Google Employee Laid Off While On Leave Caring For Sick Mother: ''After The Initial Shock...''

Tech giant Google announced 12,000 job cuts globally this month. The recent layoffs have greatly impacted employees, prompting them to express their grief and share their stories about their time at the tech giant. Impacted by the job cuts, Paul Baker, who worked at Google as Video Production Manager, revealed he was fired while he was on carer's leave. 

In a LinkedIn post, the former Google employee revealed that he had taken a month's leave to take care of his ailing mother, who was suffering from terminal cancer, according to an Insider report attached to his post. During his leave, he was informed by a friend about the layoffs. He then found his work laptop had been "cut off," following which he switched on his personal laptop to discover an email from the company saying he was being let go, as per the report. 

According to his bio, Mr Baker joined Google in late 2018 and worked at the company's office in Venice, Los Angeles, as a video production manager. 

Sharing his experience, Mr Baker wrote in the LinkedIn post, ''With the advent of 12k Google employee lay-offs on Friday and reading numerous hard-breaking/inspiring stories, I'm ready to share my story. While on carer's leave for my immediate family member's terminal cancer, I too was laid off. After the initial shock it morphed into sadness because I miss the people. I miss immersing myself into my Google career and culture.''  

Despite all this, he still looks back fondly at his time at the company, saying he ''will miss it''.  

''Through it all, I'm lucky & proud I played a pivotal role in creating scalable video and a wonderful community within Google. I'll truly miss it,'' he added.  

In a similar story, a Google employee who gave birth to her second child on January 19 shared she was laid off while she was still in the hospital, holding her hours-old newborn baby. Another Google employee, who was laid off, revealed he worked as a recruiter at the company. He got to know about getting laid off when his call with a potential candidate was cut off abruptly. 

Google last week announced it's making 12,000 roles redundant, becoming the latest tech major to cut jobs after years of growth. Chief executive officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai stressed the cuts were made after careful consideration and stated that Google will "support" employees as they look for other opportunities. 

"We've decided to reduce our workforce by approximately 12,000 roles. We've already sent a separate email to employees in the US who are affected. In other countries, this process will take longer due to local laws and practices," Mr Pichai said in a statement.