Sundar Pichai—Laid off 12,000 Google employees via automated overnight emails with widely criticized execution
On January 20, 2023, Sundar Pichai announced layoffs of approximately 12,000 employees (6% of workforce). Many received automated emails in the middle of the night and were locked out of corporate accounts immediately, including decades-long veterans, an employee on health leave, and an employee in labor. Pichai later admitted in December 2023 that it was 'not the right way to do it' and that it created 'a big impact on morale.' Over 1,300 employees later signed a job security petition. Workers asked for voluntary redundancies before compulsory ones, and freezing new hires.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worker Rights | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.993 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.66)
Evidence (2 signals)
Pichai admitted layoffs were 'not the right way to do it' and worst moment in Google's 25-year history
In December 2023, Pichai acknowledged the layoffs had a massive impact on morale and that the execution was wrong, calling it 'something we could have done differently for sure' and describing it as unprecedented in Google's 25-year history.
Pichai memo announced 12,000 layoffs; employees received automated overnight emails
Pichai's email announced 12,000 job cuts. Many employees learned of their termination through automated emails sent in the middle of the night, with immediate account lockouts. The execution was widely criticized as impersonal and disrespectful to long-tenured employees.