While I think this headline is overblown, I think the change would be for the better. For the past couple of years working at Google has been like what I'd imagine it's to work for the Trump administration: constant scandals, people around you being outraged, constant diversion of internal attention to issues unrelated to the core business etc.

Nominally the internal culture is all for open communication and being yourself. However, it's far easier to express an opinion that signals your 'good' and 'acceptable' values by eg. demanding Google shuts down anything that's even remotely suspicious. This leads to the loudest voices being the most extreme ones and makes you feel like you're alone with your opinion if you happen to favor nuanced debate over knee jerk reactions. For example, I think Dragonfly is a good idea and something we should pursue - but honestly, I'm only comfortable expressing that opinion to a select few coworkers in a private setting.

This brings me to my point of why I think more company control over worker organization might be good. I take pride in my work ethic. My dad raised me to respect the work I do. And every time a new scandal comes along and the internal company focus gets diverted to an issue on which only a small part of the company feels comfortable expressing their opinions of, my attention gets diverted and my work suffers. As does the company as a whole. As a stock owner, having an internal company culture less focused on outrage would be a great improvement.