Google employee shares experience of getting laid off at 2 AM just days after becoming a parent

A former Google employee has taken to social media to share his experience of being laid off by the company just days after becoming a parent. The employee in question is Nicholas Dufau, Associate Product Counsel at Google. Dufau began his post by describing his excitement and joy upon becoming a father on January 17. The next day, he received wishes from his Google teammates. However, his celebrations were cut short after he received a mail from Google at 2 AM on January 20.  

The former Google employee received an automated email notifying him that he had lost access to his Google corporate accounts. He was stunned to learn that he had been laid off by the company, which he describes as a team of "intelligent, driven, and kind folks" who had welcomed him into their Google family.

The former employee recounts being assured by his team that Google was a company that treasured its employees and encouraged him to take full advantage of his parental leave to spend time with his family. He said he was never more thankful to be on a team that valued him as a person, but the timing of the layoff made him feel acutely expendable and naive.

After being laid off, the former employee claimed that he received an outpouring of support from his former colleagues. They reached out to offer their sympathies. 

Google Layoffs

Google laid off 12,000 employees on January 20, 2023, and the experience of this former employee highlights the personal and emotional impact of such corporate decisions. Google CEO Sundar Pichai assured Google employees that the management took the extreme step of laying off 12,000 employees in order to keep the situation from getting worse.

Following the layoff, there was a growing sentiment among employees to remove Sundar Pichai from the position of CEO. However, in an internal meeting on the following work day, Google executives provided details claiming that the decision was made abruptly and among a small circle to ensure safety. The company also made sure to offer generous severance pay to employees sacked the latest round of layoffs. The generous severance pay also ended up giving the fired employees the title "Golden 12K". 

Also read: Why employees fired by Sundar Pichai are being called 'Golden 12K'