Workers Leaving the Googleplex (2011) - full transcript

In September 2007,
I was hired jointly

by Transvideo Studios and
Google, both headquartered

in Mountainview, California.

Transvideo had a contract with
Google, and took care of 100%

of their video production
in Mountainview,

and sometimes elsewhere.

My labor was sold to Google
in the form of a 9 to 5 job.

I had access to a personally
unprecedented amount

of privileges, but was not
entitled to the ski trips,

Disneyland adventures,
stock options,

and holiday cash
bonuses from their team



of temporary Santa Clauses.

Thousands of people with red
badges, such as me, my team,

and most other contractors
worked amongst thousands

of people with white badges
as full-time Googlers.

Interns are given green badges,

however, a fourth
class exists at Google

that involves strictly
data entry labor,

or more appropriately,
the labor of digitizing.

These workers are identifiable
by their yellow badges,

and they go by the
team name of ScanOps.

They scan books page by
page for Google Book Search.

The workers wearing yellow
badges are not allowed any

of the privileges
that I was allowed,

ride the Google bikes,
take the Google Luxury Limo



Shuttles home,

eat free gourmet Google meals,
attend Authors at Google Talks,

and receive free, signed
copies of the author's books,

or set foot anywhere
else on campus,

except for the building
they work in.

They're also not given
backpacks, mobile devices,

thumb drives, or any chance
for social interaction

with any other Google employees,
most of whom don't know

about the yellow badge class.

Their building 3.1459
was next to mine,

and I used to see
them leave every day

at precisely 2:15 p.m.,

like a bell just rang
telling the workers

to leave the factory.

Their shift starts at 4 a.m.

I found this social
arrangement interesting,

and at a certain point I decided

to investigate the rationale
behind Google's decision

to exclude the yellow
badge class

from most privileges the company
has to offer, despite the fact

that their labor takes
place in a Google building,

with a Google sign out front,
and are being contracted

to Google by another
company just like my team.

And just like other
informational laborers,

the kitchen staff,
the shuttle drivers,

the custodians, and more.

Eventually I asked a
superior on my team

if I could borrow a camera
to go out in the parking lot,

and videotape the yellow
badged workers leaving the

3.1459 factory.

That footage didn't
turn out very well,

so I did it again a week later.

I decided if I were to represent
these workers leaving the

factory, it would be important
to develop a relationship

with the film subjects,

and welcome their
perspective into the video.

A week later, I approached
a few of them to see

if they would be willing
to have a conversation

in the near future
about their jobs.

The first girl mostly ignored
me, and started talking

to someone on her cell phone.

Two other young men said
they'd be happy to talk

about their work, and
accepted business cards

with my email address.

Another young man I
approached was also willing

to discuss his work.

About the job he briefly said,
"That it's not what I want

to be doing, but
it pays the bills."

Before I could give
him my email address,

a very agitated chubby
white male,

with a red badge wedged
himself between us, and demanded

that I show him my badge, and
tell him who my manager was.

He told me the yellow badged
workers were extremely

confidential people, doing
extremely confidential work,

and I was standing in an
extremely confidential area.

He then reprimanded the yellow
badge worker for talking to me.

I then found out the chubby
white man knew what I was doing,

because the first
girl I had spoken

to had followed the instructions
on the back of her yellow badge,

which is to call a certain
manager if anyone asks

about the work of the
yellow badge class.

The chubby man brought
me into the lobby

of the 3.1459 building,
and told me

to wait while they grabbed a
security guard, a security guard

with a red badge, and
therefore more privileges

than the yellow badge
ScanOps employees working

in the same building as him.

He returned with a
very sedate Black guard

and explained the situation.

The guard wasn't aware of
how confidential the work

within the building
actually was,

but agreed to report
this to his superiors,

and Google's Campus
Meet Space Security.

I walked 40 feet out of the
extremely confidential area,

and into my building
to continue working.

The next morning, I received
a call from one of my mangers,

who I'll refer to as "Marco".

Google Security had told him

about what happened
the day before,

and wanted to finalize
the issue,

which apparently means coming
to a conclusion on the reason

and outcome of the
security breach,

so that the issue can be
filtered and separated neatly

into their bracketed accounts.

I told Marco my reasons, which
you'll hear in just a moment,

and he passed along my
statements to Google Security.

Shortly thereafter,

Marco called me back and asked
if I'd get on a conference call

with Ralph, the millionaire
who owns Transvideo.

I had met the man once, and
he didn't know who I was,

so this conference call
made me quite anxious.

Ralph got on the
phone and said, "So,

Marco tells me you're writing
an exposé piece on Google."

He told me the issue
was very serious,

because it could jeopardize
Transvideo's contract

with Google,

and potentially lead to 60
people losing their jobs.

I explained my actual
intents to Ralph,

and Marco chimed in to say
he never told Ralph it was

to be an exposé.

