Article:
Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, canceled a scheduled all-hands staff meeting—moments before it was scheduled to begin—meant to address concerns over a controversial essay published by former employee James Damore. 
  
 In an email to staff, Pichai explained that questions from employees had been leaked and that, in some cases, specific employees' identities were revealed, exposing them to harassment and threats. Instead of today's large-scale meeting, which was to be livestreamed to Google's 60,000 employees worldwide, smaller groups will meet sometime in the future. 
  
 "We had hoped to have a frank open discussion today as we always do to bring us together and move forward. But our Dory questions appeared externally this afternoon, and on some websites Googlers are now being named personally," Pichai said in the email. 
  
 Pichai said in the email that while the majority of Googlers were supportive of the decision, some wished the company would do more. He said some also worried about not being able to speak freely at work. 
  
 "All of your voices and opinions matter and I want to hear them," he said. 
  
 Earlier in the day, questions began to be posted to Google's internal message boards that were to be included in today's planned meeting. 
  
 "Can we get an update on progress toward identifying leakers?" one employee posted, saying multiple Googlers had their team pages leaked to alt-right sites, resulting in a death threat in one instance. 
  
 "I am a moderately conservative Googler," wrote one employee, "and I am and have been scared to share my beliefs. The loud voice here is a liberal one. Conservative voices are hushed. What is leadership doing to ensure Googlers like me feel *invited and accepted*, not just tolerated or safe from angry mobs?" 
  
 Another question asked how to combat Damore's assertion that Google has a lower bar for diversity candidates. "This is hurting minority Googlers because it creates the perception they are less qualified," an employee wrote. 
  
 Pichai, who said that parts of Damore's manifesto violated Google's code of conduct, had cut his vacation short to attend today's schediuled meeting. 
  
 "Clearly there's a lot more to discuss as a group -- including how we create a more inclusive environment for all," he wrote in an email sent to employees Tuesday. 
  
 Damore's 3,300 word manifesto claims there aren't more women in tech roles due to "biological causes" while also calling Google left-leaning with a "politically correct monoculture." The memo has spurred a conversation about systematic sexism in Silicon Valley, as well as what is and is not acceptable to debate in a workplace environment. ||||| Google CEO Sundar Pichai has canceled the company’s much-anticipated meeting to talk about gender issues today. The move came after some of its employees expressed concern over online harassment they had begun to receive after their questions and names have been published outside the company on a variety of largely alt-right sites. 
  
 “We had hoped to have a frank, open discussion today as we always do to bring us together and move forward. But our Dory questions appeared externally this afternoon, and on some websites Googlers are now being named personally,” wrote Pichai to employees. “Googlers are writing in, concerned about their safety and worried they may be ‘outed’ publicly for asking a question in the Town Hall.” 
  
 Pichai was set to address the search giant’s 60,000 employees in 30 minutes in an all-hands meeting about a recent post by recently fired employee James Damore. In it, the software engineer claimed that women might not be as good as men at tech because of biological reasons, like “neuroticism.” In other words, they could not handle stress and high pressure as much. 
  
 Speaking of high pressure, Google is under that for sure in the wake of Damore’s blog and the reaction it has engendered from outside the company, especially among deeply conservative sites like Breitbart and others. 
  
 Wired reported earlier that conservative pundit Milo Yiannopoulos “posted on his Facebook page the Twitter biographies of eight Google employees who criticized Damore’s post.” 
  
 Sources inside Google said some employees had begun to experience “doxxing” — online harassment that can take various forms and is defined as “searching for and publishing private or identifying information about [a particular individual] on the internet, typically with malicious intent.” 
  
 Several sites like this one have been publishing internal discussion posts and giving out information on those employees. 
  
 In addition, in a move that many Googlers found already disturbing, Damore did his first major interview with alt-right YouTube personality, Stefan Molyneux (ironic, I know, since Google owns the online video giant). You can see that below. 
  
 In subsequent interviews, Damore said he had been “smeared” and “shamed” by top execs for his post. 
  
 That seems a little bit of a reach since he appears to have intended to throw an atom bomb with it. For example, Damore wrote: “I’m simply stating that the distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes and that these differences may explain why we don’t see equal representation of women in tech and leadership.” 
  
