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Google offering 'voluntary exit' for employees working on Pixel, Android
- itg 2y agoSounds to me like it's going to be either take the "voluntary exit" with the severance, or if you don't then eventually get let go without one.
- eesmith 2y agoDon't forget to factor in unemployment benefits, which typically don't apply if you quit.
- mandeepj 2y agoSeverance would be there even if you are let go i.e laid off
- Suppafly 2y ago>Severance would be there even if you are let go i.e laid off Depends on their employment contract, I don't think it's necessarily guaranteed.
- snailmailstare 2y agoThe rules are complex but if a company wants to lay off many people in one location they have to give notice in advance and usually choose to just payout that notice time.
- HamsterDan 2y agoIt's not guaranteed, but Google does give you severance if you're fired for low performance. I'd assume you have to agree not to sue them in order to get it though.
- plorkyeran 2y agoVoluntary exits are pointless if you're planning to lay off the entire team. It usually means that they're keeping part of the team, and want to make sure that they keep the part that'll actually stick around.
- dntrkv 2y agoIt's most likely an attempt to give low performers (if you received a bad rating for last year) a chance to leave on your own terms before they lay you off. If I was in that bucket I would definitely take this offer. Looks like all the large tech companies are doing aggressive stack ranking right now.
- ryandrake 2y agoThe job market is terrible right now. More likely the high performers will take the offer because they believe they have better chances of being rehired somewhere else. Good luck to them though. Assuming the events are independent, P(you get laid off) x P(you don't find a new job) will always be less than 1.0 x P(you don't find a new job)
- HamsterDan 2y agoIf I already had a solid offer somewhere else, I'd take the severance. If I didn't, I wouldn't leave it up to chance, and I can't imagine many other people would. With only three weeks to make decision, my guess is high performers aren't going to start looking for new jobs now unless they were already looking to begin with. From the wording of the message, it sounds like Google is okay with losing the group that was already looking.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- tombert 2y agoI had never heard of the term "voluntary exit" until I heard that the Trump administration is going to do that for federal workers. Is this going to be the new normal? > “to be deeply committed to our mission and focused on building great products, with speed and efficiency" I hate this language. It sounds culty. Why can't a job just be a job? Why does everything have to have a god damn "mission"?
- robertlagrant 2y agoI imagine it's either (or both) of the following: job seekers started wanting that in their ads, and people with this way of thinking entered the internal recruitment world.
- BhavdeepSethi 2y agoElon made this popular with Twitter/X. Offered a voluntary exit in the "Fork in the road" email with a deadline. The message was quite similar, that if you're not aligned with the company's [new] vision, you can choose to leave with severance. It seems better than doing random layoffs, no?
- tombert 2y agoSure, it's certainly better than layoffs. I don't really dispute that. I'd rather get a severance and I have at least a nominal option about leaving instead of being forced out. I guess I'm just sick of companies massively overhiring, creating a ton of redundant employees in the process, and deciding to get rid of a ton afterward. We give these corporations so much power in our lives and they treat us like pawns. They control our healthcare and dictate where we live, they should treat this power with the responsibility it deserves.
- lesuorac 2y agoWell, I guess the root of the problem is that while it's "at-will" employement, neither side is actually expecting the other to leave tomorrow. The company has set goals and etc that it expects you to do for the remainder of the year and you also assumed that it's not going to fire you before you do them. It is a bit weird that contractually we have no expectations but socially we do.
- vineyardmike 2y ago> Not offering people the option to leave in advance was a complaint about how Google handled past layoffs. Guess we know what’s coming. Very interesting that this only applies to US based employees. I wonder how long before Google completely moves overseas and drops most of their domestic employees. Voluntary exits are generally more humane, and have been used across Silicon Valley for decades before layoffs became common, so hopefully it minimizes suffering of layoffs. Also, I’m surprised the title just calls out Pixel and Android, because this also affects most of their hardware efforts (Fitbit, Nest, Chrome, VR, etc) Edit: I’ve heard from people there that the buyout is worse than previous rounds of severance from layoffs - namely, no stock vesting
- segasaturn 2y agoThey're not doing "voluntary exits" out of the goodness of their hearts, they're doing it because their accountants determined that the cost of paying employees to quit outweighed the reputational damage of doing another round of mass layoffs.
- vineyardmike 2y agoOf course! But it’s better than randomly laying people off. At least it lets people who are ready to quit take the accounting impact instead of others. Layoffs cause huge emotional trauma to people who are affected. People often slide into serious mental health issues, financial issues, etc. Often people get laid off while their peers were eyeing the door. This at least allows people to quit and take the heat off their coworkers.
