Google's AI Contractors Face Mass Layoffs Amid Labor Disputes and Automation Concerns

Hundreds of Google AI Workers Were Fired Amid Fight Over Working Conditions

More than 200 contractors who worked on evaluating and improving Google's AI products have been laid off without warning in at least two rounds of layoffs last month. The move comes amid an ongoing fight over pay and working conditions, according to workers who spoke to WIRED. In the past few years, Google has outsourced its AI rating work -- which includes evaluating, editing, or rewriting the Gemini chatbot's response to make it sound more human and "intelligent" -- to thousands of contractors employed by Hitachi-owned GlobalLogic and other outsourcing companies. Most raters working at GlobalLogic are based in the US and deal with English-language content. Just as content moderators help purge and classify content on social media, these workers use their expertise, skill, and judgment to teach chatbots and other AI products, including Google's search summaries feature called AI Overviews -- the right responses on a wide range of subjects. Workers allege that the latest cuts come amid attempts to quash their protests over issues including pay and job insecurity. These workers, who often are hired because of their specialist knowledge, had to have either a master's or a PhD to join the super rater program, and typically include writers, teachers, and people from creative fields. "I was just cut off," says Andrew Lauzon, who received an email with the news of his termination on August 15. "I asked for a reason, and they said ramp-down on the project -- whatever that means." He joined GlobalLogic in March 2024, where his work ranged from rating AI outputs to coming up with a variety of prompts to feed into the model. Lauzon says this move by the company shows the precarity of such content moderation jobs. He alleges that GlobalLogic started regularly laying off its workers this year. "How are we supposed to feel secure in this employment when we know that we could go at any moment?" he added. Workers still at the company claim they are increasingly concerned that they are being set up to replace themselves. According to internal documents viewed by WIRED, GlobalLogic seems to be using these human raters to train the Google AI system that could automatically rate the responses, with the aim of replacing them with AI. At the same time, the company is also finding ways to get rid of current employees as it continues to hire new workers. In July, GlobalLogic made it mandatory for its workers in Austin, Texas, to return to office, according to a notice seen by WIRED. This has directly impacted several workers who either cannot afford to travel to the office due to financial constraints or cannot go to work due to disabilities or caregiving responsibilities. Despite handling work they describe as skilled and high-stakes, eight workers who spoke to WIRED say they are being underpaid and suffer from lack of job security and unfavorable working conditions. These alleged conditions have impacted worker morale and challenged the ability for people to execute their jobs well, sources say. Some contractors attempted to unionize earlier this year but say those efforts were quashed. Now they allege that the company has retaliated against them. Two workers have filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging they were unfairly fired, one due to bringing up wage transparency issues, and the other for advocating for himself and his coworkers.

Google terminates 200 AI contractors -- 'ramp-down' blamed, but workers claim questions over pay and job insecurity are the real reason behind layoffs

Some believe they were let go because of complaints over working conditions and compensation. Google has laid off over 200 contractors who worked on improving its AI product offerings, Gemini, and search AI overviews, according to Wired. Some were told it was part of a "ramp-down" on the project they were working on, but others believe it was due to complaints made over pay and working conditions. These laid-off contractors join hundreds of other AI-related contractors who have been fired from other major AI firms like xAI and Meta in recent months. For the first half of 2025, AI growth was everywhere, and all the major companies were spending big to try to get ahead. Meta was offering individuals hundreds of millions to join its ranks, and entire companies were swallowed up in the race to be the first to the next big development in AI technology. But while announcements of enormous industry deals continue, there's also a lot of talk of contraction, particularly when it comes to lower-level positions like data annotation and AI response rating. In the case of Google's latest firings, the contractors mostly worked at GlobalLogic, a software developer owned by Hitachi. Per the report, workers on the 'super rater' program were required to have either a PhD or a master's, and were tasked with moderating AI responses. Google seemingly didn't need that expertise any longer, though. It has reportedly been working on developing an AI model for rating AI responses, though it's not clear if that's matured enough to take over what the human raters were doing. The Wired report even cites some workers worried "they are being set up to replace themselves." Instead, many of them believe that it is their complaints over compensation that lead to them being laid off. Wired states that workers "attempted to unionize" earlier in the year to no avail. According to the report, "they allege that the company has retaliated against them." Two have filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board. For its part, Google said in a statement that GlobalLogic is responsible for the working conditions of its employees. AI developmental companies have been repeatedly accused of using underpaid human workers to classify AI data and rate responses to improve their services. The company Meta invested almost $15 billion to poach their CEO, ScaleAI, was accused of using low-paid workers in Southeast Asian countries to build out its data annotation services. After Meta bought a 49% stake in the company, over 200 of its staff were cut. Just a few days ago, xAI also announced it was laying off around a third of its data annotation team, amounting to over 500 workers. However, unlike Google, company messaging suggests this is to pivot towards more specialist AI trainers. That may mean employment opportunities for some of the AI trainers Google let go, but it does make it clear what a shaky industry this is to get into. The big AI developers don't appear to have a coherent strategy for how to improve their products in the near term and are taking different approaches in doing so. All the firings come in stark contrast to the major AI developer hiring sprees that companies like Meta went on earlier this year. While low-paid data annotators may have limited employment prospects at the big firms, there is less concern over hiring big names and rising stars for hundreds of millions of dollars. Although Meta and others have seriously slowed their spending in recent weeks, massive expansion projects in the AI industry continue unabated.

