Google Is the Latest Reminder We Need to Rethink Layoffs
Call it corporate greed, a lack of vision, a failure of imagination … whatever you call it, it looks more like a scene out of "The Wolf of Wall Street" than a snapshot from a company where employee experience is supposed to matter. The way Google (a.k.a. Alphabet) seemingly indiscriminately laid off 12,000 workers by email earlier this month should banish it from best employers lists for years to come.
Both current and former Google employees, including many of their bosses, are still wondering why some got the boot while others did not, and what any of them did, or didn’t do, to deserve it. The layoffs happened without warning and few (if any) of these employees were ever written up for poor performance.
One worker who didn’t get the pink slip commented, “From the people we've let go, it feels like someone just threw darts at a very large board ....”
Playing Russian Roulette, Layoff Style
The company claims it over-hired during the last two boom years and now needs to conserve its dollars to refocus its efforts. But experts argue that it could have done so without letting anyone go.
“Google doesn't need to lay off (any of) its workforce. Google makes plenty of money,” said Laurie Ruettimann, an author, speaker, podcaster and former human resources executive who bridges the gap between employer and employee.
Parul Koul, executive chair of Alphabet Workers Union-CWA made a similar statement. "Alphabet leadership claims ‘full responsibility’ for this (laying off 12,000 workers) decision, but that is little comfort to the 12,000 workers who are now without jobs. This is egregious and unacceptable behavior by a company that made $17 billion dollars in profit last quarter alone."
It’s not only the monetary disparity. Google could have taken some time “exploring and exhausting all other alternatives,” said human resources expert Naveen Bhateja, NACD.DC (the initials after his name indicate he has met a more rigorous and consistent director-education standard for board members). Bhateja spoke as a private individual, and not in his professional capacity as chief people officer of a technology company.
If cash was the issue, Google could have brainstormed other money-saving options such as "a hiring freeze, a shut-down of non-critical work, eliminating travel and entertainment expenses, temporarily moving some employees to part-time,” and more, said Bhateja. “Google is known for recruiting the best and the brightest, people with the highest aptitude for learning,” he added, noting that if the company wants to refocus in other areas, employees could easily be retrained.
Moreover, it's hard to believe that a company with the words “Don’t be evil. We believe strongly that in the long term, we will be better served — as shareholders and in all other ways — by a company that does good things for the world even if we forgo some short-term gains" written in its prospectus laid off 12,000 workers without warning or much of an explanation as to who was selected and why.
Some affected individuals recently won praise from their managers and were waiting for promotions. Many bosses were surprised to discover that people who reported to them had lost their jobs. Never mind that there was no opportunity for knowledge transfer or to say goodbye to coworkers and friends.
Bhateja said that when he thinks of the long-term employees who were laid off, “It breaks my heart. They have given you (Google) the best years of their lives, and now you’re going to throw them out like garbage?”
Of course, no one wants to believe that the brand that “connects the world” also kicks its workforce to the curb. But what else do you say about laying off an employee who has served the company for almost two decades via mass email, or notifying a mom who delivered an infant just a few hours earlier in the same way? Never mind the woman who is set to give birth in only a month? And there’s the couple who had worked for the company for more than 11.5 years and is in the U.S. on an employer-sponsored visa. They have 60-90 days to find a new employer to sponsor them, or face deportation.
Jason Averbook, CEO and co-founder of human resources consultancy Leapgen told Reworked that laying people off via email isn’t ideal, “but where we're at in the world right now, coming off of the pandemic, in this mode of layoffs, the best way to do this and to sequence it and to still keep company security, and IP at stake is to do it via email, like many organizations are doing. Now, if everyone's in an office, it's a different situation. If everyone has one manager in the same time zone, it's a different situation.”
Related Article: Silicon Valley's Boom–Bust: Were Tech Layoffs Preventable?
Layoffs Hurt Everyone
He added, however, that all employers can always handle discharging workers better. “None of these layoffs today are being done in a way that those organizations are proud of. Organizations are doing the best they can in the world we live in today. And this is only going to get better over time.”
Learning Opportunities
But neither Bhateja nor Ruettimann are willing to let Google off this easily. Bhateja said that while Google may have over-hired, “18-24 months from now they will be looking to hire the same caliber of people again. This will take time and it will cost money.” Indeed, the company continues to list a variety of available roles across departments. If you add the costs that will be incurred in re-staffing to the severance, paid vacation, bonuses, healthcare, outplacement and other expenses Alphabet said it would pay to departing workers now, the cost of the layoffs will almost certainly exceed the amount it is saving.
Alphabet’s layoff process might benefit from a reevaluation as well, especially when you consider Google's acknowledgement that only 750 of its 30,000 leaders decided who would be dismissed. It’s difficult to imagine that the individuals who made the selections knew what each of the company’s almost 187,000 employees had to offer. Immediate supervisors are in a much better position to make that judgement. And yes, that would have taken longer, but even in tech there are times when human decency should override expedience.
“Layoffs shouldn't be easy and efficient,” said Ruettimann. “The best way to select who is laid off is to take the names and faces out of it. Design the future state of the organization, clarify the actual roles, and have a fair and unbiased process that selects people based on knowledge, skills and abilities.”
She added that the next step was to “craft a communications plan that has personalized talking points for each person in the company: leadership, line managers, affected workers and those who remain.”
Sharing information with those who aren't laid off is as important as sharing it with those who are. Bhateja said that survivors will undoubtedly have questions like “Why are my friends being let go? Is being a top performer (like my friend was) not enough (to keep my job)? Why was the decision (to layoff) made so suddenly and without any warning? Am I next? Is the company refocusing or shifting gears? Couldn’t you set up a re-training program for my friends?”
Employers need to be able to answer these questions before sending out any emails or making any announcements.
“Does doing all of this sound hard and cumbersome? That’s because it is,” said Ruettimann.
And when you consider the impact layoffs have on individuals, families, companies and communities, that’s the way it should be. Layoffs hurt everyone, including the companies that do them. Only it takes the latter party a little longer to feel the pain.
Related Article: Survivor's Guilt and Other Ways Layoffs Impact the Employees Left Behind
About the Author
Virginia Backaitis is seasoned journalist who has covered the workplace since 2008 and technology since 2002. She has written for publications such as The New York Post, Seeking Alpha, The Herald Sun, CMSWire, NewsBreak, RealClear Markets, RealClear Education, Digitizing Polaris, and Reworked among others.
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