Hundreds of Google employees walked out on Tuesday at the company’s London headquarters following a disagreement over layoffs.
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, announced in January that it would lay off 12,000 employees worldwide, accounting for 6% of its global workforce.
According to the tracking site Layoffs.fyi, the move came amid a wave of job cuts across corporate America, particularly in the tech sector, where companies have shed more than 290,000 workers since the start of the year.
Unite, a trade union that represents hundreds of Google UK employees, claimed that the company had ignored employee concerns.
“Our members are clear: Google needs to listen to its own advice of not being evil,” Unite regional officer Matt Whaley said.
“They and Unite will not back down until Google allows workers full union representation, engages properly with the consultation process and treats its staff with the respect and dignity they deserve.”
In accordance with local employment laws, Google’s senior management has been involved in redundancy talks in many parts of Europe.
Employees at the company’s Zurich office in Switzerland staged a similar walkout last month, claiming that Google had rejected their proposals to reduce job cuts.
In the United Kingdom, Google employs over 5,000 people.
