Hundreds Of Google Employees In London Protest Over Dismissal Of Workers

Hundreds of Google employees went on strike at the Google office in London. (photo: Twitter @UniteLondonEast)

JAKARTA - Hundreds of Google employees staged a strike at the Google office in London on Tuesday, April 4, following a dispute over employee dismissals. In January, Google parent company Alphabet announced it would lay off 12.000 jobs worldwide, the equivalent of 6% of its global workforce.

The move comes amid a wave of job cuts across America, especially in the tech sector, which has so far seen companies shed more than 290.000 jobs since the start of the year, according to tracking website Layoffs.fyi.

Unite, which has hundreds of Google employees in the UK, said the company had ignored concerns raised by employees.

Turnout for protest outside Google offices in Kings Cross 🤩🤩 pic.twitter.com/I8PU0H0lak

— Unite London & Eastern (@UniteLondonEast) April 4, 2023

"Our members are clear: Google needs to listen to its own advice not to be evil," said Unite regional officer Matt Whaley. "They and Unite will not back down until Google allows workers to fully represent unions, participate properly in the consultation process, and treats its staff with the respect and dignity they deserve."

A Google employee who attended the protest, who did not wish to be identified for fear of reprisal, told Reuters that the conversations between employees and management had been "very upsetting."

"This is difficult for those involved. We have a process of furloughing employees for a reason, so that employees can make their voices heard," they said. "But it feels like our concerns were being ignored."

Google senior management has been involved in layoff talks in many parts of Europe, in line with local employment laws. Last month, workers at Google's Zurich, Switzerland office staged a similar strike, with employee representatives claiming that Google rejected their proposal to reduce employee layoffs.

"As we said on January 20, we have made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce by approximately 12.000 positions globally. We know this is an extremely difficult time for our employees," said a Google spokesperson.

"In the UK, we have participated constructively and listened to our employees through many meetings, and are working hard to bring them clarity and share updates as quickly as possible in accordance with all UK legal processes and requirements." Google has more than 5.000 employees in the UK.