Google layoffs: Employees protest against poor work conditions, job cuts

Employees of tech giant Google staged a protest on both coasts of the United States of America, a week after their co-workers were laid off, as per Bloomberg news.

The protests were held on Wednesday at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, and another Thursday near Google’s corporate offices in New York City to bring attention to labour conditions for subcontracted workers at Google and in solidarity with the 12,000 workers who were sacked.

The protest drew about 50 employees outside a Google store on Ninth Avenue, and began just minutes after parent company Alphabet Inc. reported fourth-quarter results, including $13.6 billion in profit, the report added.

At the rally in California, dozens of subcontractors spoke to Bloomberg and explained what they called substandard conditions, including what they said were “poverty wages and no benefits.”

According to the report, their tasks include reviewing content to help train the company’s AI-powered algorithms, as well as screening YouTube clips and searching ads for offensive or sensitive material. But the workers say their pay and benefits fall far below Google’s minimum standards and benefits for its direct contract workers, it added.

Both demonstrations were organized by the labour group Alphabet Workers Union. It is a minority union' with no collective bargaining rights.

“Today shows that some of the issues we’re talking about affect all workers regardless of what their actual job title or job status is,” Devor, who has worked at Google for more than three years and is an AWU member, told Bloomberg in an interview.

The workers also said their pay and benefits fall far below Google’s own minimum standards and benefits for its direct contract workers.

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