Google’s parent company Alphabet has announced layoffs impacting 12,000 employees. The company’s CEO Sundar Pichai in an internal email to employees took full responsibility for the decisions and asked employees to work from home to lessen the blow.
At the time when tech industry is finding ways to cut down on costs and survive through the anticipated economic slowdown this year, a thousands of techies have lost their jobs to big companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft and more. Researches have shown that job insecurity and instability lead to poor mental health. In view of this, Pichai has asked affected employees to take good care of themselves.
“…please take good care of yourselves as you absorb this difficult news. As part of that, if you are just starting your work day, please feel free to work from home today,” Pichai wrote in the email.
The company believes the hirings that it made during pandemic do not match with “economic reality” of today. Calling it “tough choices”, Pichai said that the decision comes after “rigorous review” conducted by the company across product areas and functions.
Google in December during an all-hands meeting had hinted that more Googlers will be at risk of low rating under the company’s new performance review system. The recent layoff could be result of this evaluation system.
According to CNBC report, Google under the new evaluation system estimated 6% of its full-time employees to fall under low-ranking category that “puts them at higher risk for corrective action.”
Google last year introduced the new process for performance reviews, known as Google Reviews and Development, or GRAD which did not go down well with some of the Googlers who complained of technical and procedural issues in it.
Google layoff comes a day after Microsoft announced job cuts of 10,000 employees.
ALSO READ l Google fires 12,000 employees: CEO Sundar Pichai takes “full responsibility” for layoffs
