Sad layoff story: Google engineer sacked 4 days after his mother passed

The mega global layoff by some of the big names in the industry has resulted in some of the saddest layoff stories the world is hearing. While the internet is full of heartbreaking layoff stories, this is one that has got tears rolling. The massive layoff of 12000 employees in Google from all across the world includes the story of a software engineer who has shared a heartbreaking story of him being sacked by the company.

Tommy York, who is now a former software engineer at Google, shares his account of the layoff experience, one that involved him being sacked just four days after his mother had passed away. York’s mother was suffering from cancer in the last stages and was on bereavement leave. When he returned from the leave, Google sacked him four days later. Of course, the company paid him his severance package as part of the layoff but York is currently without a job, just like thousands of people from various other software companies.

Google engineer was sacked after his mother died

"I was laid off from Google last week," wrote York wrote on LinkedIn. "I found out on my fourth day back from bereavement leave for my Mom, who died from cancer in December."

“I've certainly heard worse stories, including layoffs of expecting parents and of Googlers on disability leave. But it still feels like a slap in the face, like being hit when you're down,” he added.

York questions the way Google decided to layoff employees, considering that he hadn’t spend much time at the company. “It's unclear how the lay-offs were determined, and perhaps the year I had may have nudged me more towards being laid off. I started at Google in December, 2021, and my Mom was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer the following February, around when the formal orientation ended and I was put on projects.”

“I will say this: onboarding at Google is challenging, there's a lot of "just figure it out." It was even more difficult when also dealing with my Mom's chemo appointments, moving her in with family, or the extremely challenging last few months of her life,” he commented on the challenges of working at Google.

“There will always be more opportunities to work at exciting companies, but a parent dies only once. I'm grateful that I spent the time and energy I did with my Mom, and not overworking for a company who might decide on one cold Friday morning that my badge doesn't work anymore,” he added.

Google’s massive layoff came of as a result of “careful consideration” to help the company with its earnings. The trend was initiated late last year by Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk, who fired employees from all across the world, including India.