 What followed was a list of those differences, including a claim that women were more social and artistic and could not take the stress of high-pressure jobs. Hence, “neuroticism,” or higher anxiety and lower stress tolerance, which he claimed was backed up by studies. 
  
 Perhaps most disingenuously, the author also claimed that he had no voice, even after penning a 3,000-word memo that he was able to send companywide and also was read by millions more. 
  
 It was probably no surprise that Pichai fired Damore earlier this week for violating Google’s Code of Conduct, noting in an email to staff that “to suggest a group of our colleagues have traits that make them less biologically suited to that work is offensive and not OK.” 
  
 Since then, it’s been a tense time for Google and also Silicon Valley, which has been reeling for months amid sexual harassment controversies at companies like Uber and at venture capital firms. While issues around gender and diversity have been a hot-button issue for a long time, the simmering has turned to boiling now. 
  
 That has been made worse by the political environment nationwide, which has gotten rather divisive of late. 
  
 So goes the country, it seems, so goes tech. 
  
 Here is Pichai’s letter: 
  
 Dear Googlers, TL;DR Sorry for the late notice but we are going to cancel today’s Town Hall. We had hoped to have a frank, open discussion today as we always do to bring us together and move forward. But our Dory questions appeared externally this afternoon, and on some websites Googlers are now being named personally. Googlers are writing in, concerned about their safety and worried they may be “outed” publicly for asking a question in the Town Hall. In recognition of Googlers’ concerns, we need to step back and create a better set of conditions for us to have the discussion. So in the coming days we will find several forums to gather and engage with Googlers, where people can feel comfortable to speak freely. We’ll share details soon. Over the past two days, I have had the chance to meet with so many people here, and I have read each of your emails carefully. The vast majority of you are very supportive of our decision. A smaller percentage of you wish we would do more. And some are worried that you cannot speak out at work freely. All of your voices and opinions matter ... and I want to hear them. In the meantime, let’s not forget what unites us as a company — our desire to build great products for everyone that make a big difference in their lives. I have been in a few product discussions today and felt energized by the important things we are working on. We can, and will continue, to come together to do the very best for the people we serve. Stay tuned. Sundar ||||| Google chief executive officer Sundar Pichai, speaking at a coding event for girls happening at Google’s campus today, emphasized the importance of engineers “building products for everyone in the world,” and said that in order to do that, “we need to have people internally who represent the world in totality.” 
  
 “I want you to know there’s a place for you in this industry,” Pichai said to the teams of young women who were finalists in a months-long app-building competition. “There’s a place for you at Google. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You belong here, and we need you.” 
  
 Pichai’s remarks were especially noteworthy because of their juxtaposition with the controversy happening at Google right now, after a software engineer posted a diversity-related memo that went viral both within the company and in public sphere. The author of the memo, which questioned Google’s diversity training and women’s aptitude for coding, has since been fired from the company, and has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. 
  
 The public appearance by Pichai also came just after Google canceled a company-wide town hall meeting, which had been scheduled to address some of the fallout from the memo. The meeting was canceled, according to a report in Recode, after employees who had sent preliminary questions started getting harassed online. 
  
 “It's really important that more women and girls have the opportunity to participate in technology, to learn how to code, create, and innovate,” Pichai said. 
  
 “Seeing the girls here tonight gives me hope for the future.” 
  
 The coding event this evening was co-hosted by Iridescent Learning, an LA-based nonprofit that has run the Technovation competition for the past several years. Google offers a variety of education opportunities focused on coding, as do many other large tech companies; this event was a part of its “Made with Code” program, aimed at young women. 
  
 Of course, as with other workshops, coding camps, and initiatives that tech companies offer, many of them still struggle with creating truly diverse workplaces, as their volunteered annual reports have shown. And Google has also been sued for its salary records by the US Department of Labor, which has alleged that Google doesn’t pay female employees fairly. 
  