- learningstud 2y agoOr, the accountants determined that the overall cost of voluntary exits is expected to be lower than a mass layoff. It's possible that voluntary exits make more financial sense.
- basch 2y ago"Android (Auto, TV, Wear OS, XR), Chrome, ChromeOS, Google Photos, Google One, Pixel, Fitbit, and Nest." It's a way to avoid 3% or 5% layoffs. That's a big group. With how fast their AI Labs group is moving, I could see some employees not being fans of the direction this group is taking.
- cft 2y agoDoes it mean anything for the Pixel program? Is it going to be continued?
- Arnt 2y agoNote that they're only offering this to people who work on that program in the US. People outside the US didn't get the offer, implying that the program as a whole survives.
- toast0 2y agoAll it implies to me is that labor law outside the US is complex, and Google HR is smart enough not to make this offer in places where it will cause them more problems.
- Arnt 2y agoDu you personally think Google's lawyers understands HR law in the locales where it has employees?
- lesuorac 2y agoWell, the local branches know the local laws. HQ doesn't so it'll come up with some goal of a 6% reduction in force that ends up taking 2 years to implement globally because of laws outside the US. But I mean Google's lawyers don't come up with the plans per-say, they advise on legality.
- HamsterDan 2y agoIs there any country where offering voluntary severance would break the law? I doubt it. My guess is it's US only because US employees get paid the most.
- toast0 2y agoIt's not about breaking the law or not. It's about what an offer like this will mean that Google will also need to do.
- oldnetguy 2y agoDoesn't make me want to buy the next Pixel.
- lithos 2y agoDon't be such a Redditor, if you're here you already know Google doesn't support their products. So you already made the choice long ago.
- soganess 2y agoI mean I don't trust Google as far as I can throw a TPU datacenter, but they are promising 7 years of OS updates on Pixel. And so are companies like Samsung. Many others offer 3, and even the low-rent "we have your money... I mean... who dis?" manufacturers are offering 2, so it's not like Android is going anywhere. There are just too many players. Honestly, I wouldn't get a Pixel because they are uninspired devices, not because Google will stop supporting them tomorrow. What does seem to be happening is that the core "user facing" Android (vs all the AI stuff and Play Services-based apps like Maps) is getting more and more settled as a stack and Google is cutting development staff to reflect that. To be fair, I can't speak deeply as to what's happening under the hood, just the touchy bits. My phone started with Android 9 and is now on Android 15. 10, 11 and 12 all had (compared to now) larger changes. However, if you held a gun to my head and asked me what has changed with Android 13 and on, my answer would be "stuff seems a little rounder" ...and maybe a new font? But it sorta just feels like a new version of the old font. You just don't need that many people for Android's current evolution rate. Which really sucks for all the folks losing their jobs.
- whoomp12342 2y agomines great! its buggy as shit and burned out pixels in the screen. Thats why they call it the "pixel"
- walterbell 2y agoGrapheneOS works well on Google Pixel phones and tablets.
- segasaturn 2y agoPaired with the Pixel 4a "update of death" it feels like Google is throwing in the towel on smartphones. I don't care about Pixel but I do worry about Android - as flawed as it is, it's still the only viable option for an "open" smartphone. I've been playing around with a Pinephone lately and it's lots of fun but obviously not ready for use as a daily driver.
- RachelF 2y agoThe last 3 Pixel designs have been uninspired. The CPUs in them have also been disappointing. It's almost as if Google doesn't really care anymore.
- 2-3-7-43-1807 2y agoIt's almost as if Google does Google things ... abandoning projects.
- tivert 2y ago> Paired with the Pixel 4a "update of death" it feels like Google is throwing in the towel on smartphones Yeah, but their hand may be forced: https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/21/24326402/google-search-antitrust-remedies-proposal-browser-default-android https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/21/24326402/google-search-a...: > The Department of Justice’s list of solutions for fixing Google’s illegal antitrust behavior and restoring competition in the search engine market started with ... breaking off Chrome, Android, or Google Play as the DOJ’s filing considers
- ycombinatrix 2y agoPlease. I can only get so erect.
- bigfatkitten 2y agoWhich is a shame. I love Samsung's hardware, but the crapware they pile on top of Android is intolerable. Thankfully, I MDM my personal devices and can neuter most of it from there.
- riku_iki 2y agoI suspect there are plenty of unmotivated people who got rich from rsus already, and this is early retirement offer for mutual benefit.
