In the last few months we have witnessed globally that many companies including the big Giants like Google, Meta, Amazon from US had laid off their employees. It is estimated that around 168K employees were issued pink slips in 2023 alone. And this hard time is still continuing.
After US, Europe To Face Layoffs – US Tech Giants Google, Amazon, Planning to Layoff More Employees From Europe.
But, due to labor protections in some countries, it is not so easy to sack people without prior consultations with employee interest groups.
The law mandates that companies are legally required to consult with these councils before executing layoffs, and it may take long to process all data, discuss details and appeals.
In view of this, Google and Amazon are reportedly asking employees to resign voluntarily.
Bloomberg reported that Google is seeking help from these groups in France and Germany to resolve layoffs issues. Google parent company Alphabet Inc is conducting talks with employees in France asking them to quit voluntarily and get good severance packages in return.
Bloomberg quoted a person in the know of it, saying – Because of these requirements, Google branches in Germany and France will be some of the last location to be affected by the cuts.
The Report added, likewise, Amazon is also planning to offer some severance packages of one-year to its Senior Managers if they resign voluntarily. They are also offering “Leave to Departing Employees so their shares can vest and be paid out as bonuses”
In Germany too, Amazon is sacking employees who are on their probationary periods along with offering them an option to resign voluntarily.
Apart from this, Google UK may also face job loss for around 500 more employees, where labor protections are not as stringent.
Additionally Google is also looking at reducing its head counts in Dublin and Zurich, where unions said the number of layoffs may get affected would be 200 people or more, reported by Bloomberg.