What you need to know
- Google is now expecting employees from the U.S. PeopleOps team to voluntarily quit.
- An email was sent by the company’s CPO (Chief People Officer) announcing new roles and severance packages for these employees.
- This program is the result of a merger that occurred between the organization’s OS and hardware teams.
In an email sent to employees this week, Google announced a new “voluntary exit” program for its People Operations team, which basically handles all of the company’s hiring, employee perks and benefits, and more.
According to an email obtained by 9to5Google, the company’s Chief People Officer, Fiona Cicconi, announced the voluntary exit program for U.S.-based employees. This follows a similar move announced in January to the Platform and Devices group.
Initially, the program had only opened up for U.S. employees in teams that serve Android Auto, Android TV, Wear OS, and the recent Android XR platform alongside a wide range of Google and Chrome products. However, it looks like the company plans to expand this program to other teams as well. Considering the tech giant would like to downsize the number of employees, stating efficiency concerns.
“There’s tremendous momentum on this team and with so much important work ahead, we want everyone to be deeply committed to our mission and focused on building great products, with speed and efficiency,” said SVP Rick Osterloh when he announced this program.
According to the company, the People Ops team recently made some changes to the way it functions, mainly focusing on innovation that would drive high performance across Google.
This came after the tech giant merged its OS and hardware teams into the new Platforms & Devices team. The move appears to be an effort for better efficiency within the company. It is likely being offered as an alternative for employees who can choose to quit — as opposed to being laid off — if they feel they no longer align with their roles, with the option to take a severance package or apply to roles in other teams.
In an email to Android Central, Google’s spokesperson said, “To support our People Operations team’s innovative work ahead, we’re opening new roles and offering a voluntary exit program with severance for their US-based employees.”
Google will also open new roles within PeopleOps to help employees make the right decisions that best suit their personal/professional interests.
