Don't be evil: Google workers write open letter to CEO Sundar Pichai amid massive jobcuts

A letter signed by more than 1,500 Google employees, addressed to CEO Sundar Pichai, has highlighted the global impact of Alphabet's layoffs and urged for greater consideration of workers' perspectives.

To reduce costs and prepare for a potential economic downturn, Google announced in January that it would be laying off 12,000 employees, amounting to 6% of its total workforce. This was the largest layoff in the company's history and contributed to a wave of job losses across the tech industry, including Microsoft, Amazon, Meta (formerly Facebook), and other companies that were also taking steps to cut expenses amidst a gloomy outlook.

In the same month, the tech industry witnessed major companies announcing around 48,000 job cuts, with more expected to come. In light of this, Google employees have written an open letter to Sundar Pichai, urging the company to improve its handling of the mass layoffs. The employees have requested that Google halt new hiring and give priority to laid-off workers for job openings. They have also asked the company to allow affected employees to complete any scheduled leaves, such as parental or bereavement leave.

“Over the past two years we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth,” Pichai had written at the time. “To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.” He said the layoffs reflect a “rigorous review” carried out by Google of its operations.

The jobs being eliminated “cut across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels, and regions,” Pichai said. He said he was “deeply sorry” for the layoffs. Regulatory filings illustrate how Google’s workforce swelled during the pandemic, ballooning to nearly 187,000 people by late last year from 119,000 at the end of 2019.

Pichai said that Google, founded nearly a quarter of a century ago, was “bound to go through difficult economic cycles.” “These are important moments to sharpen our focus, re-engineer our cost base, and direct our talent and capital to our highest priorities,” he wrote. He called out the company’s investments in artificial intelligence as an area of opportunity.

What are the employees asking for?

“The impacts of Alphabet's decision to reduce its workforce are global. Nowhere have workers' voices adequately been considered, and we know that as workers we are stronger together than alone. We are thus coming together across the world to be heard,” read the letter signed by more than 1,500 workers. 

1) Freeze all new hires during the layoff process. First, ask for voluntary redundancies and voluntary working time reduction before compulsory layoffs. Allow for employee ‘swaps’ to further avoid compulsory redundancies.

2) Grant priority rehires to any Alphabet employees that have been recently laid off. Prioritise internal transfer options, prioritised access to jobs without the need to re-interview, and agree to a fair severance package.

3) Protect our co-workers from countries with active conflicts or humanitarian crises (such as Ukraine, Russia, etc). Do not terminate employment when it would adversely affect visas, which could require workers to return to unsafe or unstable countries. Provide extra support to these and workers at risk of residence permit loss: help with job searches—internal and external—and provide adequate gardening leave.

4) Respect scheduled leaves (Maternity, Baby Bonding, Carer's, and Bereavement) and do not give notice until the leave is finished. Workers given notice will be notified in person and will be allowed to say goodbye to their coworkers.

5) Ensure there will be no discriminatory effects based on sex, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, racial or ethnic identity, caste, veteran status, religion, and disability.