Pinterest has dismissed two engineers after discovering they created tools to track which employees were affected by recent job cuts. The company had announced that about 15 per cent of its workforce, that is, about 700 roles, would be eliminated as part of a decision to shift focus towards artificial intelligence. However, it did not specify which teams or individuals were impacted.
The two engineers reportedly wrote computer scripts that accessed confidential company information. These scripts were designed to monitor internal communication tools, such as Slack, and detect when employee accounts were removed or deactivated. This gave them insight into the names and locations of staff who had lost their jobs. The information was then shared more widely, which, according to the company, violated internal policies and compromised employee privacy.
Pinterest clearly took it as a serious offence that the engineers should encroach on the privacy of their own ex-colleagues. The company has made it clear that it will not tolerate those who go against the company’s mission and values.
The identities of the engineers have not been made public, and attempts to contact them have reportedly been unsuccessful. While checking internal tools for signs of colleagues leaving is common in many workplaces, Pinterest considered the use of custom scripts to gather and spread this information a serious breach.
The firings come during a time of widespread layoffs across the technology industry, with thousands being laid off at Amazon alone.
