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Google workers in London stage walkout over job cuts

reuters.com

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Re: Google workers in London stage walkout over job cuts

#31

Post by stuaxo »

Memories of working for Glu London after they got taken over by EA. We had the consultation process, of course it was a foregone conclusion.

As others mentioned, in the UK (for now) you eliminate roles, not people - this means you can't just shift a role to another cheaper country.

I was training someone to do exactly my job in China, but it somehow wasn't the same role.

The team I was in wasn't treated as badly as some of them. I remember when the guy came in, who we later found out was going to cut everyone - got instant business psychopath vibes.

Re: Google workers in London stage walkout over job cuts

#32

Post by jsiepkes »

danpalmer wrote: post #18
nonethewiser wrote: post #12

These people seem out of touch. > "It has been difficult for those involved. We have a redundancy process for a reason, so that employees can make their voice heard," they said. "But it feels as if our concerns have fallen on deaf ears." They’re doing layoffs. In what scenario does negative feedback from employees change the minds of management? “Oh shit we didn’t know this negatively impacted you all. My bad.”

There have been several layers to the criticism. The first is roughly why does a company with many billions in the bank need to lay off anyone. However, assuming that layoffs do need to happen, there has been a lot more criticism of how they were conducted. In the UK there is, in summary, a right to a fair process – where _roles_ are eliminated, not _people_. That when there aren't enough roles for the people left, t…

> In the UK there is, in summary, a right to a fair process – where _roles_ are eliminated, not _people_. That when there aren't enough roles for the people left, they are selected for layoffs in a fair way with transparency on how choices were made.

So go to court? I highly doubt Google is susceptible to a walk out or a strike.

Re: Google workers in London stage walkout over job cuts

#33

Post by mytailorisrich »

stuaxo wrote: post #31

Memories of working for Glu London after they got taken over by EA. We had the consultation process, of course it was a foregone conclusion. As others mentioned, in the UK (for now) you eliminate roles, not people - this means you can't just shift a role to another cheaper country. I was training someone to do exactly my job in China, but it somehow wasn't the same role. The team I was in wasn't treated as badly as s…

> As others mentioned, in the UK (for now) you eliminate roles, not people - this means you can't just shift a role to another cheaper country.

Of course you can. If you shift a role from the UK office to the Bangalore office you have made that role redundant in the UK and can layoff the employee...

Re: Google workers in London stage walkout over job cuts

#34

Post by agilob »

nonethewiser wrote: post #12

These people seem out of touch. > "It has been difficult for those involved. We have a redundancy process for a reason, so that employees can make their voice heard," they said. "But it feels as if our concerns have fallen on deaf ears." They’re doing layoffs. In what scenario does negative feedback from employees change the minds of management? “Oh shit we didn’t know this negatively impacted you all. My bad.”

>Sundar Pichai previously said he takes "full responsibility" for the decisions which lead to mass layoffs, and has now been accused of hiring sprees for "vanity".

The same way CEOs say "I take personal responsibility for this layoff". Thoughts and prayers.

Re: Google workers in London stage walkout over job cuts

#36

Post by gruez »

danpalmer wrote: post #18
nonethewiser wrote: post #12

These people seem out of touch. > "It has been difficult for those involved. We have a redundancy process for a reason, so that employees can make their voice heard," they said. "But it feels as if our concerns have fallen on deaf ears." They’re doing layoffs. In what scenario does negative feedback from employees change the minds of management? “Oh shit we didn’t know this negatively impacted you all. My bad.”

There have been several layers to the criticism. The first is roughly why does a company with many billions in the bank need to lay off anyone. However, assuming that layoffs do need to happen, there has been a lot more criticism of how they were conducted. In the UK there is, in summary, a right to a fair process – where _roles_ are eliminated, not _people_. That when there aren't enough roles for the people left, t…

>The first is roughly why does a company with many billions in the bank need to lay off anyone.

because it's a for-profit company, not a jobs program.

Re: Google workers in London stage walkout over job cuts

#38

Post by version_five »

danpalmer wrote: post #18
nonethewiser wrote: post #12

These people seem out of touch. > "It has been difficult for those involved. We have a redundancy process for a reason, so that employees can make their voice heard," they said. "But it feels as if our concerns have fallen on deaf ears." They’re doing layoffs. In what scenario does negative feedback from employees change the minds of management? “Oh shit we didn’t know this negatively impacted you all. My bad.”

There have been several layers to the criticism. The first is roughly why does a company with many billions in the bank need to lay off anyone. However, assuming that layoffs do need to happen, there has been a lot more criticism of how they were conducted. In the UK there is, in summary, a right to a fair process – where _roles_ are eliminated, not _people_. That when there aren't enough roles for the people left, t…

> The first is roughly why does a company with many billions in the bank need to lay off anyone.

This shows an utter misunderstanding of how businesses or finances of any kind work and would completely discredit anyone who tried to use it as an argument.

Re: Google workers in London stage walkout over job cuts

#39

Post by barrysteve »

nonethewiser wrote: post #12

These people seem out of touch. > "It has been difficult for those involved. We have a redundancy process for a reason, so that employees can make their voice heard," they said. "But it feels as if our concerns have fallen on deaf ears." They’re doing layoffs. In what scenario does negative feedback from employees change the minds of management? “Oh shit we didn’t know this negatively impacted you all. My bad.”

Working in the UK you come to realize, these feedback processes and their denial, are both usually expected and part and parcel of the negotiation dance.

Re: Google workers in London stage walkout over job cuts

#40

Post by enlyth »

danpalmer wrote: post #18
nonethewiser wrote: post #12

These people seem out of touch. > "It has been difficult for those involved. We have a redundancy process for a reason, so that employees can make their voice heard," they said. "But it feels as if our concerns have fallen on deaf ears." They’re doing layoffs. In what scenario does negative feedback from employees change the minds of management? “Oh shit we didn’t know this negatively impacted you all. My bad.”

There have been several layers to the criticism. The first is roughly why does a company with many billions in the bank need to lay off anyone. However, assuming that layoffs do need to happen, there has been a lot more criticism of how they were conducted. In the UK there is, in summary, a right to a fair process – where _roles_ are eliminated, not _people_. That when there aren't enough roles for the people left, t…

It really depends though, if you work anywhere for less than two years, they can basically fire you (as a person) for no reason at any time. It's only after two years of continuous employment that you gain more rights.
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