 Pichai’s full comments are below: |||||Summary:
– Google CEO Sundar Pichai planned to address the controversy over an anti-diversity memo at an all-employee town hall meeting—but he called it off after workers said they were worried about online harassment. Pichai said questions from employees had been leaked and their identities had been published on alt-right websites, exposing them to online harassment, CNN reports. "Googlers are writing in, concerned about their safety and worried they may be 'outed' publicly for asking a question in the Town Hall," the CEO said in a letter to employees seen by Recode. He promised to "create a better set of conditions for us to have the discussion" at some point in the near future. The controversy exploded after memo author James Damore was fired for arguing that biological differences make women unsuited to some tech jobs. After canceling Thursday's meeting, Pichai spoke at an event for girls on the Google campus, addressing teams of young coders from around the world, the Verge reports. It's important that "more women and girls have the opportunity ... to learn how to code, create, and innovate," he said. "I want you to know that there's a place for you in this industry, there's a place for you at Google," he added. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You belong here and we need you." (Damore says he was "punished" and "shamed" for trying to "improve" the company.)
Artikel: Googles VD, Sundar Pichai, ställde in ett schemalagt all-hands personalmöte – ögonblick innan det var planerat att börja – menat att ta itu med oro över en kontroversiell uppsats som publicerades av den tidigare anställde James Damore. I ett e-postmeddelande till personalen förklarade Pichai att frågor från anställda hade läckt ut och att specifika anställdas identiteter i vissa fall avslöjades, vilket utsatte dem för trakasserier och hot. Istället för dagens storskaliga möte, som skulle livestreamas till Googles 60.000 anställda över hela världen, kommer mindre grupper att mötas någon gång i framtiden. "Vi hade hoppats på att få ha en öppen diskussion idag som vi alltid gör för att föra oss samman och gå vidare. Men våra Dory frågor dök upp externt i eftermiddag, och på vissa webbplatser Googlers nu namnges personligen," Pichai sade i e-post. Pichai sade i mejlet att medan majoriteten av Googlers var stödjande för beslutet, vissa önskade att företaget skulle göra mer. Han sade att vissa också var oroliga för att inte kunna tala fritt på jobbet. "Alla era röster och åsikter spelar roll och jag vill höra dem", sade han. Tidigare på dagen började frågor läggas upp på Googles interna anslagstavlor som skulle ingå i dagens planerade möte. "Kan vi få en uppdatering om framsteg mot att identifiera läckor?" en anställd postat, säger flera Googlers hade sina team sidor läckt till alt-höger webbplatser, vilket resulterar i ett dödshot i ett fall. "Jag är en måttligt konservativ Googler", skrev en anställd, "och jag är och har varit rädd för att dela min tro. Den högljudda rösten här är liberal. Konservativa röster tystas ned. Vad gör ledarskapet för att säkerställa att Googles som jag känner sig *inbjuden och accepterad*, inte bara tolereras eller säker från arga pöbelhopar?" En annan fråga var hur man kan bekämpa Damores påstående att Google har en lägre bar för mångfald kandidater. "Detta skadar minoriteten Googlers eftersom det skapar uppfattningen att de är mindre kvalificerade," en anställd skrev. Pichai, som sa att delar av Damores manifest bröt mot Googles uppförandekod, hade kortat sin semester för att närvara vid dagens schedikerade möte. "Klart finns det mycket mer att diskutera som grupp -- inklusive hur vi skapar en mer inkluderande miljö för alla," skrev han i ett e-postmeddelande som skickades till medarbetare tisdag. Damores 3 300 ordmanifest hävdar att det inte finns fler kvinnor i techroller på grund av "biologiska orsaker" samtidigt som de kallar Google vänsterleaning med en "politiskt korrekt monokultur." PM:et har sporrat till ett samtal om systematisk sexism i Silicon Valley, samt vad som är och inte är acceptabelt att debattera i en arbetsplatsmiljö. Googles VD Sundar Pichai har ställt in företagets mycket efterlängtade möte för att prata om genusfrågor idag. Flytten kom efter att några av dess anställda uttryckt oro över nättrakasserier som de hade börjat få efter att deras frågor och namn publicerats utanför företaget på en mängd till stor del alt-right-sajter. – Vi hade hoppats på att få ha en öppen och uppriktig diskussion idag som vi alltid gör för att föra oss samman och gå vidare. Men våra Dory frågor dök upp externt i eftermiddag, och på vissa webbplatser Googlers nu namnges personligen,” skrev Pichai till anställda. “Googlers skriver in, orolig för deras säkerhet och orolig att de kan vara “ut” offentligt för att ställa en fråga i rådhuset.” Pichai var inställd på att ta itu med sök jättens 60.000 anställda på 30 minuter i en all-hands