Google Employee Was In Hospital Bed Holding Her Hours-Old Newborn When She Learned She Lost Job

Google's recent layoffs have greatly impacted employees. Sundar Pichai, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, sent out an email to the staff members earlier this month informing them of the widespread job cuts and said that he takes "full responsibility" for the same. Since then, many employees have taken to social media to express their grief and share their stories about their time at the tech giant. A woman who gave birth to their second child on January 19 also shared her story as she was laid off while she was still in the hospital, holding her hours-old newborn baby. 

Kate Howells, who worked at Google in a variety of roles over the course of almost ten years, took to LinkedIn to share how the best day of her life was marred with sadness. She said that getting laid off from her job while still recovering from labour led to a lot of mixed emotions during her stay at the hospital. 

"Laid off in labor, now that's something I never thought I'd say! Last Thursday, 1/19/23 I gave birth to my second child, Ronin Mark Watson, at 8:59 pm. On 1/20/23 at 7:05 am while in the hospital bed holding my hours-old newborn I learned that I was part of the #thegolden12K of Googlers who had been laid off. I was a Googler for 9.5 years," Ms Howells wrote in her post. 

Ms Howells expressed that it was a very stressful experience for her. "A very intense and emotionally confusing postpartum hospital stay. The waves of physical exhaustion and pain, hormones, adrenaline, shock, feelings of loss mixed with feelings of love for my newborn and my incredible birth and life partner Alan Watson ebbed and flowed into each other. For those 48 hours I was unable to make sense of any of it," she said.  

In her post, the former Google employee also revealed that now she would be focusing on her family, which would be relocating from New York to Phoenix, Arizona. She also stated that she's certain that she will be able to bounce back from the obstacle. 

Also Read | Google Employee Who Was Laid Off Reveals The "Worst Part"

"The end point isn't a clear picture for me amidst this newborn haze, but I know I can take back control of this story and when I look back I'll say I'm so grateful this led me to (fill in the blank)," Ms Howells added. 

Meanwhile, Mr Pichai has stated that Google will "support" all the 12,000 fired employees as they look for other opportunities. 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". The now-former employees will also be paid throughout the whole notice period, which is at least 60 days. Moreover, bonuses for last year as well as unused vacation time will be period to the impacted workers, the tech giant announced.