Google said in January that it would be laying off 12,000 employees worldwide. The first round of layoffs started in the US after Sundar Pichai made his announcement in the media. It appears that termination letters have begun to be given to employees in the units dedicated to India. According to a source, the corporation has let go of about 450 workers from the India division. The principal office locations for Google India are in Gurugram, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.
A few of the affected members have also announced their abrupt departure on LinkedIn. “Earlier today, we heard news of some highly skilled and bright colleagues being affected by the recent layoffs at Google India,” Rajneesh Kumar, a Google India employee, wrote in a post.
Kamal Dave, an account manager at Google India, said: “Yesterday, I participated in the Google India Layoffs. As a crucial strategic Account Manager/Consultant at Google, I concentrated my efforts on achieving Digital Marketing Goals for various sectors at the top of their food chain in India.”
As part of Google’s layoffs in Singapore and India yesterday night, another affected employee, Saptak Mohanta from the Singapore office, writes that he is “gutted to lose a number of my amazing colleagues and friends.” At Google, Mohanta was a programme manager. In the upcoming days, we’ll probably see more posts from impacted workers from Singapore and India.
The Businessline also examined an email sent to staff by Sanjay Gupta, the country head and vice president of Google India, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. The email purportedly sent by Pichai states, “To those affected employees in the US, we have already sent a separate email. Due to regional laws and customs, this process will take longer in other nations “adding that he accepts complete accountability for the choices.
Additionally, Pichai is believed to have stated that the organisation has conducted a “rigorous evaluation across product areas and activities.” Many Google employees in the US turned to LinkedIn last month to express their experiences after being let go. Many posters on the platform claimed that all employees, including those with 20 years of experience and recent graduates, were impacted.
Nellie, who worked in the learning and development and programme management teams, said in a post that she was fired from Google while on maternity leave. Her kid was present as she began to read the letter. As it is claimed that the decisions were not based on employee performance, one affected employee even claimed that layoffs were “random” and that people were “blindsided.”
According to Google, the COVID-19 pandemic’s last two years of overhiring prompted the business to fire workers. The corporation had to make difficult decisions due to unfavourable macroeconomic conditions. Additionally, the business is streamlining operations and giving AI advancements priority (artificial intelligence). This is because the business wants to compete with ChatGPT, which has tight ties to Microsoft.
In addition to Google, other internet behemoths like Amazon, Meta, Twitter, and others have let go of thousands of employees worldwide. Apple is the only IT company that has never seen a mass layoff.
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