Google CEO says he cut his family vacation short because of an anti-diversity scandal sparked by an employee's manifesto

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Following the release of a controversial manifesto written by a Google employee, CEO Sundar Pichai said that the "very difficult few days" had forced him to end his family vacation.

"I have been on work related travel in Africa and Europe the past couple of weeks and had just started my family vacation here this week," wrote Pichai in a company-wide memo. "I have decided to return tomorrow as clearly there's a lot more to discuss as a group — including how we create a more inclusive environment for all."

According to his memo, Pichai, along with Google's leadership team members, have scheduled a town hall meeting for Thursday.

"The past few days have been very difficult for many at the company, and we need to find a way to debate issues on which we might disagree — while doing so in line with our Code of Conduct," Pichai wrote.

The scandal began Saturday, after a senior engineer at Google was reported to have written a 10-page anti-diversity manifesto that criticized Google's goals to increase gender and racial diversity. The memo also argued that biological differences made women less apt to perform in the tech industry.

"We need to stop assuming that gender gaps imply sexism," the memo read.

The former Google engineer confirmed to Bloomberg that he was fired on Monday.

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