
Alphabet-owned Verily suspended spot bonuses to fund diversity initiatives - theBashShell
https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/30/21309306/alphabet-verily-suspended-employee-bonuses-diversity-initiatives-project-baseline
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reanimus
So apparently they're spending from "spot bonuses" rather than the annual one,
which is different than what the headline suggests, but still... With that
much revenue, I find it hard to believe they couldn't allocate separate funds
for this -- funds that (as the employees point out) would be recurring.

~~~
rectang
Yeah, it's a manufactured controversy tying together unrelated line items in
the budget. "We can't afford mustard because we spent all that money on
postage".

~~~
beervirus
It doesn't seem manufactured. The company spokeswoman explicitly said this is
what happened:

> “At this time, we think it’s important we put our money where our mouth is,
> and direct some of our discretionary funds — such as those typically used to
> fund a spot bonus program (which is separate and distinct of our annual
> bonus program) — to bolster our efforts to ensure our products and services
> are accessible to the people who need them,” she said.

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ohazi
Employee _spot_ bonuses.

The headline deliberately makes it sound like they suspended the annual
bonuses that a lot of employees expect and budget around, which is not the
case. This is a weasel headline designed to induce outrage where none (or at
least nowhere near as much) is warranted.

Given the topic, you could even make the argument that this headline is
designed to incite anger along racial lines, which IMHO has no place here or
anywhere.

The HN title should be changed immediately.

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curious_fella1
They suspended spot bonuses, not your yearly bonus. These are sometimes given
out at the end of a long project, they might be worth ~2k.

Still really annoying, but also kinda click-baity title.

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ohazi
In case there was any doubt - this article was flagged because of the
inexcusably misleading headline.

There may be something worth discussing here, but there's basically zero
chance of reasonable discourse unless the title is changed.

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justicezyx
I cannot help to grin the veil suspicion that this intends to be an one stop
measure to say "we did all we can do, but you guys don't support it".

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foolfoolz
No company is worth working weekends for. Whatever the bonus is, if you even
get one, it’s never what you wanted when you were doing the work

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DaniloDias
We should be really skeptical of this headline.

If it reflects reality, these executives are too stupid to remember to breath,
because a diversity "investment" that robs the people you compensate is about
as brave as an instagram posting.

Maybe the employees started saying Verily should spend more on diversity.
Maybe this is a reaction to entitled staff demanding that the company spend
money that wasn't allocated for this year on diversity initiatives. This
story, as written makes no sense.

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yahyaheee
Couldn’t the employees decide what they wanted to do with their money?

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m0zg
Silence is consent. And not a single person at Verily would be foolish enough
to voice their disagreement on this issue. I hope yearly bonuses are next.
Putting your money where you mouth is, as it were. The hypocrisy of Google
with its 4% black workforce seems pretty staggering to me.

~~~
yahyaheee
With highly skilled workers they are likely to just leave. I would prefer to
help the causes that are close to me

~~~
m0zg
> I don’t buy into equal outcome, only equal opportunity

This phrase could doom your entire career in today's corporate America, if
uttered publicly.

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sukilot
How generous to sacrifice the employees' overtime pay!

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aaron695
If the employees actually cared they'd ask the company to match the money.

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ReticentVole
The ultimate aim of these diversity projects is to lower labor costs - either
by psychologically manipulating people into accepting lower wages, by focusing
on conflict and alignment along racial lines instead of class lines, or simply
to expand the available pool of workers.

~~~
voz_
Very hot take. I couldn't disagree more. The ultimate aim of these diversity
projects is to help members of disenfranchised communities find meaningful
employment at good companies. This both strengthens the product and makes the
company more attractive - implemented correctly, it can be come a powerful
flywheel of benefits. Implemented incorrectly, and it can sink morale without
actually empowering, supporting, or helping anyone.

~~~
buzzkillington
How does increasing the pool of labor not decrease the price of labor?

This is economics 101.

~~~
TehCorwiz
If diversity caused lower wages then we'd see a proactive push among
corporations to create inclusive cultures to invite that situation. But we
don't, because it doesn't.

~~~
banads
>we'd see a proactive push among corporations to create inclusive cultures to
invite that situation. But we don't

Wait, are you saying there has _not_ been a push among corporations to
increase diversity?

>In 2003, MIT professor Thomas Kochan noted that companies were spending an
estimated $8 billion a year on diversity efforts. But since Trump’s election,
and with the emergence of movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter, the
industry has exploded. A 2019 survey of 234 companies in the S&P 500 found
that 63% of the diversity professionals had been appointed or promoted to
their roles during the past three years. In March 2018, the job site Indeed
reported that postings for diversity and inclusion professionals had risen 35%
in the previous two years.

[https://time.com/5696943/diversity-
business/](https://time.com/5696943/diversity-business/)

~~~
throwgeorge
watch the hands not the mouth - take a gander at the demographics of
microsoft/facebook/google and you'll see how much they actually support
diversity initiatives

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buzzkillington
>At this time, we think it’s important we put our money where our mouth is,
and direct some of our discretionary funds — such as those typically used to
fund a spot bonus program (which is separate and distinct of our annual bonus
program) — to bolster our efforts to ensure our products and services are
accessible to the people who need them,” she said. “This requires making a few
small sacrifices, but why wouldn’t we do that?

You're a Nazi if you want to get paid.

~~~
dang
Ok, that's enough. We've banned this account for doing flamewar on HN and
ignoring our requests to stop.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

