Google and Amazon struggling to layoff employees in Europe, offering up to 1 year salary so they leave voluntarily

A lot of big tech companies have fired thousands of employees in the past few months and the layoff process is still going on in many places. While several people have already been laid off in many regions, companies like Google and Amazon are struggling to eliminate employees in European countries, people who are familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

It has been discovered that big tech giants are not able to remove people from their companies because of strict labour laws in Europe. In the US, firms are allowed to announce layoffs and cut hundreds of jobs within months. However, the headcount cannot be reduced to thousands.

Meanwhile, in Europe, companies like Google and Amazon are not able to hand over pink slips to tons of employees and the layoff process is put on hold because of labour protection laws that make it difficult for them to remove people in some countries without discussing the same with "employee interest groups."

Following this, thousands of tech workers in European regions are confused and stressed about whether they'll be "affected by negotiations" that can go on forever. The cited source says that countries such as France and Germany have very strict labour laws compared to others in the EU. Hence, Google is trying to sort out the layoff process by working with groups of elected employee representatives who basically negotiate with management to solve workforce issues.

The tech "companies are legally required to consult with these councils before executing layoffs, which involves a potentially time-consuming process of data collection, discussions, and the option of appealing," the report stated.

In France, the cited source says Google's parent Alphabet is asking employees to voluntarily leave the company and is in return offering good severance packages with the hope that workers won't have any issues and would be kind enough to resign.

Amazon, on the other hand, is also reportedly trying to push some senior managers with 5-8 years of experience to resign by offering a one-year pay package and granting "leave to departing employees so their shares can vest and be paid out as bonuses," according to the person who is familiar with the internal matter. In Germany, the e-commerce giant is firing employees in their probationary periods and giving voluntary departure option.

"We have been working carefully and individually through each country where reductions are taking place to fully adhere to local legal requirements, which vary per location, are complex, and take time," a Google spokesperson said.

For your reference, Google announced layoff of as many as 12,000 employees earlier this year. Last year, Amazon announced the layoff of 18,000 workers and a few weeks back, it was revealed that the company is firing 9,000 more employees and that the process will end by the end of April.

Google is currently working with the council to lay out the number and types of employees that will be included in a voluntary departure plan. In the UK, 500 out of 8,000 employees will reportedly be asked to leave, and the impacted employees will be given confidential severance packages. It is being said that Google is ready to negotiate pay packages, but not the number of departures. In Dublin and Zurich, Google is said to layoff over 200 people.