Hong Kong : Google employees in Asia and Europe kicked off a global protest on Thursday over how the company deals with sexual harassment.
Hong Kong : Google employees in Asia and Europe kicked off a global protest on Thursday over how the company deals with sexual harassment.
The demonstrations, dubbed "Google Walkout," follow an outcry over a New York Times investigation that detailed years of sexual harassment allegations, multimillion-dollar severance packages for accused executives, and a lack of transparency over the cases.
Around 150 Google employees in India participated in the walkouts, a company spokesman in the country told CNN. Google (GOOGL) has about 2,000 staff members across Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
Demonstrations were also reported at the company's Singapore and Tokyo offices.
In Europe, CNN witnessed a small group of Google employees walk out at the company's London headquarters. A larger protest was reported in Zurich, Switzerland.
According to social media posts, Google staffers around the world planned to walk out of their offices at 11:10 a.m. Thursday to demand changes at the company, including an end to the use of forced arbitration in cases of harassment and discrimination.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has voiced his support for the walkouts.
"We let Googlers know that we are aware of the activities planned for Thursday and that employees will have the support they need if they wish to participate," Pichai said in a statement to CNN on Wednesday.
"Employees have raised constructive ideas for how we can improve our policies and our processes going forward," he said. "We are taking in all their feedback so we can turn these ideas into action."
A Twitter account named @googlewalkout posted photos of people at what it said were protests at Google's Singapore, Tokyo, Berlin and Zurich offices. CNN wasn't immediately able to verify the photos.
The demonstrations, dubbed "Google Walkout," follow an outcry over a New York Times investigation that detailed years of sexual harassment allegations, multimillion-dollar severance packages for accused executives, and a lack of transparency over the cases.
Around 150 Google employees in India participated in the walkouts, a company spokesman in the country told CNN. Google (GOOGL) has about 2,000 staff members across Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
Demonstrations were also reported at the company's Singapore and Tokyo offices.
In Europe, CNN witnessed a small group of Google employees walk out at the company's London headquarters. A larger protest was reported in Zurich, Switzerland.
According to social media posts, Google staffers around the world planned to walk out of their offices at 11:10 a.m. Thursday to demand changes at the company, including an end to the use of forced arbitration in cases of harassment and discrimination.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has voiced his support for the walkouts.
"We let Googlers know that we are aware of the activities planned for Thursday and that employees will have the support they need if they wish to participate," Pichai said in a statement to CNN on Wednesday.
"Employees have raised constructive ideas for how we can improve our policies and our processes going forward," he said. "We are taking in all their feedback so we can turn these ideas into action."
A Twitter account named @googlewalkout posted photos of people at what it said were protests at Google's Singapore, Tokyo, Berlin and Zurich offices. CNN wasn't immediately able to verify the photos.