Google employees petition Sundar Pichai for better handling of job cuts

The petition follows Alphabet’s announcement in January that it would cut about 6% of its workforce following investor pressure to reduce spending in the post-pandemic slump. — Reuters

Almost 1,400 employees at Google parent Alphabet Inc have signed a petition calling for better treatment of staff during the layoff process, after the company announced it was cutting 12,000 jobs.

In an open letter addressed to chief executive officer Sundar Pichai, employees made a series of demands of the company, including freezing new hires, seeking voluntary redundancies before compulsory ones, giving priority to laid off workers for job vacancies and letting workers finish scheduled periods of paid time off, such as parental and bereavement leave.