'Why should Sundar Pichai continue?': Google employees hit hard by layoffs express anger, sorrow

New Delhi: Thousands of Google employees who have been hit hard by the recent layoffs announced by the global search engine giant have taken to social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to express their anger, frustration and shock over the company’s move to render them jobless amid the global economic downturn. Google CEO Sundar Pichai, in an email to his employees, recently announced that the company will lay off 12,000 jobs across the globe. In his email to employees, the Indian-origin CEO said, "I have some difficult news to share. We've decided to reduce our workforce by approximately 12,000 roles."

The Google CEO also stated that he was “deeply sorry for the move” and take full responsibility for the decisions that led the company to this position. With this move, Google became the latest tech giant after Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon to lay off staff en mass amid global recession fears.

Pichai said the layoffs at Google were carried out after a “rigorous review" of its operations. The jobs being eliminated, cut across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels and regions, he said.

"Over the past two years, we've seen periods of dramatic growth. To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today," Pichai said in his mail, which was also posted on the company's news blog.

However, this did not go down well with some of the tech leaders and affected employees who said if Pichai was responsible for the decisions, then “why should he not step down in the first place.” Expressing similar concerns, Vishal Singh, Director of Engineering at YourDOS, asked "Why should Sundar Pichai continue at Google? If he made wrong bets, he should pay for it."

Singh went on to say that the board should fire Pichai first and Microsoft should do the same with Satya Nadella, who is also being blamed for 10,000 job cuts in the company. Driving his point home, Singh said that “even politicians are expected to resign after a screw-up."

“Those at the top levels in the policy-making process must also be held accountable for their wrong decisions, they cannot just away by sending letters explaining the consequences of their difficult decisions. Shocked at the decision, Pulkit Pahwa, a program manager at Google - whose colleagues are among the thousands who have been laid off - said that she and other employees would fear that it was coming, but would eventually just brush it off, thinking "Google wouldn't do it, but they did"!

Not only the Google employees, who have been sacked, the Alphabet Workers Union (AWU), also criticised the company's move saying that this is unacceptable behavior for a company that made USD 17 billion in profits last quarter alone. Alphabet is the parent company of Google.

 

While Alphabet leadership claims "full responsibility," that is little comfort for the 12,000 workers who are now without jobs. This is unacceptable behavior for a company that made $17B in profits last quarter alone.https://t.co/bIsvMjKp6h — Alphabet Workers Union (AWU-CWA) (@AlphabetWorkers) January 20, 2023

 

The union said that the workers had never been able to rely on Alphabet for secure employment - evidenced by the vast subcontracted workforce - but it was increasingly clear that tech workers must build majorities and force employers to bargain with workers collectively to protect their livelihoods.

 

Workers have never been able to rely on Alphabet for secure employment—evidenced by the vast subcontracted workforce—but it is increasingly clear that tech workers must build majorities and force employers to bargain with workers collectively to protect their livelihoods. — Alphabet Workers Union (AWU-CWA) (@AlphabetWorkers) January 20, 2023

 

"It's appalling that our jobs are first on the chopping block so shareholders can see a few more points in a chart next quarter," the union said. Earlier this week, Microsoft announced 10,000 job cuts, or nearly 5 per cent of its workforce. Amazon is also cutting 18,000 jobs and Facebook parent Meta is trimming 11,000 positions.

 

It’s appalling that our jobs are first on the chopping block so shareholders can see a few more points in a chart next quarter.

Today once again affirms that tech workers are workers—and we must organize at a massive scale to protect ourselves on the job. — Alphabet Workers Union (AWU-CWA) (@AlphabetWorkers) January 20, 2023

 

Importantly, a day before Google's announcement, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said his company will lay off less than five per cent of its total workforce, as the technology giant aligns its cost structure with revenue and customer demand.

The bloodbath in the tech sector that began last year is continuing into 2023. Meta, the parent of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp laid off more than 11,000 workers or about 13 per cent of its workforce in November last year.