Ex-Google Staffers Criticize Cold Endings To Their Jobs: 'What A Slap In The Face'

When Alphabet Inc GOOG announced layoffs at the start of 2023, the tech giant's stock was rewarded: it's up nearly 20% since then.

The impacted employees didn't share the same sentiment, as several exiting staff members expressed discontent with the way their jobs ended.

What Happened: Google parent Alphabet sent emails to company staff in mid-January noting that it planned to cut 12,000 employees right away.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company had been through periods of extreme growth over the last two years, but suggested the tech firm's fortunes were changing.

"To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today," Pichai said.

Why It Matters: A handful of employees took to different social platforms to publicize the axing. Many indicated that they were disappointed with the layoff process, and one even called it a "slap in the face" after receiving the news via email, according to a Business Insider report.

"It's hard for me to believe that after 20 years at Google I unexpectedly find out about my last day via an email. What a slap in the face. I wish I could have said goodbye to everyone face to face," Jeremy Joslin, a former Google employee, said via tweet.

Another employee who was cut off without in-person notice commented on Joslin's post, saying she found out because she got an alert noting her phone service would be shut off.

"And all my corp account stuff was locked out. Saw the email later," @jina said.

Joslin noted that he also saw the notification @jina was referencing, but he "thought it was just a bug."

"Being let go via a transactional email without any acknowledgement of your personal time or impact on the company is a difficult way to go out. A little bit of compassion and personal touch can go a long way," Joslin added on LinkedIn.

Another longtime Google employee, Justin Moore took to LinkedIn to express frustration with how Google handled the situation.

"So after over 16.5 years at Google, I appear to have been let go via an automated account deactivation at 3am this morning as one of the lucky 12,000," Moore wrote in the post.

Inflation headwinds and rising interest rates have forced the hand of several big tech companies over the last few months. The tech giant joins Amazon, Microsoft and Meta Platforms, which have already slashed staff in recent months. They all seem to be pointing to the same thing: overhiring given the economic outlook.

Portions of this story were previously published on Benzinga.

Photo via Shutterstock.

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