Angry Google workers stage layoff protests in New York, California

This week, dozens of disgruntled Google employees gathered outside the company’s buildings in New York and California to protest the tech giant’s recent layoffs and low pay for contractors.

About 50 Google employees took part in a protest on Thursday, which took place outside a company store in Manhattan, located next to corporate offices, according to Bloomberg.

A separate protest, which took place on Wednesday outside Google’s corporate headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., focused on alleged poor working conditions for the company’s subcontractors.

The protests come days after Google laid off about 12,000 employees, or 6% of its total workforce, in the largest layoff in the company’s history.

The rallies coincided with the release of fourth-quarter results, which saw Alphabet, Google’s parent company, record $13.62 billion in profits on $76.05 billion in revenue — numbers that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations but were supported by protesters. as a sign that job cuts were unnecessary.


Google protest
Dozens of Google employees attended the Manhattan rally on Thursday.
AFP via Getty Images

“Google today debunked its own rationale for laying off 12,000 of our employees,” software engineer and labor union member Alberta Devore said in a statement. “Our colleagues didn’t have to lose their livelihoods.”

According to Bloomberg, the workers said they receive “miserable wages and no benefits” when performing tasks related to Google’s artificial intelligence efforts and content moderation. Both events were organized by Alphabet Workers Union, a group that has over 1,200 members and includes both staff and contractors.

“Clearly, the savings the company is making from laying off workers is nothing compared to the billions spent on share buybacks or the billions in profits made last quarter,” Devor added.


Google protest
Last month, Google laid off 12,000 employees.
AFP via Getty Images

Google has faced criticism over how it has handled the cuts, with some affected workers learning they were out of work from morning emails or news of plans.

Many laid-off workers expressed their dissatisfaction in interviews or in scathing social media posts. One former employee said she was fired while on mental health leave, while another said he found out about it after receiving an email at 2 a.m. while nursing his young daughter.

Google’s cuts have affected the company’s longtime veterans and top employees — one furious former employee said the tech giants treat their employees as “100% disposable.”


Google protest
The workers’ union Alphabet organized protests.
AFP via Getty Images

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai called the cost-cutting measures necessary to prepare the company for adverse market conditions. Google has joined several other big firms, including Amazon and Microsoft, in cutting jobs during the recent crisis in the tech sector.

The Post reached out to Google for comment.

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