Google’s firing of memo writer strikes nerve in Silicon Valley

Silicon-Valley-culture-war pitting liberal-leaning tech firms against a small conservative-cohort took on new intensity on Tuesday after Google fired a male-engineer for a memo that decried the company’s commitment to hiring women, media reports on Wednesday.

Memo author James Damore, 28, received jeers, cheers and a couple of job offers, while the debate raged on social media and some tech firms took steps to prevent similar episodes from embroiling their companies.

Damore confirmed his dismissal from Alphabet Inc’s Google on Monday, after he wrote a 10-page memo that said the company was hostile to conservative viewpoints and that women on average have more neuroticism.

Many in Silicon Valley found his views, which argued that men in general may be biologically more suited to coding jobs than women, offensive and destructive.

The manifesto was embraced by some, particularly on the political right, who branded him a brave truth-teller.

The episode recalled past examples of the wide gulf between US conservative activists and the tech sector.

In 2014, Brendan Eich was forced out as Mozilla’s Chief Executive after his opposition to gay marriage became public.

Most technology executives held the opposite view, and tech companies often gave benefits to same-sex couples well before gay marriage was legalised.

“Anyone who deviates from the talking points of the liberal left is shunned, shamed and forced out,” Andrew Torba, chief executive of the social network Gab, said in an interview.

Torba, whose company is popular among conservatives, said Damore could work for him.

WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, whose group released hacked emails that helped the campaign of Republican US President Donald Trump, also offered Damore a job, writing on Twitter that “censorship is for losers”.

Firing Damore was too extreme and Google should have put him through training instead, said Aaron Ginn, co-founder of the Lincoln Network, a group of libertarian-leaning tech workers and investors.