Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

According to news on April 6, after announcing the largest layoffs in history, large American technology companies are facing a new problem: how to cut staff in Europe.

In the United States, companies can announce massive layoffs, and hundreds or even thousands of employees may be laid off within months, and many companies have already done so. However, European labour protection laws are stricter, and in some countries it is almost impossible to fire employees without prior consultation with employee interest groups.

This has created uncertainty for thousands of scientific and technological workers who are not sure whether they will be affected by indefinite negotiations.

In France, Google's parent company, Alphabet, is in talks with employees about leaving voluntarily, and the company is willing to offer generous compensation to achieve its attrition target, according to people familiar with the matter. To get senior executives to resign, Amazon offered a reward of up to a year's salary and cashed in outgoing employee shares as bonuses.

France and Germany have the strictest labour laws in the European Union. Google is in talks with the Labor Board, a group of internally elected employee representatives who negotiate with management on labor issues. By law, companies are required to negotiate with these committees before implementing layoffs, which often takes a long time, including procedures such as information gathering, negotiations and complaints.

As a result, if there are layoffs, Google's branches in Germany and France will eventually be affected and may not even be laid off.

Google acknowledged that negotiations were under way, but said it would not cut jobs in Romania, Greece or Austria.

"We are dealing with it cautiously, country by country, to fully comply with local laws because there are different legal requirements in different locations, which are complex and take time," a Google spokesman said.

In Paris, Google has about 1600 employees, and the union is negotiating with the company about how many employees and what types of employees will be included in the voluntary collective departure plan. It could take weeks for a solution to come out, and in the meantime, business as usual, according to people familiar with the matter. Management has made it clear that it will not force any employees to leave, according to an anonymous employee.

Compared with other countries, Britain's labor law protection measures are more relaxed. Matthew Waley, the Unite union representative, said about 500 of Google's 8000 employees would be forced to leave, equivalent to 6 per cent of the company's global layoff target. Negotiations between the union and the company will reach a confidential departure agreement, but the number of departures is not within the scope of the negotiations. Mr Wiley said unions were dissatisfied with the company's attempt to comply with the minimum standards of the law.

Dublin and Zurich face a similar situation. Google plans to lay off 240 employees, and 200 are expected to lose their jobs in Zurich, the union said.

To speed up the negotiation process, the union recently set up transnational Google working committees in European countries, including the UK and Switzerland. The committee is expected to become operational within six months and will become a strong collective voice for future negotiations. According to Wiley, this represents "a major change" because the company will have to inform employees in advance of plans to reorganize the organization. The European working committee is made up of Google employees for a term of four years. Committee members will keep in touch with Google's management and will be based in Dublin, according to the document.

Although Google has employees all over the world, the standards of treatment in different countries have not caused conflicts among employees. "people have realized that the standards of treatment in the United States, France and Germany are different," said Parul Koul, a Google software engineer and executive chairman of the Alphabet workers' union in New York. " He added: "it is encouraging for Americans to see different practices in other countries, and it provides a blueprint for them to fight for their rights and interests."

In continental Europe and the UK, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta employ more than 170000 full-time skilled workers, but software engineers earn only half as much as their US counterparts.

It is reported that Amazon France has about 1500 office workers in Paris, and some senior managers who have worked for five to eight years have been offered a year's salary and can choose to leave. Former employees are allowed to stay at the company during their "gardening leave" until Amazon's stock restrictions are lifted and bonuses are paid in May.

It is reported that Amazon's employee turnover compensation standard in the past few years is very low, receiving less than one month's compensation for each year of work.

Amazon's German branch has begun firing employees who are still on probation and offering voluntary departures, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Another person familiar with the matter said that at Amazon's Luxembourg branch, former employees are paid one month a year for their service and receive additional subsidies under national law. The layoff proposal began in the middle of last month, and departing employees will leave on April 1 or June 1, depending on whether they participate in a two-month internal job window.

An Amazon spokesman declined to comment on specific cases. But Andy Jassy, Amazon's chief executive, said in January that the company would communicate with affected employees or applicable employee representative bodies with a view to finding the best solution.

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