Google has laid off 20 more employees in connection with protests over its $1.2 billion cloud computing contract with the Israeli government, known as Project Nimbus.
These layoffs followed demonstrations on April 16 at Google’s offices in New York City and Sunnyvale, California. Google laid off about 20 more employees this week, bringing the total number to 50, according to No Tech for Apartheid, an activist group that has opposed big tech companies collaborating with Israel since 2021.
“Companies are trying to crush dissent, silence workers and reassert power over them,” said No Technology for Apartheid spokeswoman Jane Chan. She claimed that some of the fired employees were “non-participating bystanders.”
Google confirms laying off 20 more employees
Google has confirmed more layoffs as it continues its investigation into the April 16 sit-in that disrupted its operations. A spokesperson said each fired employee actively disrupted the office.
The layoffs are said to be a sign of escalating tensions between Google executives and a group of employees opposed to the company’s contracts with the Israeli government. Google’s head of security, Chris Rakow, condemned the protests in an internal memo last week, saying the “unacceptable and extremely disruptive” behavior “made colleagues feel threatened.”
Nine protesters were arrested by police after occupying Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian’s office for more than eight hours. Google subsequently fired 28 employees found to have been involved and issued a stern warning that workplace violations cannot be ignored.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai: The workplace is no place for destructive politics CEO Sundar Pichai agrees, saying that Google encourages “lively and open debate” to drive innovation, but that “the workplace is no place for destructive politics.” “We are a workplace and our policies and expectations are clear,” he told staff in a memo. This is business. ”
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Pichai said: “[This is]a place where you engage in behavior that disrupts co-workers, makes them feel unsafe, attempts to use the company as a personal platform, fights over disruptive issues, or discusses politics. It’s not the place.”
Pichai acknowledged the “great products” that come from public debate, but drew the line: “When we go to work, our goal is to organize the world’s information…that trumps everything else.” I drew it.
The layoffs came amid widespread protests against collaboration between American companies and the Israeli government. Pro-Palestinian demonstrations roiled the campus, and the day before the Google sit-in, activists temporarily blocked a transit hub for protests against the war in Gaza.
