Canadians affected as Google parent Alphabet cuts 12,000 jobs

Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, has joined the growing list of major North American tech companies that have announced sweeping layoffs to kick off 2023.

In a memo to staff on Jan. 20, CEO Sundar Pichai said the tech giant is eliminating approximately 12,000 jobs, or six per cent of its global workforce — claiming that the company “hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.”

“So, we’ve undertaken a rigorous review across product areas and functions to ensure that our people and roles are aligned with our highest priorities as a company,” Pichai said.

“The roles we’re eliminating reflect the outcome of that review. They cut across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels and regions.”

According to CNBC, Google has more than 160,000 full-time employees globally.

Canadian impact

Google Canada spokesperson Lauren Skelly confirmed to multiple news outlets, including Global News, on Feb. 6 that impacted staff were notified in January.

The tech giant has offices in several major Canadian cities, including Ottawa, Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, Edmonton, and Vancouver.

While Skelly wouldn’t disclose the exact number of workers affected by the reduction, she said in an email that “Canada remains an important priority market for Google.”

According to Google’s LinkedIn page, the company has more 4,100 people Canadian employees.

DeepMind downsizing

In a statement on Jan. 24, Alphabet confirmed that DeepMind Technologies Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the tech giant, is shutting down its artificial intelligence (AI) research office in Edmonton.

“DeepMind has made the difficult decision to consolidate its Canadian offices and close the Edmonton office, while maintaining its other Canadian locations in Montréal and Toronto, which are within Google offices.”

It remains unclear when the Edmonton office will close and how many DeepMind employees in Canada are affected by the consolidation.

Major tech layoffs continue

The reduction at Alphabet comes amid a flurry of tech sector layoffs to begin the year.

Clearco, Hootsuite, Benevity, Lightspeed, Clutch, Microsoft, Cloud Software Group, Amazon, and Salesforce have announced deep job cuts as they continue to monitor market conditions.

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Termination agreements for Google Canada employees

As part of the layoff announcement, Alphabet said it will provide affected staff in the U.S. with:

• Pay during the full notification period (minimum 60 days)
• Severance packages starting at 16 weeks’ pay (plus two weeks for every additional year at Google)
• An acceleration of at least 16 weeks of restricted stock unit (RSU) vesting
• 2022 bonuses and pay for remaining vacation time
• Six months of health care, job placement services, and immigration support

The company added that impacted workers outside of the U.S. will receive support “in line with local practices.”

In Canada, non-unionized employees and senior executives at Google are owed full severance pay when they lose their jobs due to downsizing or corporate restructuring.

This includes individuals working full-time, part-time, or hourly in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C.

Severance can be as much as 24 months’ pay, depending on a number of factors.

LEARN MORE
• Severance for technology industry employees
• Severance for provincially regulated employees
• Severance packages in mass layoffs

WATCH: Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru explains why you are still owed severance if you have been downsized on an episode of the Employment Law Show.

Before you accept any severance offer, have an experienced employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP review it and your employment contract.

We can tell you if what you have been provided is fair and how to get proper compensation if it falls short of what you are actually owed.

If you aren’t given the full amount, which happens often, you have been wrongfully dismissed and are entitled to compensation.