By Paramita Datta
Reports indicate that Google has terminated over 200 AI employees who were requesting increased pay and improved working conditions. According to a Wired report, Google hired workers to evaluate its AI tools such as Gemini and AI Overviews.
These employees assess, revise, rewrite, and enhance the responses of the Gemini chatbot to ensure they sound more “human” and authentic. These contractors encompass writers, educators, and creatives; those with a PhD or Master’s degree are classified as top-tier.
Many of these contractors have faced underpayment and are experiencing challenging working conditions, the outlet stated. A union had been attempted by a group earlier this year, but those efforts were blocked. Although Google did not clarify the rationale for the job cuts, it informed employees that it was “scaling back on the project.” The contractors claim that the layoffs were a reaction to their grievances. Several of the employees who were laid off have lodged a complaint with the National Labour Relations Board, alleging they were terminated unjustly.
The contractors were seeking job stability as they labored under high-pressure goals while receiving low wages. As talks about these complaints escalated among them, Google had prohibited them from utilizing internal social channels in February.
Reports said that tech giant Google had laid off more than 200 contractors working on its artificial intelligence projects, including Gemini and AI Overviews. The move reportedly sparked concerns about job security, low pay, and retaliation against unionisation efforts. According to multiple sources cited by WIRED, the workers, who had been hired to train and refine Google’s AI systems, were abruptly terminated last month, with the cuts carried out in at least two separate rounds and with little or no prior warning.
One contractor, Andrew Lauzon, said he had simply been cut off after receiving an email on August 15 informing him that his contract had ended. He added that when he asked for a reason, he was told the termination was due to a “ramp-down on the project,” though he was unclear what that meant. Lauzon, who had joined Hitachi-owned GlobalLogic in March 2024, explained that he had been involved in rating and improving outputs from Google’s Gemini chatbot and other AI tools. He further remarked that it was difficult to feel secure in such employment when workers knew they could be dismissed at any moment.
Labour researchers noted that the scenario demonstrated a wider trend in the AI industry, where contract workers were essential in developing advanced systems but frequently received little recognition, insufficient pay, and inadequate protections. They also noted that comparable issues were occurring in other areas, with data laborers in Kenya and content moderators in Turkey and Colombia advocating for improved working conditions.