Press Release

Google Workers Petition For Job Security

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Google employees have begun circulating an internal petition titled “job security” ahead of expected cost cuts this year.

TakeAway Points:

  • Google employees have begun a petition for “job security” as they expect more layoffs by the company.
  • The petition calls on Google CEO Sundar Pichai to offer buyouts before conducting layoffs and to guarantee severance to employees that do get laid off.
  • Google said it will change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America” and change Denali to “Mount McKinley.”
  • The names must be altered on official maps and federal communications, according to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump.

Job security for workers

The petition has been signed by more than 1,250 employees. It is the latest sign of employee upheaval at Google, which has struggled to maintain high morale among its workforce after a year filled with embarrassing product rollouts, worker protests sparked by controversial enterprise contracts, and continued rounds of layoffs that stretch back to 2023 and are expected to continue. 

“We, the undersigned Google workers from offices across the US and Canada, are concerned about instability at Google that impacts our ability to do high-quality, impactful work,” the petition says. “Ongoing rounds of layoffs make us feel insecure about our jobs. The company is clearly in a strong financial position, making the loss of so many valuable colleagues without explanation hurt even more.”

New CFO Anat Ashkenazi said in October that one of her top priorities would be to drive more cost-cutting as Google expands its spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure in 2025.

“Any organization can always push a little further and I’ll be looking at additional opportunities,” she said, referring to cost cutting, which sparked an internal reaction. Shortly after Ashkenazi’s statements, employees pressed executives for clarity but weren’t given any more details on Ashkenazi’s plans.

The petition calls on Google CEO Sundar Pichai to offer buyouts before conducting layoffs, to guarantee severance to employees who get laid off and to not give low performance review ratings for the purpose of removing employees.

In the petition, Google employees call on the company’s leadership to not “force” low performance reviews to justify removing certain employees. Results from the company’s annual performance review process, known as Google Reviews and Development, or GRAD, are expected soon.

The company does not have forced rating distributions for GRAD, and every employee is rated on their performance and impact based on their role, level and the expectations they set with their manager, a spokesperson for Google said.

The petition asks for guaranteed severance equivalent to what laid-off employees were offered in January 2023. That year, Google laid off more than 12,000 employees. At the time, Google executives boasted of its severance package, which included a 16-week salary plus two weeks for every additional year employees worked at the company.

Since then, Google has continued with more rounds of layoffs throughout its various departments, and impacted employees have said that their severance packages have varied.

Google plans to make changes on maps app 

Google announced that Denali will now be called Mount McKinley and the Gulf of Mexico will now be called the Gulf of America.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring the names to be changed on official maps and federal communications.

In posts on X, Google said it will follow the government’s lead by changing the names on its Maps app. It said Monday it will change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America” in Google Maps after the Trump administration updates its “official government sources.”

The company also said it will start using the name “Mount McKinley” for the mountain in Alaska currently called Denali.

Last week, President Donald Trump signed executive actions that included an order to make the name changes on official maps and federal communications.

We’ve received a few questions about naming within Google Maps,” the company said in an X post. “We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.

Google added that the name Gulf of Mexico will remain displayed for users in Mexico. Users in other countries will see both names, the company said.

Trump said he will restore former President William McKinley’s name to the mountain. He said McKinley made the country “very rich” through tariffs and talent.

The mountain was named Mount McKinley until 2015, when President Barack Obama’s administration changed it to Denali as a symbolic gesture to Alaska Natives.

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