möte om en nyligen inlägg av nyligen sparkade anställd James Damore. I den hävdade programvaruingenjören att kvinnor kanske inte är lika bra som män på teknik på grund av biologiska skäl, som “neuroticism.” Med andra ord, de kunde inte hantera stress och högt tryck lika mycket. På tal om hög press, Google är under det för säker i kölvattnet av Damore blogg och den reaktion det har skapat utifrån företaget, särskilt bland djupt konservativa webbplatser som Breitbart och andra. Wired rapporterade tidigare att konservative pundit Milo Yiannopoulos “postade på sin Facebook-sida Twitter biografier av åtta Google anställda som kritiserade Damore inlägg.” Källor inuti Google sade några anställda hade börjat uppleva “doxxing” — online trakasserier som kan ta sig olika former och definieras som “söka efter och publicera privat eller identifiera information om [en viss individ] på internet, typiskt med illvillig avsikt.” Flera webbplatser som denna har publicerat interna diskussionsinlägg och ge ut information om dessa anställda. Dessutom gjorde Damore sin första stora intervju med alt-right YouTube-personlighet, Stefan Molyneux (ironisk, jag vet, eftersom Google äger online video jätten). Det kan du se nedan. I efterföljande intervjuer, Damore sade att han hade varit “smeared” och “shamed” av topp chefer för sin post. Det verkar lite av en räckvidd eftersom han verkar ha tänkt kasta en atombomb med den. Till exempel skrev Damore: “Jag säger helt enkelt att fördelningen av preferenser och förmågor för män och kvinnor skiljer sig delvis på grund av biologiska orsaker och att dessa skillnader kan förklara varför vi inte ser lika representation av kvinnor i teknik och ledarskap.” Det som följde var en lista över dessa skillnader, inklusive ett påstående om att kvinnor var mer sociala och konstnärliga och inte kunde ta stress av högtryck jobb. Därav "neuroticism", eller högre ångest och lägre stresstolerans, som han hävdade backades upp av studier. Kanske mest osedligt hävdade författaren också att han inte hade någon röst, även efter att ha skrivit en 3 000 ords memo som han kunde skicka companywide och även lästes av miljontals fler. Det var förmodligen ingen överraskning att Pichai sparkade Damore tidigare i veckan för att bryta mot Googles uppförandekod, notera i ett e-postmeddelande till personal att “att föreslå en grupp av våra kollegor har egenskaper som gör dem mindre biologiskt lämpade för det arbetet är stötande och inte OK.” Sedan dess har det varit en spänd tid för Google och även Silicon Valley, som har rullat i månader mitt sexuella trakasserier kontroverser på företag som Uber och på riskkapitalföretag. Även om frågor kring kön och mångfald har varit en het knapp fråga under en lång tid, har sjudandet övergått till kokning nu. Detta har förvärrats av den politiska miljön i hela landet, som har blivit ganska splittrad på senare tid. Så går landet, verkar det, så går teknik. Här är Pichais brev: Kära Googlers, TL;DR Förlåt för den sena varsel men vi kommer att avbryta dagens rådhus. Vi hade hoppats på en öppen och uppriktig diskussion i dag som vi alltid gör för att föra oss samman och gå framåt. Men våra Dory frågor dök upp externt i eftermiddag, och på vissa webbplatser Googlers nu namnges personligen. Googles skriver in sig, oroar sig för sin säkerhet och oroar sig för att de kan vara “ute” offentligt för att ställa en fråga i rådhuset. Som ett erkännande av Googles oro måste vi ta ett steg tillbaka och skapa bättre förutsättningar för att vi ska kunna föra diskussionen. Så under de kommande dagarna kommer vi att hitta flera forum för att samlas och engagera sig med Googlers, där människor kan känna sig bekväma att tala fritt. Vi kommer att dela detaljer snart. Under de senaste två dagarna har jag haft chansen att träffa så många människor här, och jag har läst var och en av dina e-postmeddelanden noggrant. De allra flesta av er är mycket positiva till vårt beslut. En mindre andel av er önskar att vi skulle göra mer. Och en del är oroliga för att du inte kan tala ut på jobbet fritt. Alla era röster och åsikter är viktiga och jag vill höra dem. Under tiden, låt oss inte glömma vad som förenar oss som ett företag – vår önskan att bygga stora produkter för alla som gör en stor skillnad i sina liv. Jag har varit med i några produktdiskussioner idag och känt mig energisk av de viktiga saker vi arbetar med. Vi kan, och kommer att fortsätta, komma samman för att göra det allra bästa för de människor vi tjänar. Håll ögonen öppna. Sundar ́` Googles chef Sundar Pichai, talar på en kodning händelse för flickor händer på Googles campus idag, betonade vikten av ingenjörer “bygga produkter för alla i världen,” och sade att för att göra det, “vi behöver ha människor internt som representerar världen i helhet.” “Jag vill att du ska veta att det finns en plats för dig i denna bransch,” Pichai sade till team av unga kvinnor som var finalister i en månadslång app-byggande tävling. “Det finns