Former Google Employee: Company 'Almost Like a Cult'

James Damore, the former Google software engineer who was fired over a memo that criticized the company's mentoring and diversity programs, responded to the uproar he started, describing the tech giant as "almost like a cult."

"For many, including myself, working at Google is a major part of their identity, almost like a cult with its own leaders and saints, all believed to righteously uphold the sacred motto of 'Don't be evil,'" Damore wrote in an opinion piece Friday in The Wall Street Journal.

"With free food, internal meme boards and weekly companywide meetings, Google becomes a huge part of its employees' lives. Some even live on campus," he continued.

Damore lost his job on Tuesday after the memo, in which he argued that the lack of women in computer programming jobs was because they were susceptible to "neuroticism," which he explained "may contribute to the higher levels of anxiety women report on Googlegeist and to the lower number of women in high stress jobs."

Damore also criticized Google for "alienating conservatives." In his article on Friday, Damore said he was fired because he challenged the company's "echo chamber."

"My firing neatly confirms that point. How did Google, the company that hires the smartest people in the world, become so ideologically driven and intolerant of scientific debate and reasoned argument?" he asked.

Damore also had a warning for Google if the company continued to "silence open and honest discussion."

"If Google continues to ignore the very real issues raised by its diversity policies and corporate culture, it will be walking blind into the future—unable to meet the needs of its remarkable employees and sure to disappoint its billions of users," he concluded.

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