Alphabet Workers Union slams Google layoffs: ‘company made $17B in profits’

The layoffs are global and impact US staff immediately, Google said.

The Alphabet Workers Union said in a statement that the company's leadership taking “full responsibility” for widespread layoffs is “little comfort” for the 12,000 workers who are now without jobs.

Google's parent Alphabet Inc is in the process of laying off 12,000 employees, with CEO Sundar Pichai saying the company “hired for a different economic reality than the one we face 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,” Pichai told employees in an email on January 20.

But the Alphabet Workers Union (AWU) slammed the job cuts as “unacceptable behaviour” from a company that reported $17 billion in profits last year alone. “While Alphabet leadership claims ‘full responsibility,’ that is little comfort for the 12,000 workers who are now without jobs. This is unacceptable behavior for a company that made $17B in profits last quarter alone,” the union said in a statement.

While Alphabet leadership claims "full responsibility," that is little comfort for the 12,000 workers who are now without jobs. This is unacceptable behavior for a company that made $17B in profits last quarter alone.https://t.co/bIsvMjKp6h

— Alphabet Workers Union (AWU-CWA) (@AlphabetWorkers) January 20, 2023

“It’s appalling that our jobs are first on the chopping block so shareholders can see a few more points in a chart next quarter,” AWU said in a statement. “Today’s news has only made us more determined to continue organizing for improved working conditions on behalf of everyone at Google.”

Alphabet’s job cuts will affect 6% of its workforce. Meanwhile, shares in Alphabet, which boosted its workforce by nearly a third through 2020 and 2021, rose 4% on Friday, Reuters reported. They had fallen 30% in the past 12 months, echoing a 24% slump in the broader tech industry.