Layoffs at tech giant Google – said to be the ‘largest’ in its history – coupled with those at several other major IT services firms, including Meta, Spotify, and Amazon, have unleashed mayhem worldwide as thousands of people scramble to secure job prospects amid fears of a global recession. Over the past weeks, several affected employees have taken to social media to criticise ‘haphazard’ layoffs, share their ordeal, and question companies’ ethics.
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In a shocking claim, apparently, a former Google employee named Ali Neil said she was sacked by the company while she was on a ‘mental health leave’. Neil, taking to LinkedIn, shared her account quoting an earlier post of hers where she announced the news that she was laid off by Google. (Read full post here) “…until last week I thought I’d have that time whenever it felt right to make that next step. Reality is more humbling than that it seems…,” Neil said, adding that despite all hardships, she sees positivity.
“I started my first job at 14, an unpaid intern until age 16 when I could become a paid employee…I wished the younger me could see who I am now…I’ve always loved the jobs I’ve held,” she said.
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She added the uncertainty surrounding her future feels ‘comfortably unsettling.’ “But now having to think about what’s next after Google, it’s oddly, somewhat comfortably unsettling. It was devastating…but it’s also such a good reminder in my life that it’s still an enterprise multinational company.” On a note of positivity, Neil said the company was just an entity and not an ‘identity’ and there were lots left to explore for her. “…there’s so much more to explore and continue to give 110% toward. I feel so very proud to have gotten where I am today, and to see what’s next”. Neil ended her post by expressing gratitude to her managers and said they all had a ‘great impact’ on her.
Another former Google employee Tommy York made headlines last week for his claim that the tech giant sacked him while he was on ‘bereavement leave’ for his mother’s death. “I probably would’ve written about mental health as a positive part of the culture at companies like Google… Instead, I’m tired and disappointed,” York said in his post on LinkedIn, expressing his disappointment with corporate cultures that are insensitive to employees’ mental health.
Earlier this month, Google said it is laying off 6 per cent of its global workforce, or around 12,000 employees.