Google employees have reportedly expressed growing anxiety about job security by circulating an internal petition titled ‘Job Seecurity’ ahead of anticipated cost-cutting measures this year. A CNBC report has confirmed that the petition, which has garnered over 1,250 signatures, reflects a broader sense of unease within Google. This reportedly comes amidst a challenging period for the company, marked by a series of embarrassing product launches, employee protests, and ongoing layoffs that began in 2023 and are expected to continue.
“We, the undersigned Google workers from offices across the US and Canada, are concerned about the instability at Google that hinders our ability to produce high-quality, impactful work,” the petition states.”The constant threat of layoffs creates a climate of insecurity. Given the company’s strong financial position, the loss of so many valuable colleagues without explanation is particularly disheartening.”
Google CFO’s ‘worrying message’
New CFO Anat Ashkenazi indicated in October that cost reduction would be a key focus as Google ramps up its AI infrastructure spending in 2025. This announcement, which sparked internal unease, prompted employees to seek clarity from executives, which was not forthcoming.
The petition urges Google CEO Sundar Pichai to prioritize employee buyouts over layoffs, guarantee severance packages for laid-off employees, and refrain from using low performance reviews as a pretext for terminations. It also emphasizes the importance of offering voluntary buyouts before resorting to layoffs.
The employees petition also specifically addresses concerns about the company’s performance review process, known as GRAD, and calls for an end to the practice of “forcing” low performance reviews to justify employee dismissals.
What Google said on GRAD
A Google spokesperson clarified that the company does not mandate specific rating distributions for GRAD and that each employee’s evaluation is based on their individual performance, role, level, and agreed-upon expectations.
The petition requests a guaranteed severance package equivalent to that offered during the January 2023 layoffs, which affected over 12,000 employees. Google’s generous severance package at the time included 16 weeks of salary plus two additional weeks for each year of service. However, subsequent rounds of layoffs have resulted in varying severance packages, according to affected employees.
