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Indian Google engineer fired after 20 years of service, says wish layoff process was more respectful – India Today

Engineering director at Google, Garima Sahai, shared on LinkedIn that she was laid off after spending roughly 20 years at the company.

By Abhik Sengupta: It is said that shared suffering brings people together. In light of major tech layoffs in many countries, social media platforms have become a source of comfort. The recent decision by Google to lay off 12,000 employees has revealed many stories of affected workers, and more are coming forward as they gather the courage and mindset to cope in these uncertain times.

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Recently, we learned that multiple Googlers were fired from the company after roughly 15 years of service. A new post by Garima Sahai, engineering director at Google, highlights that she was laid off after spending approximately 20 years at the company. Her post on LinkedIn points out that she’s using the platform as Google abruptly stopped her access to an internal email. She writes:

“To Google leadership (and I’ve considered myself part of it): I can imagine and have empathy for this being a super hard thing to do and I wish the process would have been a bit more respectful for all our sakes. For relatively new leaders at Google, I’m sorry you didn’t get a chance to experience more of Google’s unique people centric leadership before this had to be done. Nonetheless, Google has been a very special place, and I wish you the very best as you take care of it through tough times

Her post further acknowledges her colleagues for their work and support over all these years. “Work is not family, but co-workers can be?”

Not just Sahai, another Google engineer, Justin Moore, took to LinkedIn and said that he was let go after 16 years of service. He claims that he had not received any prior warning about the layoffs, and his account got deactivated “suddenly” in the middle of the night.

Several factors led to mass layoffs at Google. The company overhired in the last two years as work-from-home increased the use of its services. However, last year, Google paused hiring and CEO Sundar Pichai cautioned employees not to equate fun with money. Recently, Pichai and top executives defended the layoffs and announced that top management would take a bonus cut. During a virtual town hall meeting with remaining employees earlier this week, Brian Glaser, vice president and chief talent and learning officer (HR), said that no one is “immune to change in our careers.”

Other tech giants such as Microsoft, Meta, Twitter, and Amazon have laid off thousands of employees. Citing industry analysts, the news agency PTI reported that roughly 40 per cent laid off workers in the US are of Indian origin. A significant number of these workers are H1-B and L1 visa holders.

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