en plats för dig på Google. Låt ingen säga något annat. Du hör hemma här, och vi behöver dig.” Pichais kommentarer var särskilt anmärkningsvärda på grund av deras samverkan med kontroversen som händer på Google just nu, efter att en programvaruingenjör postat en mångfald-relaterade PM som gick viral både inom företaget och i offentlig sfär. Författaren till PM, som ifrågasatte Googles mångfald utbildning och kvinnors förmåga att koda, har sedan sparkats från företaget, och har lämnat in ett klagomål till National Labor Relations Board. Det offentliga framträdandet av Pichai kom också strax efter Google ställde in ett företagsomfattande rådhusmöte, som hade planerats för att ta itu med en del av nedfallet från PM:et. Mötet ställdes in, enligt en rapport i Recode, efter att anställda som skickat preliminära frågor börjat bli trakasserade på nätet. “Det är verkligen viktigt att fler kvinnor och flickor har möjlighet att delta i teknik, att lära sig att koda, skapa och förnya,” Pichai sade. “Att se flickorna här ikväll ger mig hopp för framtiden.” Kodningsevenemanget i kväll var tillsammans med Iridescent Learning, en LA-baserad ideell som har kört Technovation tävlingen de senaste åren. Google erbjuder en mängd olika utbildningsmöjligheter fokuserad på kodning, liksom många andra stora tech-företag; detta evenemang var en del av sin “Made with Code” program, som riktar sig till unga kvinnor. Som med andra workshops, kodningsläger och initiativ som teknikföretag erbjuder, kämpar många av dem naturligtvis fortfarande med att skapa verkligt olika arbetsplatser, vilket deras frivilliga årsrapporter har visat. Och Google har också stämts för sina löneuppgifter av det amerikanska arbetsdepartementet, som har hävdat att Google inte betalar kvinnliga anställda rättvist. Pichais fullständiga kommentarer är nedan: ”Sammanfattning:
Article: Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, cancelled a scheduled all-hand staff meeting—moments before it was scheduled to begin—meant to address concerns over a controversial paper published by the former employee James Damore. In an email to the staff, Pichai explained that questions from employees had been leaked and that in some cases specific employee identities were revealed, exposing them to harassment and threats. Instead of today's large-scale meeting, which would be livestreamed to Google's 60,000 employees worldwide, smaller groups will meet sometime in the future. "We had hoped to have an open discussion today as we always do to bring ourselves together and move on. But our Dory questions appeared externally this afternoon, and on some sites Googlers are now named personally," Pichai said in email. Pichai said in the email that while the majority of Googlers were supportive of the decision, some wished the company to do more. He said that some were also concerned about not being able to speak freely at work. "All your voices and opinions matter and I want to hear them," he said. Earlier in the day, questions began to be posted on Google's internal bulletin boards to be included in today's planned meeting. "Can we get an update on progress towards identifying leaks?" an employee posted, saying several Googlers had their team pages leaked to alt-right websites, resulting in a death threat in one case. "I am a moderately conservative Googler," wrote an employee, "and I am and have been afraid to share my faith. The loud voice here is liberal. Conservative voices are silenced. What does leadership do to ensure that Google's like me feel *invited and accepted*, are not only tolerated or safe from angry mobs?" Another question was how to combat Damore's claim that Google has a lower bar for diversity candidates. "This harms the minority Googlers because it creates the perception that they are less qualified," an employee wrote. Pichai, who said parts of Damore's manifesto violated Google's code of conduct, had shortened his vacation to attend today's schedicated meeting. "Of course there's much more to discuss as a group -- including how we create a more inclusive environment for everyone," he wrote in an email sent to employees Tuesday. Damore's 3,300 word manifesto claims that there are no more women in tech roles due to "biological causes" while calling Google left-leaning with a "politically correct monoculture." The memo has spurred a conversation on systematic sexism in Silicon Valley, as well as what is and is not acceptable to debate in a workplace environment. Google CEO Sundar Pichai has cancelled the company's highly anticipated meeting to talk about gender issues today. The move came after some of its employees expressed concerns over online harassment that they had begun to receive after their questions and names were published outside the company on a variety of largely alt-right sites. “We had hoped to have an open and frank discussion today as we always do to bring ourselves together and move forward. But our Dory questions