INTO FEBRUARY SIGNIFICANTLY WEIGHED ON OPERATIONS IN THE FIRST QUARTER. THE COMPANY'S CEO WILL BE ON THE EXCHANGE TODAY AT 1:00 P.M. EASTERN TIME >>> GOOGLE TERMINATING 28 EMPLOYEES YESTERDAY AFTER A SERIES OF PROTESTS OVER THE COMPANY'S CONTRACT TO PROVIDE THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT AND MILITARY WITH CLOUD COMPUTING AND A.I. SERVICES. SOME SAID THEY WERE PROTESTING THE, QUOTE, HARASSMENT, INTIMIDATION, BULLYING, SILENCING AND CENSORSHIP OF PALESTINIAN, ARAB AND MUSLIM GOOGLERS ON TUESDAY NIGHT, NINE GOOGLE WORKERS WERE ARRESTED ON TRESPASSING CHARGES AFTER STAGING A SIT IN AT THE COMPANY'S OFFICE IN NEW YORK AND SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA. A GOOGLE EXECUTIVE TELLING WORKERS, 28 PEOPLE WERE FIRED. JOINING US RIGHT NOW IS JASON GREER, GREER CONSULTING FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT AND I'M GOING TO START WITH THIS VERY QUESTION, WOULD YOU HIRE ANY OF THESE FOLKS WHO WERE FIRED YESTERDAY FOR BEING INVOLVED IN THIS PROTEST? MEANING, WAS IT DISQUALIFYING -- I MEAN, WE'RE PARTIALLY ASKING, SHOULD THEY HAVE BEEN FIRED, BUT PARTIALLY ASKING, NOW THAT THEY HAVE BEEN FIRED, SHOULD THEY HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY ELSEWHERE OR NOT? >> 100% I WOULD HIRE THESE FOLKS IN A SECOND. THEY'RE CLEARLY TRUE BELIEVERS IN TERMS OF THE QUESTION SHOULD THEY HAVE BEEN FIRED, GOOGLE SET THIS PRECEDENT IN 2018 WHEN EMPLOYEES STAGED THEIR OWN SHARED WALKOUTS AND THEY SAID WE DON'T AGREE WITH THE WORK THEY'RE DOING IN PROJECT MAVEN WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 2018 AND TODAY >> DON'T YOU THINK -- I WOULD MAKE A DIFFERENT ARGUMENT, I WOULD SAY THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 2018 AND TODAY, GOOGLE HAS TRIED, I THINK, QUITE VEHEMENTLY TO CHANGE THE CULTURE AND MAKE IT CLEAR THESE TYPES OF PROTESTS ARE NOT ALLOWED. AND SO THE QUESTION IS, YES, IF THAT WAS PART OF THE CULTURE THEN, BUT IF YOU HAVE AN EXPLICIT ARRANGEMENT, AND YOU'RE AN EMPLOYEE OF A COMPANY, THERE ARE CHANNELS WITH WHICH YOU CAN PROTEST IF YOU WILL AND HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD, BUT HAVING A SIT-IN, TRESPASSING, DEFACING PROPERTY AND THE LIKE, GOES TO A QUESTION ABOUT JUDGMENT. AND I THINK THAT THERE IS A QUESTION ABOUT WHETHER YOU WANT TO HIRE PEOPLE WHO HAVE THAT JUDGMENT OR NOT. >> IF I'M LOOKING TO HIRE PEOPLE WHO ARE WILLING TO HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE TO THE MISSIONS AND VALUES OF OUR COMPANY, ABSOLUTELY GOT TO UNDERSTAND WITH THE AVERAGE GOOGLE WORKER, THEY'RE NOT LOOKING AT THE FACT THAT WE'RE WORKING FOR GOOGLE SINCE WE WORK FOR GOOGLE, WE WORK FOR THE WORLD THE DECISIONS WE MAKE AS A COMPANY IMPACT THE WORLD THIS IS WHY I SAY TO TECH COMPANIES, ESPECIALLY CEOs, I TALK TO THEM ALL THE TIME, THIS IS THE REASON WHY WE'RE SEEING UNION ORGANIZING GOING THROUGH THE ROOF IN THE TECH INDUSTRY. THE THING THAT GOOGLE IS FACING IS WHAT MANY OTHER TECH COMPANIES ARE FACING, THEY HAVE EMPLOYEES WHO ARE SAYING, ASKING THE QUESTION WHAT DID WE STAND FOR, AND IF WE DETERMINE WHAT WE STAND FOR, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO TO MAKE SURE WE CONTINUE TO STAND FOR THAT VERY THING. WHAT THE TECH INDUSTRY IS SAYING TODAY, EXACTLY WHAT MANUFACTURING SAW 60 YEARS AGO, WORKERS WERE ASKING WHAT DO WE STAND FOR. >> IT IS A DIFFICULT SUBJECT AND I THINK ESPECIALLY BECAUSE WE'RE IN IT RIGHT NOW, AND WE SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING IN