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Google employees go on strike over layoffs

Google employees are launching a struggle against the company that for years claimed they were a 'family.' After laying off 12,000 people last year, the search giant plans to terminate more employees in 2024. Employees have decided to organize protests at Google campuses.

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Google’s former CEO Larry Page emphasized in 2012 that it was important for Google to act like a 'family.' The search giant had become famous for its perks, such as snacks and massage services. At the time, according to Page, treating employees well helped them be more productive. However, 10 years after those thoughts, Google employees are now wondering where that family spirit has gone.

PRIORITY WILL BE GIVEN TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Last January, Google announced it would lay off approximately 12,000 employees (equivalent to 6% of its workforce) to cut costs and focus on high-priority areas like artificial intelligence. However, the layoffs did not stop. CEO Sundar Pichai warned employees this week that there would be more layoffs in 2024, though he said they would not be on the same scale as those in 2023. These layoffs are expected to affect departments ranging from sales and advertising to product and YouTube.

In response to this week's wave of cuts, Google software engineer Diane Hirsh Theriault spoke about Google's leadership on LinkedIn. Theriault wrote, "Google was a truly magical place not long ago. And for some reason, executives are cashing out their human capital. In this environment of fear, who can be the creator of the new age of humanity?"

PROTEST PREPARATIONS

In a press release, the Alphabet Workers Union said it was planning protests at five Google campuses across the U.S. Stephen McMurtry, a senior software engineer and communications chair for the Alphabet Workers Union, said, "The reality is that these layoffs are causing chaos in our workplace, increasing our workloads, and causing widespread anxiety that the next team will disappear overnight.”