As a consequence of Google announcing 12,000 job cuts, around 1,400 employees have voiced their concerns over unfair treatment during the layoff process through a petition. The petitioners at Alphabet Inc – Google’s parent company – have made a series of demands in an open letter to Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai.
The requests include stopping new hires, prioritizing fired employees for job vacancies, providing the option of voluntary exit for employees before firing them, and letting workers avail themselves of the entitled paid time off, like parental and bereavement leave.
The employees also demanded that Google should avoid laying off people from countries like Ukraine that are facing a humanitarian crisis and provide extra assistance to international workers who are at risk of losing both their jobs and, consequently, their visa-linked residency.
“The impact of Alphabet’s decision to reduce its workforce are global,” the letter read, while continuing, “nowhere have workers’ voices adequately been considered, and we know that as workers we are stronger together than alone.”
The petition comes on account of Google’s decision in January to trim its workforce by 6% in a bid to reduce spending and satisfy investors following the post-pandemic slump. Other tech companies that have slashed headcount after going on a post-lockdown hiring frenzy are Meta Platforms Inc, Amazon, and Microsoft.
The group of petitioners have the backing of unions like UNI Global, Alphabet Workers Union, and United Tech and Allied Workers.