GAZA, IN ISRAEL, AND PEOPLE RIGHTLY HAVE FEELINGS ABOUT WHO IS RIGHT IN THAT SITUATION. BUT I THINK IF YOU TAKE THE SPECIFICS OUT OF IT AND SAY, HEY, PROTESTING AT A COMPANY WHEN THEY TELL YOU NOT TO, IF WE GO BACK TO THE 80s AND TALKING ABOUT SOUTH AFRICA, RIGHT, OR IF WE GO BACK A LITTLE FURTHER AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT CIVIL RIGHTS IN THIS COUNTRY, YOU KNOW, CAN WE SAY THAT PEOPLE WHO ARE PROTESTING DESPITE A COMPANY SAYING THEY SHOULDN'T SHOULDN'T BE HIRED ANYWHERE ELSE >> ABSOLUTELY NOT. I UNDERSTAND YOU JUST TALKED ABOUT THE FACT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT CIVIL RIGHTS BACK IN THE '60s WE HAD FOLKS THAT SAT IN, THOSE FOLKS THAT SAT IN LUNCH COUNTERS BECAUSE I WOULDN'T BE HERE TODAY HAVING THIS CONVERSATION WITH YOU. WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO IS THERE HAS TO BE TWO SIDES TO THIS. ON ONE SIDE, THE EMPLOYERS HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY NOT ONLY TO THEIR SHAREHOLDERS, RESPONSIBILITY TO THEIR EXTERNAL SHAREHOLDERS, STAKEHOLDERS ON THE OTHER SIDE, WHAT EMPLOYEES NEED TO TAKE A LOOK AT IS IF WE'RE GOING TO HOLD OUR COMPANY ACCOUNTABLE, WHAT ARE THE CHANNELS THIS GETS BACK TO THE ORIGINAL QUESTION WHAT ARE THE CHANNELS THAT WE NEED TO FOLLOW INTERNALLY TO MAKE SURE WE'RE HOLDING THE COMPANY ACCOUNTABLE. DO WE TALK TO OUR MANAGERS, HUMAN RESOURCES, DO WE TALK TO EXECUTIVES, DO WE ASK TO HOLD INTERNAL FORMS BEFORE WE DO THESE BIG, YOU KNOW, SIT-INS AND PROTESTS I THINK ULTIMATELY WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO IS IN THE CASE OF GOOGLE, WITH EMPLOYEES, BEFORE IT BECOMES THIS HUGE MUSHROOM CLOUD, WHERE IT IS SO RADIOACTIVE WHERE WE DON'T KNOW WHERE WE'RE GOING, YOU HAVE TO START ASKING THE QUESTIONS INTERNALLY AND HAVE INTERNAL CONVERSATIONS BECAUSE IT IS NOT YOU'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO -- >> I DON'T DISAGREE ABOUT THE FACT THAT EMPLOYEES SHOULD HAVE VIEWS. I HAVE VIEWS ABOUT ALL SORTS OF THINGS, VIEWS ABOUT WHAT MY EMPLOYER IS DOING AND THERE SHOULD BE CHANNELS WITH WHICH YOU CAN PARTICIPATE IN A CONVERSATION BUT IF THE COMPANY DECIDES THAT THEY DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO YOU, THEN THE QUESTION IS YOU CAN DECIDE TO WORK THERE, OR YOU CAN DECIDE NOT TO WORK THERE, IT IS UNCLEAR TO ME WHETHER YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO STAGE A PROTEST THAT POTENTIALLY SHUTS DOWN PART OF THE COMPANY FOR SOME PERIOD OF TIME AND THEN EXPECT TO KEEP YOUR JOB AND EXPECT TO GET A JOB ELSEWHERE. >> ABSOLUTELY. WELL, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO STAGE A PROTEST, IF THAT'S YOUR CHOICE, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AMERICAN AT THE SAME TIME, YOU GOT TO UNDERSTAND THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES TO YOUR ACTION. IF YOU DECIDE TO HOLD A PROTEST, DO A STAGE IN WHERE YOU'RE A LEGITIMATE CLOSING DOWN OFFICES, CHANCES ARE PRETTY GOOD YOU'RE GOING TO GET FIRED OR YOU'RE GOING TO GET ARRESTED. IN TERMS OF LONG-TERM FUTURES OF BEING HIRED, IN THE '80s YOU COULD STAGE A PROTEST IN MISSOURI AND GO WORK FOR A COMPANY IN TEXAS BECAUSE THEY NEVER HEARD OF IT. DIDN'T HEAR ANYTHING ABOUT IT. UNLESS THAT COMPANY HAPPENED TO KNOW SOMEBODY WHO WORKED AT THE COMPANY THAT YOU DID TODAY, THOSE CHANCES OF GETTING JOBS ELSEWHERE ARE PROBABLY SLIM TO NONE FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS UNFORTUNATELY BECAUSE HIGHER MANAGERS TALK TO HIGHER MANAGERS THE MINUTE I GOOGL
