June 7 & 9, 2023

In violation of the legislation prohibiting unfair treatment and unfair dismissal of female workers due to pregnancy and childbirth, the Japanese unit of the world’s most famous search engine operator Google LLC (Alphabet’s subsidiary) has forced workers on maternity and childrearing leave to accept early retirement.

This was revealed by the Japan Metal, Manufacturing, Information and Telecommunication Workers' Union (JMITU) Alphabet Union branch at a press conference held in the Labor Ministry office building on June 6. The union said that it has requested a local labor bureau to instruct Google Japan to stop its illegal acts.

At the press conference, the JMITU Alphabet Union provided a report from a female Google Japan worker about her experience during maternity leave regarding the company’s unfair labor practice.

The worker is a mother of a 2-month-old and a 3-year-old and has nearly ten years of service with the company. One morning when she breastfed her baby, she received from the company an email regarding an individual interview. Explaining her understanding of the email, she said, “I thought, the company sent me a dismissal notice.”

The woman said that before she went on maternity leave, the company offered no information regarding its layoff plan. She went on to say that the company interviewed her four times when she was still on leave and every time tried to force her to accept an early retirement offer.

She said, “Google is one of the world’s most profitable companies and thus has no need to reduce its workforce. It is unacceptable for the company, whose motto is to create a worker- and parent-friendly working environment, to carry out massive restructuring with the use of such brutal tactics.”

Google in January announced its plan to cut 6% of jobs worldwide. Google Japan in March implemented a downsizing program and began forcing targeted workers to accept early retirements.

The JMITU estimates that Google Japan plans to dismiss approximately 200 workers.

Past related article:
> JMITU union’s fight against Google Japan’s forced resignation attempt [March 29, 2023]