© Business Insider Google announced on January 20 that it would be laying off approximately 12,000 employees, or 6.4% of its workforce. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
- Google's head of mental health and wellbeing has been fired after 15 years on the job.
- Christine Matzko said it was her "dream role" and many people on her team were fired.
- Current and former Googlers say they can't find a reason for the layoffs.
Google's head of mental health and wellness said he was fired after nearly 15 years at the company.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Christine Matzko started working at Google in 2008. Starting as a data scientist, she moved into finance, including a senior role at Google Cloud. Since July 2021, she has served as Google's director of mental health and wellness, which she describes as her "dream role".
On January 20, the tech giant announced it would lay off around 12,000 workers, or 6.4% of its workforce. Some of them have worked for the company for two decades.
"I've had so many emotions these past few days," Matsko wrote on LinkedIn. "I am sad to say goodbye to the many friends and colleagues I have worked with at Google."
Mako added that "many people" from Google's mental health and wellness team had been laid off, though he did not say how many. The contractor, who works on mental health and wellness programs at Google and YouTube, said he was hit by a small wave of layoffs in the fall.
Google did not immediately respond to an Insider's request for comment about how the layoffs have affected his mental health and healthcare team.
Explaining the layoffs, CEO Sundar Pichai told the remaining employees in a memo that the company had hired too many employees. The company said it had conducted a "thorough review" and laid off employees "across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels, and regions," though many current and former Google employees who spoke to The Insider said they couldn't understand why. for decision.
Some US workers learned they were fired from blackmail emails saying the company was laid off "and we have no other jobs for you at Google." The company quickly disabled their laptops and work accounts, meaning affected employees had to contact their managers in other ways for clarity, though the employees told Insider their supervisors didn't know.
"It just doesn't make any sense," the West Coast engineer, who has worked at Google for more than a decade, told Insider. The engineer, unaffected by the layoffs, spoke on condition of anonymity to protect his job, but his identity was discovered by Insiders. “We fired people with years of experience who did a great job, who had the skills and knowledge, and we just let them go without talking to the managers who manage these people and who have real insight. their skills and abilities. "
Google's California filing shows the company has fired dozens of executives at various divisions in the state.
"It seems like very critical people haven't been fired, but a lot of good people have been fired, and it's hard to see any rhyme or reason," the engineer added.
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