Access Denied: Google India Lays Off Employee Days After Celebrating 5-Year Anniversary

Tech giant, Google laid off 12,000 employees globally. Impacted by the job cut, a Google Cloud program manager based in Gurgaon was laid off. Aakriti Walia recently celebrated her 5-year-Googleversary at the firm. Ms Walia got to know that she was fired when a message popped up on her computer while she was getting ready for a meeting.

The "access denied" message on her computer left her numb. "As I celebrated my 5-year Googleversary just a few days ago, little did I know it would be my last," Ms Walia wrote in her LinkedIn post.

She added, "The 'access denied' message on my system left me numb as I was preparing for my meeting just 10 mins away. My initial reaction was of denial, then 'why me'."

"Working at Google was always my dream come true and every day spent here has been better than I ever imagined. As I updated my LinkedIn profile and resume, I realized how much this organisation added to my life not just personally but also professionally. I traversed the most valuable part of my career in the last 5 years at Google - building skills and experience across a diverse set of roles, working with some of the most amazing Googlers," she further wrote in the post.

In her post, she thanked her teammates and managers for her time at the tech giant.

The former Google employee urged her LinkedIn family to suggest her a suitable role available for her. "As I plan the road ahead from here, the next hardest thing for me right now is -- how do I make my six-year-old daughter understand why mumma's not going to work? Well, that will take its own sweet time," Ms Walia added.

Google announced it's in the process of laying off 12,000 employees. Some of the staff realised they lost their jobs when they were unable to access the systems. Chief executive officer (CEO) Sunder Pichai has stressed the cuts were made after careful consideration. He also stated that Google will "support" employees as they look for other opportunities.