Thousands of Google workers demand layoff protections amid AI boom in petition to CEO
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jul/16/google-workers-layoff-protections-aiOpen linkView original on lemmy.worldSyndicated from the fediverse. Read and engage on the original instance.
View original on lemmy.worldhttps://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jul/16/google-workers-layoff-protections-aiOpen linkView original on lemmy.world
10 replies
Right???? All those signatures could have been on forms to unionize
https://www.alphabetworkersunion.org/
Not only is it limited in its scope, it's also good PR for AI. (Not quite as good as "accidentally" leaked Slack messages or strongly worded letters, but close.)
The CEO's response:
They just gave that bastard the list of who to layoff first.
This is exactly the same energy as Russian soldiers making videos to ask to Putin to save them from the meat grinder he is knowingly throwing them into.
[bold strategy, Cotton]
What next? Raytheon workers demanding drone strike protections?
Layoff protection? A guaranteee that you won’t be let go? So even if you’re terrible at your job you can’t be fired just because you don’t want to be?
There’s dumb, and then there’s this.
Technically "layoffs" are different from "firing".
Layoffs are typically high in number, wider reaching, reductions in force just to cut numbers.
Firings are targeted and generally (though they don't have to be) with cause and have a procedure (performance reviews, improvement plans, warnings, etc.)
Not to say you can't target a layoff to include all your lower performers, more to say that you can still fire someone outside of a layoff.