Ralph asked me to issue a letter

to Google Security
explaining my intent.

Here is that letter,

"To whom it may concern,

yesterday I was outside the
Google Book Search building,

which is adjacent to
the building I work in,

and had the chance to talk

to a few employees while
they were leaving work.

Most of them are
People of Color,

and they're supposedly
involved in the labor

of digitizing information.

I'm interested in issues of
class, race, and labor, and so,

out of general curiosity,

I wanted to ask these
workers about their jobs.

I'm aware of internal mechanisms
for discussing labor issues

with Google, and
had no intention

of defaming the company.

I was not aware of how secretive
the Book Search project is,

but now understand how seriously
my curiosity could jeopardize

not only my own job and
Transvideo's relationship

with Google, but also
my legal situation,

because of the nondisclosure
agreement I signed.

I apologize for bothering you
with this innocent mistake,

and can assure you that in the
future I will be more cautious

about respecting
confidentiality at Google.

Sincerely, Andrew Wilson."

Immediately after I sent the
letter to Ralph and Marco

for review, Ralph wrote
back to me, "Thanks, Andrew,

I think this will help clean
up any misunderstandings.

Also, Marco said that
you had mentioned

that this was a personal project
relating to the request you made

for an interview with
one of the staff.

Can you elaborate what
this personal project is?

Thanks again, Ralph"

I responded, "Hello,
Ralph, the personal project

at this point is nothing beyond
a general curiosity towards the

ScanOps workers.

I don't know enough
about the situation

to pursue any further
understanding.

And now that I know
it's so super secret,

I probably will never
have the chance to.

I think Google does a lot
of great things socially

and politically, but found it
interesting that these workers,

who perform labor similar to
that of many red badge workers,

such as software engineers,

custodians, security guards,
et cetera, are mostly People

of Color, and cannot
eat Google meals,

take the shuttle, ride a bike,

or step foot anywhere
else on campus.

With backgrounds in sociology
and political philosophy,

I wasn't approaching this
as an act of muckraking,

but rather as an analysis of a
transition from industrial labor

to informational labor,

and what this could mean
in terms of race and class.

Also, I saw this as nice way to
meet people who work right next

to me, but are very clearly
not the same class as me.

Best, Andrew"

More than hour passed,

so I figured Google Security was
satisfied with my explanation,

and had finalized the issue.

But Marco called back
in a frenzy saying

that Google Security
had proof of me outside,

filming yellow badged workers
leaving the 3.1459 building

on two separate occasions.

I told him this was true,

and he said that Google
Legal was now involved,

and they needed the
video tapes immediately.

I found one of the tapes in my
bag and brought it to Marco,

but confessed that I
couldn't find the other tape.

He relayed this information

to Google Security
and Google Legal,

and they reiterated that they
needed the tape immediately.

The only place I could imagine
it would be was back in my room

in San Francisco, and Marco
relayed the command of,

"Go get it right now,"
back to me.

I borrowed a coworker's
car and drove 40 minutes

to San Francisco, searched
my room for a half hour

and came up with nothing.

On my way back I called Marco
to tell him I found nothing,

and said I must have used
the same tape both shoots,

and taped over the
first day's footage

with that of the second day.

This isn't what happened,
but I really could not,

and still cannot find the tape,

and I knew Marco needed
a conclusive answer

for Google Security
and Google Legal.

He got back in touch with
them and then called me back,

telling me to return to the
Transvideo Office instead

of my office at Google.

When I arrived, Marco
told me to wait

in the Sunset Conference Room.

This is the room where I signed
on with the Transvideo team

at Google, and had my
quarter year reviews.

Marco entered the room with
Burt, the General Manager

of Transvideo who hired me,
and executed my reviews.

Burt had a questionnaire
to which my answers were,

"I was given permission to use
the camera by Carl, a superior.

The tape I used was mine.

I do not have possession of
the footage I shot anymore,

and it does not exist
in any other form."

Burt then presented
me with a document

that would terminate my
employment, on the basis

of me using Google's video
equipment during working hours,

although it was during my lunch
break, without the approval

of Transvideo's Executive
Management.

Marco then interjected into
Burt's official explanation

to say that Google was actually
putting pressure on Transvideo

to fire me, because
of my investigations

of the 3.1459 building, and
the people who work there.

Burt followed me back to Google
and gave me a cardboard box

to pack my non-Google
issued belongings up.

I told him I could take the
shuttle home, as I've gotten

on without my badge
numerous times,

but he insisted on driving
me to the Caltrain Station.

On the drive over, I told him

that losing my job right
now isn't all that bad,

as I was planning to
quit in two months

to prepare for Grad school.

He said that everything
happens for a reason,

and that he was glad I was
being philosophical about it.

I told him that's not
really philosophy,

and he didn't have
much to say after that.

I boarded the Caltrain
with my cardboard box,

and made it home around 8 p.m.