Google to axe 12,000 jobs
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THOUSANDS of high-paid Google workers’ jobs are under threat in Ireland after the company’s shock decision to axe 12,000 positions worldwide.
Around 9,000 of the tech giant’s 200,000 global workforce is employed here, including 5,000 people who are hired directly and another 4,000 contractors.
Despite the job loss fears of thousands of employees in Ireland, the company faces delays in informing which workers will be made redundant.
It claimed that this is because of the different labour laws in the various countries where Google’s staff is based.
For example, in Ireland, employment law protects workers under collective redundancy legislation.
As part of that, the Department of Enterprise must be formally notified of a company’s intention to put a large number of people out of work.
As with Argos workers earlier this week and Twitter employees last year, collective redundancy requires 30 days’ notice and a consultation period.
A collective redundancy notification had not been submitted by the company yesterday, according to the Department of Enterprise.
The intention to cut 6% of its worldwide staff was announced yesterday in a memo to employees by Google’s parent Alphabet chief Sundar Pichai.
He wrote: “We’ve decided to reduce our workforce by approximately 12,000 roles.”
He said Alphabet faced “a different economic reality” from the past two years when it rapidly expanded its employee numbers.
INDUSTRY
Industry experts claimed the cuts are due to tech companies hiring a surplus of staff in those recent years.
Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney, who is to meet with the head of Google Ireland on Tuesday, said the job losses are evidence of a “global correction across the tech industry”.
He added that Google is “making a correction to reduce the workforce by 12,000 people globally”.
Mr Coveney said: “Despite global tech cuts, it’s important to remember how strong the sector remains in Ireland.
“Over 10,000 tech jobs created in 2022. We’re in a strong place and will support workers impacted.” He vowed that he will have a “detailed discussion” with Google Ireland to understand its plans in Ireland.
Google did not specify the packages that will be offered to staff, including those in Ireland. A worker in Dublin revealed: “Irish staff have been told that they will be notified soon with any updates.
“The Government probably knows more than the Irish staff at this stage.”
Google is the latest tech industry giant to announce job losses.
Microsoft is shedding 10,000 roles globally, Amazon is cutting 18,000 jobs, while Facebook owner Meta Platforms, Twitter and payments firm Stripe have also announced cuts.