Google CEO Sundar Pichai has asked the employee to work from home to process the brutal news of layoffs. Pichai on Friday informed the employees via an email that the company will reduce the workforce by 12,000 roles. The employees in the US have already been informed about the layoffs and the process will take longer in other countries due to local news and practices.The Google CEO has also thanked the impacted employees for their services.
Processing layoff news is not easy. Even if you are not impacted, the reports of other people losing their jobs can equally impacting your mental health. Pichai in his email to employees asked them to take good care of themselves. “Please take good care of yourselves as you absorb this difficult news,” Pichai said. “As part of that, if you are just starting your work day, please feel free to work from home today.”The fact that these changes will impact the lives of Googlers weighs heavily on me, and I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us here,” he wrote.
Google is offering severance packages to the impacted employees. Pichai announced that the impacted employees would be paid during the full notification period of minimum 60 days. The company also announced that they offer a severance package starting at 16 weeks salary plus two weeks for every additional year at Google, and’ accelerate at least 16 weeks of GSU vesting. Along with that, 2022 bonuses and remaining vacation time will also be granted to the employees. Google has also promised 6 months of healthcare, job placement services, and immigration support for those affected.
Pichai in his email said that he will conduct a town hall session with employees to discuss how the company will move forward after parting ways with 12000 employees. The townhall will be organised on Monday.

On a related note, Google is also planning to invest heavily on AI products, as it currently feels threatened by the presence of ChatGPT, an AI Chatbot created by OpenAI. The chatbot has the potential to replace Google because of its intuitive design and cutting edge technology. “we’re getting ready to share some entirely new experiences for users, developers and businesses, too. We have a substantial opportunity in front of us with AI across our products and are prepared to approach it boldly and responsibly,” Pichai said.
