Google workers gathered around outside the company’s Mountain View headquarters on Thursday to demand stronger job security and seek stronger safeguards against layoffs. The employees were seen carrying signs which were white cardboard inked in black that said, ‘Googlers for Job Security’. Not only that but the protesting employees were also seen wearing matching black shirts. According to the reports, the protest was organised by members of the Alphabet Workers Union, which said more than 4,500 employees had signed a petition addressed to CEO Sundar Pichai and other senior executives.
While the exact number of Google employees who participated in the strike remains uncertain, reports suggest that hundreds of employees took part in the protest. Meanwhile, more than 4,500 employees had signed a petition urging the company to introduce clearer policies to reduce uncertainty among workers. Follow along with the article to learn the full story.
The petition asks Google to introduce voluntary exit programmes before carrying out layoffs. Moreover, they also ask the company to provide guaranteed severance for every affected employee and end forced performance rating systems.
With the petition, they employees have also urged the company to allow severance to be taken as extended paid leave and make voluntary exits a permanent policy rather than offering them only in selected situations.
Parul Koul, who is a software engineer at Google and the acting president of the Alphabet Workers Union, reportedly told the gathering that employees want fair treatment and more certainty about their future at the company.
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According to union members, around 20 employees visited the offices of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian and senior vice presidents Rick Osterloh and Nick Fox on Thursday morning to deliver the petition. As the executives were unavailable, the group left copies outside their offices. The workers also visited Sundar Pichai’s office, where a member of his team accepted the petition on his behalf.
The union said it first drafted the petition in early 2025 and had earlier tried to present it to Google leadership. After receiving no detailed response, it continued collecting signatures before returning with more than twice as many supporters.