Google — Employees Found Out from Badge Access

When Google cut 12,000 jobs in January 2023, some employees learned of their termination not from their managers but when their office badges stopped working at 6 AM. The silent deactivation affected roughly 1 in 4 laid-off workers, making it less transparent than #1 Twitter’s mass email but equally disorienting. Overall, 6% of Google’s workforce was axed, a higher percentage than #4 Meta’s first round. Many discovered their accounts locked while commuting, highlighting a cold, automated process that prioritized efficiency over humanity.