Can employees dictate Business ?

Google CEO Pichai emphasizes workplace focus, collaboration, and information provision, urging employees to maintain a professional environment free from disruptions or unsafe behaviors to fulfill the company's mission.

Google has fired more than two dozen employees after they staged sit-ins at the web giant's offices in protest of its cloud contract with the Israeli government.?

The sit-in protests, organized by the No Tech for Apartheid campaign, were held on April 16 at Google's New York City office and Google Cloud HQ in Sunnyvale, California. After roughly ten hours of occupation of the offices, during which time the techies were told to leave, the cops in Sunnyvale and NYC arrested nine employees, with Google later saying in an internal memo that they and others had been terminated.?

"Behavior like this has no place in our workplace and we will not tolerate it," Google VP of global security Chris Rackow said in an internal memo shared by the New York Post. "If you're one of the few who are tempted to think we're going to overlook conduct that violates our policies, think again.

"They took over office spaces, defaced our property, and physically impeded the work of other Googlers," the security boss added.

Google confirmed the content of Rackow's leaked letter to The Register and told us 28 individuals were dismissed after an HR investigation. Employees involved were initially placed on administrative leave pending the results of the probe, and ultimately let go.?

That may not be the end of the dismissals. Google told us it "will continue to investigate and take action as needed."

It said the arrests were made when protesters refused to leave the premises and that the occupation, which prevented employees from working and accessing work facilities, was a violation of Google policy - as well as a threat to safety. It described the protests as being orchestrated mainly by non-Googlers.?

"These protests were part of a longstanding campaign by a group of organizations and people who largely don't work at Google," a spokesperson told us.?

Project Nimbus, the issue at the heart of the protest, is a cloud contract between Google, AWS, and Israel signed in 2021 under which Google provides cloud services to Israeli government organizations. The program was designed to help Israel digitize its governmental operations, and has become a lightning rod for Google employees since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023 and the subsequent ongoing war.?

This raises many questions is your company ready to handle sensitive situations like this

What will you do as a HR head to handle sensitive HR challenges

Can you allow your employees to do or not to do business with a particular country region

How will you handle situations where employees come login and start protesting by sitting in senior management cabins and CEO cabins

If the protesters are not listening to the announcements will you call the local police for help and control the situation ?

Do you think Google HR is right in checking 28 employees who resorted to these unwanted protest in office premises.

Is your company HR policies are covered to handle any kind of sensitive situations like this in your office premises ?