Thousands Of Google Employees Petition Sundar Pichai For Layoff Protections

India-West News Desk

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA-More than 4,500 Google employees have petitioned CEO Sundar Pichai to introduce stronger layoff protections, saying workers should have greater job security as the company expands its investment in artificial intelligence.

Organized by the Alphabet Workers Union, the petition seeks guaranteed severance, voluntary buyout options before mandatory layoffs across product teams, the option to receive severance as extended paid leave, and an end to performance review systems that union members say are based on quotas rather than merit.

A delegation led by Parul Koul, a Google software engineer and president of the Alphabet Workers Union, delivered the petition to Pichai’s office at the company’s California headquarters on July 16.

Speaking outside the headquarters to the media, Koul said employees received little response while delivering the petition. A staff member accepted the document and said it would be passed on to the CEO.

Koul said Google was enjoying “massive, unprecedented success” while continuing to cut jobs. Referring to the company’s roughly $4 trillion valuation, which she said has quadrupled over the past six years and argued that the layoffs reflected a choice to prioritize profits over employees.

The petition comes as Google continues restructuring parts of its business while increasing AI spending. Business Insider reported layoffs in Google Cloud about two months ago, while CNBC reported last summer that the company eliminated more than one-third of managers overseeing small teams.

Koul said workers had repeatedly raised concerns about job security, but management had ignored them.

The campaign comes as other technology companies also heavily reduce headcount while investing in AI.