appeared externally this afternoon, and on some sites Googlers is now named personally,” Pichai wrote to employees. “Googlers are writing in, worried about their safety and worried that they might be “out” in public to ask a question in the Town Hall.” Pichai was set to deal with the search giant’s 60,000 employees in 30 minutes in an all-hand meeting about a recent post by recently fired employee James Damore. In it, the software engineer claimed that women may not be as good as men on technology due to biological reasons, as “neuroticism.” In other words, they could not handle stress and high pressure as much. Speaking of high pressure, Google is under it too safe in the wake of the Damore blog and the reaction it has created from the company, especially among deeply conservative websites such as Breitbart and others. Wired previously reported that conservative pundit Milo Yiannopoulos “posted on his Facebook page Twitter biographies of eight Google employees who criticized Damore posts.” Sources inside Google said some employees had begun to experience “doxxing” — online harassment that can take various forms and be defined as “searching for and publishing private or identifying information about [a particular individual] on the internet, typically with malicious intent.” Several websites like this have published internal discussion posts and publishing information about these employees. In addition, Damore did his first major interview with alt-right YouTube personality, Stefan Molyneux (Ironic, I know, because Google owns the online video giant). You can see that below. In subsequent interviews, Damore said he had been “smeared” and “shamed” by top executives of his post. It seems a bit of a range because he seems to have been planning on throwing an atomic bomb with it. For example, Damore wrote: “I simply say that the distribution of preferences and abilities for men and women is partly different due to biological causes and that these differences can explain why we do not see equal representation of women in technology and leadership.” What followed was a list of these differences, including a claim that women were more social and artistic and could not take stress out of high-pressure jobs. Hence "neuroticism", or higher anxiety and lower stress tolerance, which he claimed was backed up by studies. Perhaps the most unspeakably the author also claimed that he had no voice, even after writing a 3,000-word memo that he could send companywide and was also read by millions more. It was probably no surprise that Pichai fired Damore earlier this week to violate Google’s Code of Conduct, noting in an email to staff that “proposing a group of our colleagues has characteristics that make them less biologically suited to that work is offensive and not OK.” Since then, it has been a tense time for Google and even Silicon Valley, which has been rolling for months my sexual harassment controversy at companies like Uber and at venture capital companies. Although gender and diversity issues have been a hot scarce issue for a long time, simmering has turned to boiling now. This has been exacerbated by the political environment throughout the country, which has become quite fragmented recently. That's how the country goes, it seems, so goes technology. Here's Pichai's letter: Dear Googlers, TL;DR Sorry for the late notice but we will cancel today's Town Hall. We had hoped for an open and frank discussion today as we always do to bring ourselves together and move forward. But our Dory questions appeared externally this afternoon, and on some sites Googlers are now named in person. Googles sign in, worry about their security and worry that they may be “out” in public to ask a question in the Town Hall. In recognition of Google's concerns, we need to step back and create better conditions for us to be able to conduct the discussion. So over the next few days, we will find several forums to gather and engage with Googlers, where people can feel comfortable speaking freely. We'll be sharing details soon. In the last two days I have had the chance to meet so many people here, and I have read each of your emails carefully. The vast majority of you are very positive about our decision. A smaller proportion of you wish we would do more. And some people are worried that you can't speak out at work freely. All your voices and opinions are important and I want to hear them. In the meantime, let's not forget what unites us as a company—our desire to build great products for all who make a big difference in their lives. I have been involved in some product discussions today and felt energetic about the important things we are working on. We can, and will continue, come together to do the very best for the people we serve. Keep your eyes open. Sundar  Google’s boss Sundar Pichai, speaking on a coding event for girls hands on Google’s campus today, emphasized the importance of engineers “building products for everyone in the world,” and said that to do so, “we need to have people internally representing the world as a whole.” “I want you to know that there is a place for you in this industry,” Pichai said to teams of young women who were finalists in a month-long app-building competition. “There is a place for you on Google. