.
We are currently searching for talented Front End and straight Software Engineers on our teams ranging from Ads to YouTube to Chrome. I would love to reconnect with you and set up a time to discuss some of our opportunities and learn more about you!
Hope to hear from you soon!
Cheers,
<recruiter>
From: me
<recruiter>,
Thanks for writing. However, in the wake of the revelations about wage suppression pacts/agreements between Apple, Google and other Silicon Valley companies, I’m not sure I’d be comfortable working for Google.
Maybe if the picture changes and some public contrition and clear statements of ethical labor practices appear down the road I might change my mind. But at the moment, Google’s image is not one of a company with deep respect for and fair dealings with its skilled technical staff.
Yours sincerely,
Evan
From: <recruiter>@google.com
Hi Evan,
Thanks for your response. I can understand your hesitation! While there has been some unfavorable publicity, Google has and will always take care of their employees, which is why our turnover rate is basically non-existent and we have topped Forbes ‘Best Companies to Work For’ list for the fifth time.
Feel free to reach out if anything changes!
Best regards,
<recruiter>
There’s an important point, here. If Google no longer had such pacts, or had new, better policies, why wouldn’t the recruiter say so?
Since the allegations came out and the lawsuit initiated, why hasn’t anyone asked the more critical point: Google, are you still doing this now?
From: me
<recruiter>,
I do understand that Google’s work environment is excellent, and commend Google for that.
However, the “mutual non-solicitation of programmers” pacts with other corporations are a separate issue from how current employees are treated. Such agreements, in fact, would contribute to your low turnover rate — but by artificially eliminating employees’ other options. That’s not, to my mind, an attribute you should advertise.
Has Google made a public statement that all such agreements have been reversed, and a public commitment that no such agreements will be made in the future? Can you, personally, confirm for me that Google now has a formal policy of non-collaboration in place?
… that’s the change I’d need to see, before I’d be willing to entertain any offer from Google.
Best regards,
Evan
Even if you did not personally work for Google, Apple, Adobe, Pixar, or any of the other parties, these hiring conspiracies hurt you. When the biggest companies in an industry collaborate to keep wages of their employees down, it drives down the wages of everyone in that industry.
Software developers are in high demand. And Google needs you: despite the recruiter’s statement, Google’s turnover rate is actually quite high. Let’s use that lever to encourage Google and their competitors to commit, in public, to ethical hiring practices.
It’ll be good for them, too: the only way they will escape the stigma of these revelations.
