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☆ Google employees typically work more than eight hours a day: Internal memo
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

When a Google employee asked the company if he could organize his work schedule to work fewer hours on more days, a human resources representative responded saying the average Google employee works more than a normal 9-to-5 work day — seeming to refute earlier reports that Googlers have light workloads. The memo also said the company allows employees to apply for schedules that are 60% or 80% of full-time. The HR representative's confirmation that employees typically work long hours made some workers eager to share that information with their friends and relatives, according to internal message boards. Those one-hour workday reports went viral — including with Google employees' friends and family. Google employees have received public backlash due to recruiting tactics such as wide-ranging corporate perks, which were largely used by tech companies to acquire talent during the last two decades.

Persons: Googlers, Courtenay Mencini, Mencini Organizations: CNBC, Google

But there was one topic Mr. Gilani was always wary of raising: The treatment of Palestinians. Instead it was attributed to “Muslim, Palestinian and Arab Google employees joined by anti-Zionist Jewish colleagues.” The New York Times discussed the matter with seven Google employees and reviewed messages posted in employee channels for this article. Google said the acrimony described to The Times by both Muslim and Jewish employees was limited to a small group of its many thousands of workers. “The overwhelming majority of those employees are not engaged in internal discussions or debate.”Google isn’t unique in facing this turmoil. Even compared with its Silicon Valley peers, Google has become a hub for employee activism, a legacy of the company’s open and informal founding culture.

Persons: Sarmad Gilani, Gilani, ”, Mr, Israel, —, ” Courtenay Mencini, Donald J, Rachel Westrick, Westrick, Israel’s, Sundar Pichai, Thomas Kurian, Kurian, he’s Organizations: Google, Hamas, New York Times, Times, Hollywood, Democratic Party, Microsoft, Pentagon, Asian, Meta, Washington Post Locations: Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, “, United States, Meta, Palestine

☆ Group of Google contractors who work on Search and Bard win union vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A group of Google contractors, some of whom have worked on Search and Google's artificial intelligence chatbot Bard, have successfully voted to unionize. The group, from Google contractor Accenture, filed for unionization efforts in June after claiming Google asked them to help train the generative AI answers offered in Search and Bard, and that they felt underprepared for their work. The Alphabet Workers Union teamed up with the Communications Workers of America in 2021 as a minority union. "We have no objection to these Accenture workers electing to form a union," said Google spokesperson Courtenay Mencini in a statement to CNBC. The decision marks the second ruling to classify Google as a joint employer with its contractor for a subset of employees.

Persons: Bard, Courtenay Mencini, Jen Hill, Hill Organizations: Accenture, Google, Bloomberg, Alphabet Workers Union, Communications Workers of America, U.S . National Labor Relations Board, Workers, NLRB, CNBC, CWA, YouTube, Cognizant Technology Solutions, CNBC PRO Locations: London, England, Francisco

☆ Google contractors who helped train the Bard AI chatbot vote to unionize
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Caroline Haskins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

AdvertisementAdvertisementGoogle contractors with Accenture, who write Google Help articles and review AI-generated content from the Bard chatbot, voted on Monday to unionize with the Alphabet Workers Union, which represents Google employees and contractors. The vote comes after a coalition of 118 Accenture workers announced their union in June. Google is currently appealing the NLRB's September ruling that it is joint employer of Accenture contractors. Accenture contractors worked on BardGoogle rushed its release of Bard in an effort to make a product to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT. Other Google contractors have unionizedMonday's vote marks the second time this year that contractors for Google successfully voted to unionize with the NLRB.

Persons: Cognizant, —, Bard chatbot, Monday's, Bard, Organizers, Jen Hill, Courtenay Mencini, Bard Google, OpenAI's, Hill, Laura Greene, Greene, OpenAI Organizations: Accenture, Service, Alphabet Workers Union, Google, National Labor Relations, Alphabet Workers, Bloomberg, Workers, . Workers, Meta Locations: Manila

☆ Google is cutting hundreds of jobs in its recruiting organization
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)Google is cutting hundreds of jobs in its global recruiting organization as part of a broader pullback in hiring over the next several quarters, CNBC has confirmed. "We unfortunately need to make a significant reduction to the size of the recruiting organization," Brian Ong, Google's recruiting vice president, told employees in a Wednesday video meeting, a recording of which was obtained by CNBC. In January, Alphabet -owned Google announced it was cutting 12,000 jobs, affecting roughly 6% of the full-time workforce. The layoffs occurred across the company, including in Google's recruiting organization. Employees had previously criticized the company for abruptly cutting off access to those who lost their jobs in January.

