Google Layoffs: 6000 Cut – Details Kept Off Web
By Daya Baran at January 08, 2009 21 Comments|
On November 23, 2008 we reported that Google has been quietly laying off staff since August and up to 10,000 jobs could be on the chopping block. The next day, Google shares (GOOG) hit an all-time low of $257.44 under heavy volume and closed at the lowest level since going public. Also, on the same day Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, told Bloomberg many things but there was no mention of layoffs. Today, in documents obtain by the Associated Press, Google filed a paper document with the SEC stating that “a substantial number of temporary workers” had been laid off. The company has sought special exemption to keep the document from circulating on the Web. The document states that Google has 24,400 employees, however on September 30, 2008 the company reported to the SEC that it had 20,123 employees when in reality it had 30,000. At that time Google did not report the 10,000 temporary employees to the SEC, because Google wanted the option to lay off employees on demand to meeting earning expectations without reporting to the SEC. Now the company says 4,300 of the 24,400 employees are temporary. So why report temporary employees now and not then? Why get an exemption to keep the documents private? Further the company reported 30,000 employees on November 24, 2008 and 24,400 on Dec 15, 2008. Where did 6,000 employees disappear to in 3 weeks? It is bizzare that the biggest web company would seek an exemption to keep public documents about itself off the web. Why the secrecy? Besides, Google knows everything about you. What is Google hiding? Related: Google Layoffs Related: eBay Layoffs Related: Yahoo Layoffs Related: SAP Layoffs |
Update:
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google, layoffs, madoff, Online Advertising, Search
21 Comments
[...] Related: Google Layoffs: 6000 Gone [...]
[...] Related: Google Layoffs – 6,000 Cut [...]
Do no evil? Riiiiiight.
Misrepresenting the state of your company to the SEC and investors seems fairly evil, if not actionable, to me.
Why is the SEC granting exceptions to making information public that can and does affect stakeholders? Is this another way companies can hide what they are really doing? Let’s get the facts out on the table, Google.
Typical not practicing what they preach. Ironic that in an attempt to buoy their stock and minimize hits by suppressing information, they actually made it worse. So much for being the smartest folks in the room, or so they have always thought.
They play games with their books just like everybody else. And these two-bit twerds who run this company think they’re so much smarter than all the rest…
To this day I still reach out for other search engines rather than Google. Never cared for their viral marketing tactics–same dirty stuff they used at Apple–used by online viral idiots that only numbskulls could not see to spread words about their services in the early days through as many forums on the Web as they could possibly lay their hands on.
No, they ain’t “your friend”!
[...] Update on Google Lay off’s Check the link [...]
[...] google, Google hiring freeze, google layoff, Google layoff 2009, google layoffs, layoff in google WebGuild reports: Today, in documents obtain by the Associated Press, Google filed a paper document with the SEC [...]
[...] WebGuild reports: Today, in documents obtain by the Associated Press, Google filed a paper document with the SEC stating that “a substantial number of temporary workers” had been laid off. The company has sought special exemption to keep the document from circulating on the Web. [...]
[...] Google Layoffs: 6000 Cut – Details Kept Off Web [...]
[...] WebGuild reports: Today, in documents obtain by the Associated Press, Google filed a paper document with the SEC stating that “a substantial number of temporary workers” had been laid off. The company has sought special exemption to keep the document from circulating on the Web. [...]
If google, that is allegedly in growth mode, is cutting, you know things are bad across the industry.
One stat to track is job openings in the tech sector, and they are down about a third over the past two months ( see http://www.hotskills.net for the numbers ). That goes for all tech categories: programming, sysadmin, graphic design, etc.
[...] Related: Google Layoffs: 6000 Cut [...]
Google is just following the tried and true path of successful start-ups…it has turned into a mature organization and may be nurturing some bad news in its hot, dark, sweaty and smelly innards.
When I first heard that Google laid off 5,000+ contractors and tried to sweep it under the rug I was pissed: they undermined consumers and blatantly disrespected the contractors who had served them well. That said, I think Google has redeemed themselves this week with the way they handled the layoffs of 100 recruiters and the closure of 3 engineering offices. I wrote an article on why more companies should handle layoffs exactly how Google handled them this week:
http://www.thedailyanchor.com/2009/01/16/google-layoffs-2009-google-cuts-100-positions-yet-manages-to-redeem-itself/
Then why is Google still posting jobs on Indeed.com and other places? Is it to keep HR busy?
google is posting jobs to select candidates for employees that they hope to replace
[...] *Google 6.000 [...]
Your math and dates don’t correspond. You contradict yourself within three sentences.
I appreciate the underlying theme of the article (Google is hiding their nefarious layoff activities) but I am annoyed at the scare tactics you’ve used to garner interest in your article.
Google, like many other companies, seems to be doing what it takes to survive. That does not mean keep people employed who have always known that they were temporary. It’s just that we, the public, didn’t know they were temporary.
We’ve never called them evil for hiding their software and new product development practices yet in comparison, this is antithetical to the openness of open-source software (OSS) approaches. Does that also make them evil?
Prior to their IPO I remember their announcement that said they would not give 10K/quarterly guidance, i.e., their internal business and housekeeping will be their own. The approach taken by Google now seems to follow a consistent practice.
I’m disappointed that Google is not able to sustain an adequate growth (staffing, revenue, product/service diversity, etc.,…). It means that the one great hope we saw of a company with the strength to equalize the marketplace dominated by Microsoft may be diminished. That leaves it up to open-source software to do the job. But this has its drawbacks too (essentially decimating revenues for so many companies (hence lowering GDP and overall salaries in the U.S.).
So, IMO, to lament the non-disclosure of the release of temporary staff (I’m one of them) seems to miss the larger point altogether. We’re seeing *the decline of a strong competitor (to old business models) and a * decline of a stalwart proponent of an entity that has helped to push Gibson’s vision of a completely online life forward so much more than any may have believed.
The AP story (hosted at Google, of course), has now disappeared as well.