Google said it provided impacted employees with outplacement support and invited them toapply for open rolesacross the company.
Some interviewees told BI they found few openings.
Since their layoffs, these former Googlers' paths have varied.
One ran for city council; another took a job at Trader Joe’s.
Some landed jobs at other Big Tech companies, and others launched their own ventures.
Here are their stories, in their own words.
Their quotes have been edited for length and clarity.
But then I tried to log into my computer, and my password was rejected.
I very quickly recognized the silver lining of the opportunity.
I had six months' severance.
I rested and spent more time with my kids.
We took a family vacation.
I started doing Pilates and got back into therapy.
I used the time as a true sabbatical to reenergize myself for the next phase of my career.
After three months, I started applying for jobs.
I dove right back into the job search and have been at Amazon since December.
So far, everything is good.
People are very nice and welcoming here, and I love my team.
I also launched acoaching businessrecently and will be producing a new podcast next year.
I have peace around how everything ended up.
I have a huge sense of humor, and that gets me through a lot of things.
She was the director of global communications prior to her 2023 layoff.
At first, I thought the layoff email I received was a scam.
As reality began to set in, I got really angry; I’d been so loyal to Google.
I loved working there and felt so proud to be there.
I went through the five stages of grief and wondered,Why me?I got depressed.
I’d look at my empty calendar and feel rejected, like nobody wanted me.
I began to see how I could use my severance package as an opportunity.
It made me feel really rejuvenated.
That first weekend, I applied to Trader Joe’s.
But on my first day, I had trouble walking in the door.
It was an internal barrier I had to break through, and I did.
I decided to write a book about my experience to motivate other people in the same situation as me.
Being laid off is painful even more so in Korean culture because people don’t talk about it.
I’ve also found my customer support and marketing experience at Trader Joe’s and Starbucks to be helpful.
I hope to retire in the US.
I miss a lot about Google, but more about the early days when it felt like a family.
The company grew and grew, and we had to lose some parts and focus on efficiency.
I did a good job of quickly processing and moving on after my layoff.
Maybe the future is already ready, even though you don’t know it.
They asked to be kept anonymous to protect their job security.
For the most part, I think it strikes the right balance between productivity and work-life balance.
At Google, I didn’t feel overwhelmed, yet also felt like I was delivering.
It was definitely my favorite place I’ve worked.
When the layoff actually happened, it felt horrible my worst fear coming true.
Good vacation and generous severance.
I reached out to a lot of connections for referrals and applied everywhere, both internally and externally.
I checked the Google internal job posting site every day, but there weren’t many open positions.
I also applied to every relevant LinkedIn EasyApply position.
I spent the rest of my time practicing LeetCode problems and reviewing past projects.
A couple of days later, the manager told me they wanted to bring me on.
Returning to Google, I feel more anxious and find it harder to focus.
And I’ve lost trust in Google’s leadership.
Still, I think coming back to Google was the best risk-averse decision.
My plan worked well, and I think I went about things the best I could.
She also headed YouTube Mexico during the pandemic.
The next morning, I tried to check my work calendar before breakfast and it wouldn’t load.
People had been nervous about layoffs but thought low performers would be the only ones impacted.
That’s not what happened.
Once I realized my role had been eliminated, I started bawling.
I gave myself the weekend to grieve.
One of my best friends visited from Seattle to support me.
Three days later, Istarted a podcast, an idea I’d been playing with for a while.
I talked a lot with guests about childhood circumstances and how they influence our careers and decision-making.
I’m also still regularly publishing podcast episodes, and I recently joined a nonprofit board.
There were a couple of times when I considered leaving Google but didn’t because of fear.
My advice for people is to not make career decisions from a place of fear.
Stay somewhere because you’re passionate, not because you’re afraid to try something else.
When I found out I was laid off, I felt almost a relief and a sense of openness.
I suddenly had this blessing of a healthy severance to use to build what I wanted outside of Google.
I intermittently job-searched for a few months and almost joined an early-stage startup, but nothing quite landed.
I have a thriving community here in Boulder and enjoy being in nature.
I also ran for Boulder City Council.
I bike past the Google office a lot here in Boulder and often feel a tenderness in my heart.
I don’t have too many regrets in life.
There are so many pathways, but the one that I’m on feels really beautiful.
Before his 2023 layoff, he was the global program manager of the corporate real estate team.
I wasn’t surprised by the layoff.
I’d been laid off before and knew that layoffs aren’t personal.
Still, I went through the traditional stages of grief.
Three months later, I started my own firm, Idealem Solutions Group.
I’m thankful for the layoff, because I’d been in thegolden handcuffs.
I think I’d be miserable if I were still there today.
And as much as I bemoan the golden handcuffs, they’ve served me well.
Being an independent consultant and business owner is rewarding.
It also allowes me to have a better relationship with my wife.
Any manager who’s had to terminate someone knows to expect the absolute worst.
It was extremely frustrating to see the culture changing after being there for so long.
Logically, I knew that industry ups and downs and turnover were pretty normal.
Emotionally, though, it was tough.
I had been there eight years; that’s like an eight-year relationship.
My initial reaction was pain and anger, driven by ego.
I had a lot of sleepless nights and went through the grieving process.
My wife was extremely supportive.
The toughest part was knowing that the next day, the company just moved on.
That was sort of a rude awakening.
I was given two months to look for other roles internally.
When I turned them down, every part of my body was shaking.
I splurged on a solo snowboarding trip to Japan and spent time alone in the mountains.
I’d wake up at night crying.
I posted myfirst YouTube videoin April.
I wanted to share my layoff story to bring comfort and courage to others.
I’ve also launched a coaching and consulting business and teach at the National University of Singapore.
It took a bit of time for me to realize, “Wait, I lost my job.”
I jumped straight into practical things.
I went back to Brazil for a week to be close to my childhood friends.
I ended up moving to Miami, where a lot of my friends had moved during the pandemic.
On one of my trips to Zurich, I met my now-cofounder.
Together, we incorporated biodiversityX, an AI-powered tech company providing real-time forest analytics, in Zurich.
Losing a job is traumatic, but it’s humbling to think about how much Google transformed my life.
Today, I see things as a bit more fluid and view the layoff as a blessing in disguise.
The pieces are coming together, and I’m grateful to Google for being such a great school.
