Fired Google employees say getting sacked without an ‘element of humanity’

In a recent announcement, Google's parent company Alphabet Inc. announced that it will be laying off 12,000 workers, which represents about 6 per cent of its global workforce. This marks the company joining many other tech giants like Meta and Amazon which have announced mass layoffs recently.

Many Google employees affected by the layoffs are now sharing their experiences on LinkedIn.

Keller Smith, a Google employee of over 8 years said that the shocking part of the whole ordeal was not being able to contact his manager after getting sacked over an email. He emphasised that he was super thankful for his time at the company but an element of humanity in the whole process would have been better. “Cutbacks will happen, but human connection needs to be part of the process,” he said in his post.

Another Google employee, Justin Moore, who was working as a software engineer with the company for over 16 years had a very similar experience. According to his post, he didn’t even receive an email at the time and got to know about his sacking after his access account was deactivated at 3 in the morning. "This also just drives home that work is not your life. Live life, not work," he said.

The layoffs are a result of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy and the company vying to protect the bottom line. The pandemic has resulted in a significant decline in advertising revenue, which is a major source of income for the company. As a result, the company has had to make difficult decisions to reduce costs and ensure its long-term viability.

The layoffs are taking place across the globe, with most of the cuts starting with their offices in the United States.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai stated that the company's priority is to provide support to the affected employees and that it will be providing severance packages and assistance with job search efforts. "The fact that these changes will impact the lives of Googlers weighs heavily on me, and I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us here," Pichai added.

Pichai also emphasized that the company will continue to invest in areas that it believes will drive growth and innovation in the future, such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

In the US, the company will offer a severance package starting at 16 weeks' salary plus two weeks for every additional year at Google. All 2022 bonuses and remaining vacation time will also be paid.

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