Thousands of Google workers demand layoff protections amid AI boom in petition to CEO

Workers enter a building on the Google headquarters campus in Mountain View, California. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/ View image in fullscreen Workers enter a building on the Google headquarters campus in Mountain View, California. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/ Thousands of Google workers demand layoff protections amid AI boom in petition to CEO The petition to Sundar Pichai, the CEO, included more than 4,500 signatures and included calls for buyout options Google workers on Thursday delivered a petition calling for layoff protections as tech giants continue to slash their workforces while pouring billions into AI. “Make no mistake: this is a company that is enjoying massive, unprecedented success,” Parul Koul, Google software engineer and Alphabet Workers Union president, said outside the company’s California headquarters after delivering the petition to the office of the CEO, Sundar Pichai’. Koul pointed to Google’s $4tn valuation, which has quadrupled over the last six years: “These layoffs and cuts are not difficult decisions, but simply profit being put over the people that make this company run.” The petition, which was led 4,500 signatures, calls for guaranteed severance, buyouts before mandatory layoffs in all product areas and the option to take severance as extended paid leave. Union members are also asking to end performance ratings they say are based on achieving quotas rather than merit. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Upon delivering the petition, workers were “greeted with closed doors and no response for the most part”, Koul said. They left the petition with a staff member in Pichai’s office, who committed to delivering it to the CEO, she added. “This petition is the largest piece of employee feedback that Google has received about job security,” she said. At Thursday’s press conference, workers called out Alphabet’s mass layoffs in 2023, which drew shouts of “shame” from the crowd. Workers also chanted: “Google, Google you can’t hide, we can see your greedy side.” The petition comes as big tech companies thin their ranks, with some explicitly citing AI as a reason. Meta used AI to tag workers who took leave to be laid off, lawsuit claims Google has been cutting its workforce in recent months as it ramps up its AI spend. Google Cloud quietly laid off some employees about two months ago, according to Business Insider. And last summer, the company eliminated more than one-third of its managers overseeing small teams, according to an audio recording obtained by CNBC.