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You belong here, and we need you.” Pichai’s comments were particularly noteworthy because of their interaction with the controversy that is happening on Google right now, after a software engineer posted a diversity-related memo that went viral both within the company and in the public sphere. The author of the memo, which questioned Google's diversity of education and women's ability to code, has since been fired from the company, and has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. The public appearance of Pichai also came shortly after Google cancelled a company-wide town hall meeting, which had been planned to deal with some of the fallout from the memo. The meeting was cancelled, according to a report in Recode, after employees who sent preliminary questions began to be harassed online. “It’s really important that more women and girls have the opportunity to participate in technology, to learn to code, create and renew,” Pichai said. “Seeing the girls here tonight gives me hope for the future.” The coding event tonight was together with Iridecent Learning, an LA-based non-profit who has run the Technology Innovation competition in recent years. Google offers a variety of educational opportunities focused on coding, as well as many other major tech companies; this event was part of its “Made with Code” program, which targets young women. As with other workshops, coding camps and initiatives offered by technology companies, many of them are of course still struggling to create really different jobs, as their voluntary annual reports have shown. And Google has also been sued for its payroll tasks by the U.S. Department of Labor, which has claimed that Google does not pay women employees fairly. Pichai’s full comments are as follows: ‘Summary:
– Googles VD Sundar Pichai planerade att ta upp kontroversen om en anti-mångfaldspromemoria vid ett all-medarbetares rådhusmöte – men han avblåste den efter att arbetarna sagt att de var oroliga för trakasserier på nätet. Pichai sade frågor från anställda hade läckt och deras identiteter hade publicerats på alt-höger webbplatser, utsätta dem för online trakasserier, CNN rapporter. "Googlers skriver in, oroar sig för sin säkerhet och orolig att de kan vara 'ute' offentligt för att ställa en fråga i Rådhuset," VD sade i ett brev till anställda ses av Recode. Han lovade att "skapa en bättre uppsättning villkor för oss att ha diskussionen" någon gång inom den närmaste framtiden. Kontroversen exploderade efter att memoförfattaren James Damore sparkades för att ha argumenterat för att biologiska skillnader gör kvinnor opassande för vissa tekniska jobb. Efter att ha ställt in torsdagens möte talade Pichai på ett evenemang för flickor på Googles campus, och talade till team av unga kodare från hela världen, rapporterar Verge. Det är viktigt att "fler kvinnor och flickor har möjlighet ... att lära sig att koda, skapa och förnya sig", sa han. "Jag vill att du ska veta att det finns en plats för dig i den här branschen, det finns en plats för dig på Google," tillade han. "Låt ingen säga något annat. Du hör hemma här och vi behöver dig." (Damore säger att han blev "straffad" och "skäms" för att ha försökt "förbättra" företaget.)
– Google CEO Sundar Pichai planned to address the controversy over an anti-diversity spromemoria at an all-workers town hall meeting – but he called it off after the workers said they were worried about online harassment. Pichai said questions from employees had been leaked and their identities had been published on alt-right websites, exposing them to online harassment, CNN reports. "Googlers sign in, worry about their security and worry they might be 'out' in public to ask a question in the Town Hall," the CEO said in a letter to employees seen by Recode. He promised to "create a better set of conditions for us to have the discussion" sometime in the near future. The controversy exploded after memo writer James Damore was fired for arguing that biological differences make women inappropriate for certain technical jobs. After canceling Thursday's meeting, Pichai spoke at an event for girls on Google's campus, speaking to teams of young coders from around the world, reports Verge. It is important that "more women and girls have the opportunity... to learn to code, create and innovate," he said. "I want you to know that there's a place for you in this business, there's a place for you on Google," he added. "Let no one say otherwise. You belong here and we need you." (Damore says he was "punished" and "commotion" for trying to "improve" the company.)