#employee-activism

#employee-activism

Staffers at The Washington Post have been brainstorming for days on how to convince owner Jeff Bezos to reverse course on looming layoffs, including considering recruiting some Hollywood star power to lobby for their cause, reported Status' Oliver Darcy on Monday evening. The Post has generated a slew of headlines since last year for the turmoil within its ranks as staffers have bristled at efforts by Bezos and Post publisher and CEO Will Lewis to cut costs, increase revenue, and adopt a more right-leaning, MAGA-friendly tone.

Today's case examines how one cryptocurrency exchange navigated two major resets in a single year. The first was moving to a fully remote workforce, and the second was adopting a policy that explicitly banned political and social activism at work, sparking an intense debate about leadership, culture, and the boundaries of corporate engagement in social issues. Oh, and if that weren't enough, these decisions came at a pivotal moment just as the company was preparing for its historic IPO.

Protesters stormed Microsoft's Redmond headquarters on Monday and made it into president Brad Smith's office in Building 34, forcing a temporary lockdown. The "No Azure for Apartheid" group reportedly live-streamed their sit-in on Twitch, hoisting banners, chanting 'Brad Smith, you can't hide, you're supporting genocide!' and posting a mock legal summons charging Smith with "crimes against humanity." According to The Verge, the protest included both active Microsoft workers and former employees who've been fired for previous activism.

"When I joined Google, over 20 years ago, it was just a start-up employing a few thousand people. It felt like we were committed to making something useful for society."