Google workers in London stage walkout over job cuts

Re:Google workers in London stage walkout over job cuts by cmiles74 on Tuesday April 04, 2023 @09:39AM (#35439398)

I'm not sure the distinction here is all that useful. From the point-of-view of the UK government, employing people and paying taxes are important roles companies like Google need to play. It seems to me that the rules around redundancy have been put in place to discourage just the sort of layoffs Google is trying to put in place (i.e., lay off N% of everyone).

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Re:Google workers in London stage walkout over job cuts by luckylion on Tuesday April 04, 2023 @09:59AM (#35439739)

Google employees could have volunteered to share their outsized salaries with their laid-off colleagues.

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Re:Google workers in London stage walkout over job cuts by cmiles74 on Tuesday April 04, 2023 @10:01AM (#35439775)

Is that really true? I believe that this is exactly the sort of negotiation in which Google UK decided they wouldn't participate.

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Re:Google workers in London stage walkout over job cuts by luckylion on Tuesday April 04, 2023 @10:56AM (#35440660)

You don't need Google UK to give money to people you know. Get together with them, exchange contact details, set up a recurring payment from your account, done.

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Re:Google workers in London stage walkout over job cuts by nonethewiser on Tuesday April 04, 2023 @11:21AM (#35441124)

Can’t I just spend someone else’s money instead?

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Re:Google workers in London stage walkout over job cuts by gruez on Tuesday April 04, 2023 @10:22AM (#35440112)

>From the point-of-view of the UK government, employing people and paying taxes are important roles companies like Google need to play.

That's only true in the vaguest sense, and not something that's inscribed in law. According to a link someone else shared[1], the only real requirement is for google to do a "consultation". There's no requirement or duty to keep people employed.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights/consultation

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Re:Google workers in London stage walkout over job cuts by cmiles74 on Tuesday April 04, 2023 @11:18AM (#35441064)

This page outlines the rights of the person being laid off, there are a couple other pages out there that outline the responsibilities of the company[1]. Among other things there is a requirement to notify the UK government if they plan to let go of 20 or more employees. It's clearly stated[2] that this information goes directly to job assistance and training for the unemployed.

It's up for debate but I do think this indicates that the UK government is concerned about companies laying off a large number of people. In my opinion, this and the rules around the fair selection process are designed to make mass layoffs less attractive to companies.

In regards to how the activities of a company like Google appear to any regional government, I do think the two most important functions of that company are to employ people in the region and pay taxes to the regional government. They do not seem vague to me and, in this case, we have laws on both sides: some that deal with taxes and others that deal with employment and layoffs.

[1]: https://nhglobalpartners.com/employee-redundancy-in-the-uk/

[2]: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/redundancy-paymen...

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