Google has terminated approximately 20 more employees for their involvement in protests against the company's cloud computing deal with the Israeli government.
This brings the total number of workers fired over the past week regarding this issue to over 50, according to the activist group representing the workers.
A Google spokesperson confirmed the additional terminations, stating that they were the result of an ongoing investigation into the April 16 protests, which included sit-ins at Google's offices in New York City and Sunnyvale, California.
These terminations follow a companywide memo from chief executive Sundar Pichai, who warned employees against using the company as a "personal platform" or engaging in disruptive issues or political debates.
The firings have sparked criticism from groups like No Tech for Apartheid, which has been protesting Google's and Amazon's contracts with the Israeli government since 2021, accusing Google of attempting to suppress dissent and silence its workers.
The protests at Google are part of a broader wave of opposition to U.S. government and corporate collaboration with the Israeli government and military.
Recent days have seen pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at Yale and Columbia universities, with accusations of heavy-handedness by university officials leading to further demonstrations at colleges nationwide.
Preceding the Google sit-ins, activists staged blockades of highways, bridges, and airport entrances across the United States to protest the war in Gaza.
The situation at Google has escalated into a public dispute between management and the fired employees.
Google contends that each terminated worker actively disrupted its offices, but the workers dispute these claims, asserting that some of those fired did not even enter the company's offices on the day of the coordinated demonstrations.
While Google has previously fired employees for public criticism, this incident represents an unusually large number of terminations at once.
The company, long known for its open and collaborative office culture, now faces scrutiny over its handling of dissent. Pichai, in his memo, emphasized the importance of open discussion within the company but clarified that such discussions should be focused on work topics, not politics.