The California-based employees, who were retained by Google after its biggest layoff in 25 years, may now have to forgo free massages onsite. After Google’s parent company Alphabet announced slashing around 12,000 jobs, a CNBC report stated that at least 27 massage therapists were also among the sacked staff.
According to WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) filings accessed by CNBC, out of 1,845 employees fired from the tech giant’s headquarters in California, 24 massage therapists were part of the Mountain View office, while three others worked in Los Angeles and Irvine. The majority of the job cuts took place in and around Silicon Valley.
From paid maternity and paternity leave to free meals, Google’s incredible perks for its staff were no secret. According to a Business Insider report, employees received free massage points and could also earn more to avail special massages. Google has increasingly tightened its purse strings in the last few months by limiting employee travel and cutting down on social events.
On Monday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that the top executives will have reduced salaries in 2023 as part of the company’s cost cutting measures. Defending the decision to lay off 6% of its workforce, Pichai explained that it had to be implemented to prevent ‘much worse issues.’
Many employees took to Twitter to share the shocking ways in which they were informed of the pink slip. According to a Business Insider report, a married couple working with Google was fired when the woman was on maternity leave, while another eight-month-pregnant employee was sacked days before she was due to start her parental leave. To cushion the blow, six months of healthcare, job help, and immigration services were offered by the company.
Another tech boss who has implemented crazy austerity measures is Elon Musk. After laying off thousands of employees, workers were forced to bring their own toilet paper to the office, while Musk cracked down on free lunches, home internet, WiFi allowance and commuter benefits, among others.
