Google has taken further action in response to employee protests over its involvement with the Israeli government during the ongoing Gaza conflict. According to The Washington Post, the tech giant has terminated more than 20 additional employees, pushing the total number of dismissals to over 50.
The protests, which initially erupted at Google offices in New York and Sunnyvale, California, last week, garnered significant attention as workers voiced their opposition to the company's participation in "Project Nimbus." This project, a $1.2 billion contract, aims to provide cloud computing and artificial intelligence services to Israel, said an Axios report.
The demonstrations escalated when Google, in a decisive move, called law enforcement to intervene, leading to multiple arrests. The activist group spearheading the protests, known as No Tech For Apartheid, disclosed that Google had already fired 30 employees in the preceding week, surpassing their initial estimate of 28.
However, tensions flared further when Google initiated another round of terminations Tuesday night, targeting "over 20" additional staff members, including individuals who were not actively participating in the protests but were allegedly bystanders.
In response, Jane Chung, a spokesperson for No Tech For Apartheid, condemned Google's actions, accusing the company of attempting to suppress dissent and silence its workforce. ABC News reported that Chung criticized Google's decision to terminate over 50 employees without due process, characterizing it as an effort to assert control over its staff.
Google, however, defended its stance, stating that the dismissals were justified following an internal investigation that identified employees engaged in disruptive behavior. The company asserted that it carefully confirmed the involvement of each terminated employee in activities that disrupted workplace operations.
CEO Sundar Pichai had previously hinted at stringent measures in response to internal unrest, indicating that employees would face consequences if they impeded the company's efforts to advance its AI technology.
