Google Laid Off Head of Mental Health and Wellbeing | Hacker News Reader

Google Laid Off Head of Mental Health and Wellbeing

businessinsider.com

33 pointsresource0x10 comments

Business Insider has been terribly clickbaity recently. Is this a recent trend? I have even seen it from CNBC. I was only curious to see why it was such a big news, and I got baited.

Laying off the head of mental health seems like a stupid decision morale wise, but the article doesn't say if they are reducing any mental wellbeing programs or benefits. There could be any number of conclusions to be drawn - from someone else taking over the department, to its not a priority.

Google could cut at least 30-50% more of staff and be just fine. They need to shut down their "moonshots" as none have yielded any appreciable return for shareholders. Just shut them all down, starting with Waymo. Focus back on the core business: ads. Get rid of anything and everything that doesn't directly contribute to serving ads. Do away with all the cafeterias, maker spaces and the ridiculous swimming pool and restaurant on their campus. Shut down the kitchens and replace snack areas with vending machines.

I also think Google could get away with paying employees a lot less. You don't need to be a genius rock star to serve ads. They don't need the top of the market, and in fact it has been shown that strategy has failed them as a business. Shut down anything & everything that isn't making money TODAY.

Why? Google has record profits

Forgive what may be a contrarian position but why is this even a role in a corporation?

It's the first time I've heard of this role in any firm. Employees at big corps like this usually get good private medical - is this not sufficient?

This is such a stupid decision. Cut the free food and perks, fine. But at a time of historical uncertainty, with large number of folks suffering from the after effects of the pandemic… it makes very little sense to cut this.

The article gives no info to draw any conclusions though.

The person mentioned in the article basically just got the job (July 2021) so it doesn't sound like they are ruining something deeply rooted. Maybe the person did a terrible job, coming from finance. Maybe they overhired during the pandemic and are now downsizing as things have gone back to normal. Maybe they realised that employees don't want to talk about their mental issues with their employer. Maybe they did a similar thing as Spotify and hired people with the sole purpose of cheering people up and figured it was a waste of money.

Incredibly, I’ve met and worked with the person in the article and she was incredibly helpful in a very difficult situation. I think Google letting her go is pretty dumb.

Having a head of Mental Health and Wellbeing may imply that you could be responsible for MHW.

This comes to you courtesy of the lawyers, who are still on retainer.

I've never worked at a company that had a head of mental health and wellbeing. Is this a common position?

lol great way to send a message to your employees. It's one thing to fire and replace, but to just drop the position? Holy cow!

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