Google's moral compass post is a mirror for Big Tech loyalty
A post titled 'Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass' is getting engagement, with comments splitting roughly between people who recognize the author's experience from their own time at FAANG and people who note, dryly, that 'moral clarity usually sharpens the moment the last RSU hits the brokerage account.'
The European angle is notable: multiple commenters say they moved back to Europe from the Bay Area and are glad they did. The perception that American Big Tech has shifted from mission-driven to extraction-driven is now common enough that it's showing up in hiring-adjacent threads, the 'who is quitting' thread, and post-mortems like this one on the same day.
This isn't just about Google. It connects to the pattern of the day: the ADV system thread, the EU fine, the 'who is quitting' thread, and this essay are all circling the same question about what it means to work for or build on platforms that have grown large enough to extract rather than enable.
So what?
The talent that's leaving Big Tech over these concerns is exactly the talent that early-stage companies want to hire. If your company has a real mission and operates with genuine transparency, the current moment in Big Tech culture is an unusual recruiting opening. The people reading the 'moral compass' post and nodding are your candidates. Reach them.