Persons: Paul Sakuma, Brian Ong, Ong, we've, Courtenay Mencini, Mencini, Semafor Organizations: Google, Google Inc, CNBC, Employees Locations: Mountain View, Calif

☆ Google cuts more jobs in its recruiting division
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The company on Wednesday announced it would cut hundreds of roles in its recruitment division, people familiar with the matter said. The company laid off 12,000 employees in January, the biggest cuts in the history of the internet giant. The latest round of cuts affects only recruiters but includes hundreds of full-time positions at the company. "We're supporting everyone impacted with a transition period, outplacement services, and severance as they look for new opportunities here at Google and beyond." "Google Recruiting has been impacted by layoffs, again," another employee wrote.

Persons: we've, Courtenay Mencini Organizations: Google, Wednesday, LinkedIn

☆ Google is laying off hundreds in its recruitment division
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Google confirmed it will lay off hundreds of staff members who helped recruit and hire employees, as Silicon Valley continues its cost-cutting efforts. “To ensure we operate efficiently, we’ve made the hard decision to reduce the size of our recruiting team.”The layoffs were earlier reported by Semafor and CNBC. Google also said the recruiting cuts are not part of any wider layoffs, and that affected employees will be supported with severance offers and other benefits. Some Google recruiters for the company’s cloud, user experience, software engineering and other teams posted on LinkedIn, noting they had been affected by the layoffs. As of the end of 2022, Alphabet had 190,234 employees, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, ”, Courtenay Mencini, we’ve Organizations: New, New York CNN, Google, Semafor, CNBC, LinkedIn, Securities and Exchange Commission, Meta, Microsoft, Mobile Locations: New York, Silicon

☆ Google's old guard shifts roles as the company searches for itself
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Jeff Kowalsky | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesA string of Google executives have changed their roles in the span of several months, in a shift that has sidelined many of company's remaining old guard. The changes encompass high-profile executives such as CFO Ruth Porat, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, and employee No. Some say they have left their roles for a new challenge and others have left to seek opportunities in AI. While she'll still be in an advisory role at Google, she said, she wanted to "start a new chapter." Google's AI head, Jeff Dean, who's been at Google since 1999, became a chief scientist as part of the change.

Persons: Ruth Porat, Jeff Kowalsky, Susan Wojcicki, Urs Hölzle, Susan Wojcicki —, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, she'll, Robert Kyncl, David Lawee, Hölzle, Morgan Stanley, Porat, Courtenay Mencini, who've, it's, OpenAI, Sundar Pichai, Google execs, Prabhakar Raghavan, HJ Kim, Geoffrey Hinton, Demis, James Manyika, Jeff Dean, who's, It's Organizations: Inc, Michigan Central Station, Bloomberg, Getty, Google, YouTube, Warner Music Group, CapitalG, CNBC, New York Times, McKinsey, Google Research Locations: Detroit , Michigan, Silicon Valley

☆ YouTube TV contractors allege in NLRB complaint they were terminated in response to broader union organizing efforts
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

They allege they were let go as a union movement among Google contractors began to make inroads. The Alphabet Workers Union has filed a new complaint on Friday with the National Labor Relations Board against Google and its contractor Cognizant on behalf of three contract YouTube TV workers who were terminated. But Google told Insider that the layoffs occurred because it ended the YouTube TV contract. Mencini also said the company has "had many contracts with unionized suppliers and have no objection to Cognizant workers organizing or joining a union." Insider also previously reported that the AWU claims that Cognizant held meetings with YouTube TV contractors where they repeated anti-union talking points.

Persons: they'd, it's, we've, Courtenay Mencini, Mencini, Cognizant Organizations: Google, Alphabet Workers Union, National Labor Relations Board, YouTube, Austin, NLRB, YouTube Music Locations: Austin , Texas, Austin

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