8 Months Pregnant US Woman Laid Off By Google A Week Before Her Maternity Leave

Alphabet Inc., the parent firm of Google, let go of 12,000 staff members from various departments this week. Sundar Pichai, the CEO of the company, sent out an email to the staff members informing them of the widespread job cuts. The CEO also said that he takes "full responsibility" for the same. Many staff members have taken to social media to express their grief and share their stories about their time at the company. A woman who is expecting her baby shared her story as she was laid off just a week before her maternity leave. 

Katherine Wong, who worked as a Program Manager at Google took to LinkedIn to share the same. The California based employee stated that her heart sank when she saw the mail. "#Googlelayoffs while I am at my 8 months pregnancy and only one week away from my maternity leave It was wonderful to know that I'm one week closer to seeing my baby after completing a comprehensive handover doc before I take my leave as a Program Manager. However, the moment I checked my phone, my heart sank. I am one of the impacted 12,000."

Ms Wong's first thought was "Why me? Why now?" She said that she had received a good performance review and the news was hard to digest.

For the sake of her unborn child, she claimed that she had to learn to control her negative feelings. "It is almost impossible for me to look for a job as a 34-week pregnant and right about to go on maternity leave for months," she said. 

"People are concerned about my baby and well being. I did not let my negative emotions take over as I have a little one inside that needed to be taken care of, but I could not control my shaky hands. It is such a mixed feeling," Ms Wong added.

The ex-employee added that she loves her team and they are supporting her even now. "I love #Google and particularly my team, #GoogleDomains as I feel that we are a family. I am grateful that my team still got my back even now. I have been feeling proud of working in a start-up-like team who is one of the few that's making positive business growth under such challenging times."

Ms Wong mentioned that she would now concentrate on the latter stages of her pregnancy and would get ready to welcome her baby . "I want to be able to #opentowork. But the reality is that I need to focus on the last bit of my pregnancy journey, and to make sure my baby comes to the world safe and sound. I know I will be fine and will try all my best to achieve that," she said.

Google has announced support for the fired workers as they look for employment elsewhere. In addition, a severance payment has been provided, "starting at 16 weeks salary plus two weeks for every subsequent year at Google, and accelerate at least 16 weeks of GSU vesting." They will be paid throughout the whole notice period, which is at least 60 days.Bonuses for 2022 as well as unused vacation time will be paid to the impacted workers.