BENGALURU: Google has fired over 450 employees across various departments in India. Though the tech giant did not respond to a query on the exact number of layoffs in India, sources said at least 450 employees would have been impacted.
On Thursday night both India and Singapore employees who were impacted received termination letters from Google. Many Indian staff who were impacted shared their stories on social media. Sagar Gilhotra, partner development manager, Google in a LinkedIn post said at 8.34 pm his life turned upside down with laid off news.
“I worked round the clock to support my team and helped to scale YouTube live shopping in India...Despite my contributions, it’s heartbreaking to see talented people being let go,” he said. Another Google employee said he came to know many of his Google friends in India from various units are impacted by the current layoff process.
Clifford Teo, Southeast Asia Lead, Talent Engagement & Lead, Singapore, shared in a post his role has been made redundant and he has been impacted along with members of the core team. “It definitely comes as a surprise as I just came off a promotion a few months back and was having the best time leading the Southeast Asia Talent Engagement team,” he said. On January 20, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said it will fire 12,000 employees globally. Outside the US, the firm said it will support employees in line with local practices.
Meanwhile, Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube on Thursday announced she is stepping down from her role as CEO after nine years, and Indian-American Neal Mohan will become the new head of Google’s video division YouTube. She plans to support Neal and help with the transition, which will include continuing to work with some YouTube teams, coaching team members and meeting with creators.