Google Workers Demand ¡®Psychological Safety¡¯ From Bosses During Town Hall After Mass Layoffs

Employees at Google who were spared the recent mass layoff of 12,000 questioned management during a tense all-hands meeting on Monday, anxiously requesting assurances that their jobs wouldn't be next. This past Friday, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, revealed it would be laying off 12,000 workers, or about 6% of the full-time staff.

Employees are questioning management after several were caught off guard when they woke up to find they no longer had access to the company's property, even though they had been anticipating layoffs.

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Some terminated workers had recently been promoted or had been with the company for a long time.

After parent company Alphabet Inc. laid off roughly 6% of its full-time workers, one UK-based Google employee allegedly told management, "psychological safety is paramount."

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The worker's resentment stemmed from Google firing top performers and employees waiting for immigration visas.

"How are we supposed ever to feel safe again?" the employee wondered, as per Insider.

The tech giant's employees seemed to be struggling to absorb the news.

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"The layoffs seem random," one employee wrote in a question submitted to higher-ups through Google¡¯s internal messaging system Dory. "I am pro-Google, but I¡¯m pretty shook right now. Help me understand."

Pichai acknowledged that it was "also very sad for the loss of some really good colleagues across the company."

"For those outside the US, the delay in being able to make and communicate decisions about roles in your region is undoubtedly causing anxiety," the CEO said.

During the meeting, Pichai said he had discussed the layoffs with Sergey Brin, Larry Page, and other board members.

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Sergey Brin and Larry Page are the co-founders and controlling shareholders of Google.

A second worker had the same thought, asking why the company had fired its top workers.

"Should I keep working super hard? Does it matter?" the employee wondered.

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CEO Sundar Pichai of Google had claimed that the layoffs were arbitrary and asked his employees to maintain a laser-like concentration on their work.

At the same time, the business navigates the complex economic landscape that has caused other tech companies to reduce staff.

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"I understand you are worried about what comes next for your work," Pichai said, as per CNBC.

Pichai added that Google went on a hiring spree in 2021 and termed it "one of the strongest years we¡¯ve ever had in the company's history."

Google¡¯s revenue surged 41% during that year. Pichai said he believed that Google was on the same growth trajectory for 2022.

"In that context, we made a set of decisions that might have been right if the trends continued," Pichai said. "You have to remember that if the trend continued and we had not hired to keep pace, we would fall behind in many areas as a company."

Without going into detail, he said executives would also have to agree to pay reductions and annual bonuses.

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