- snailmailstare 2y agoMaybe uncertainty will mean reintroducing at least one other vendor for future grapheneOS releases?
- pavel_lishin 2y agoFun. Definitely looking forward to competing with a bunch of newly-former-Googlers on the job market now. :/
- indefinite 2y agoYou've got this!
- dismalaf 2y agoUgh Google's so frustrating. They make great software and products but throw in the towel on anything that's not immediately profitable since ads have too high a margin and their investors get restless...
- rawgabbit 2y agoI have already taken baby steps to get off Google Photos. Next on my list is my Android TV. I heard Apple will be releasing another home device this fall so I will buy whatever it is. Apple should thank Google for being so ridiculous.
- dismalaf 2y agoWhat's your Google Photos replacement? My key use is that it recognises my son and automatically shares all pictures of him with my wife, it's very convenient.
- dns_snek 2y agoI haven't set it up myself yet, but Immich has been making the rounds lately. It seems to have facial recognition too. https://immich.app/docs/features/facial-recognition/ https://immich.app/docs/features/facial-recognition/
- rawgabbit 2y agoI am using iCloud Shared Photo Library. It automatically shares everything with up to five people. It is a bit confusing because now you have Personal and Shared Libraries. I have not grok it all yet. https://support.apple.com/en-us/118229 https://support.apple.com/en-us/118229 I also found downloading from Google Photos super confusing. I ended up buying this tool which downloads and fixes the metadata. https://metadatafixer.com/how-it-works https://metadatafixer.com/how-it-works
- dismalaf 2y agoYeah zero percent chance I switch to Apple anything. Their insistence on vendor lock in or making cross platform anything super annoying is a complete non starter for me... Most of my family is European so Android devices all around, no one has Apple anything.
- cadamsdotcom 2y agoWhy this is exciting: If Google takes the foot off the pedal on mobile, it will leave a gap in the smartphone market wide enough to drive a truck through. A group of smart folks who worked on Pixel & Android can take voluntary redundancy together and start a company with the tech and their experience. What a wonderful world that’d be - to be able to buy SOTA devices made by a company that doesn’t also make tracking software that tracks you all over the Internet, and that doesn’t want to show you ads. A company that just wants to sell you a product that you buy with your money. This is what anti-monopoly regulation is for - we all just forgot during the recent period of lax enforcement.
- Rzor 2y agoAs much as I'd like that to happen, it seems to depend on some big "ifs." Fingers crossed, I guess.
- jmye 2y agoWould love this, in light of recent decision-making at the bigger companies. I refuse to use Google products when it’s at all possible to avoid them, and would prefer to move away from Apple (for similar but different reasons). That said, it’s hard to imagine anyone in the current tech ecosystem (where everything is either ARR-driven, or “free”) building an OS that isn’t bloated with tracking and spyware.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- Dracophoenix 2y ago> A group of smart folks who worked on Pixel & Android can take voluntary redundancy together and start a company with the tech and their experience How did that work out for Andy Rubin and the Essential Phone? It takes more than money, experience, and collective brain power to build a modern smartphone of sufficient dependability. Unfortunately, most companies in this space, both new and old, are more likely to shoot themselves in the feet than offer a compelling alternative to the incumbents like Apple and Samsung.
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- sireat 2y agoThis likely means the teaching materials for Android Development will remain at 2020 version (before Compose). Somebody was paid good Google Salary to make decent Presentation style materials: https://developer.android.com/teach#teach-a-class https://developer.android.com/teach#teach-a-class only never to be updated... Those were good in 2020 but now not so much. Sure, active learning is usually better such as Codelabs, but there should be decent presentation style teaching that is updated once a year.
- itronitron 2y ago>> Employees have until Feb. 20 to enroll in the exit program. Those who volunteer will find out whether they’ve been accepted on March 25, a memo states. What a fucked up company to work for.
- Ancalagon 2y agowow that is terrible. now they know you're disloyal
- Empathy3 2y agoNone of the Android offerings sound good other than Sammy. When I say that I mean that Sammy is the only one with enough clout to withstand the mobile wars. The only one with a large enough mobile fan base to compete against Apple. There is no other Manufacturer allowed in NA that can compete with Sammy; not 1+, Moto, Blu, Nokia, HMD, or LG. Allow foreign diversity in the mobile market an US citizens will have to pay out the nose for the tariffs applied. I think we know that Chinese imports stopped with the 3XL?
- aoeusnth1 2y agoI think Rick is probably moving all those jobs to Poland and India.