Google lays off 200 AI contractors without warning amid worker disputes

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. What just happened? We're used to seeing companies making layoffs as a direct result of generative AI adoption these days, but it seems those helping develop the technology are also at risk. Google has laid off more than 200 contractors in the last month without warning who were working on its AI products. According to reports, the cuts come amid ongoing disputes over pay and working conditions. Google has been outsourcing its AI rating work for the last few years, writes Wired. Most of it goes to contractors employed by outsourcing companies such as the Hitachi-owned GlobalLogic. The majority of these contractors are based in the US, working with English-language content, and have a master's degree or PhD, which are required to join the super rater program. Some of the laid-off workers, whose jobs included evaluating, editing, or rewriting the Gemini chatbot's responses, were told the cuts were due to a "ramp-down" on the project. According to internal GlobalLogic documents seen by Wired, the company could be using its human raters to train an AI system that will automatically rate the responses. It's a case of humans training an AI that will eventually replace them - something we've seen before. It's also suggested that GlobalLogic is another company practicing a form of quiet firing: in July, it demanded that its workers in Austin, Texas, return to the office. As some are unable to do so for health, financial, or commitment reasons, they have been forced to resign. In what sounds unlikely to be a coincidence of timing, the cuts come amid worker protests over issues including low pay, poor working conditions, and job insecurity. It's alleged that these complaints have affected worker morale and impacted their ability to carry out their tasks well. Some contractors say there was also a quashed attempt to unionize earlier this year, and that the company is now retaliating using layoffs. "These individuals are employees of GlobalLogic or their subcontractors, not Alphabet. As the employers, GlobalLogic and their subcontractors are responsible for the employment and working conditions of their employees," a Google spokesperson told Wired "We take our supplier relations seriously and audit the companies we work with against our Supplier Code of Conduct." Those working in the AI industry have been feeling the pressure recently as companies that have invested millions or billions into the technology look to improve their returns. Elon Musk's xAI laid off 500 workers on Grok's annotation team last week. An email informed them that the firm plans to prioritize "specialist AI tutors" over generalist roles and will immediately eliminate most general tutoring positions. Data labeling firm Scale AI, meanwhile, cut around 200 full-time staff and 500 contractors after Meta invested $14.8 billion in the firm earlier this year. This happened a month before Meta offered a top AI researcher $1.25 billion to work for the firm over four years - which he rejected.

Some People Are Definitely Losing Their Jobs Because of AI (the Ones Building it)

AI might be coming for our jobs, but capitalist pressures appear to be coming for the people responsible for developing AI. Wired reported over 200 people working on Google's AI products, including its chatbot Gemini and the AI Overviews it displays in search results, were recently laid offâ€"joining the ranks of unfortunate former employees of xAI and Meta, who have also been victims of "restructuring" as companies that poured billions of dollars into AI development are trying to figure out how to make that money back. Per Wired, most of the people working on Google's AI products were contractors rather than Google employees. Many worked at GlobalLogic, a software development company owned by Hitachi. According to the report, most of the GlobalLogic workers who got cut off from Google were working as raters, working to ensure the quality of AI responses. Most are based in the US, work with English-language content, and many have a master’s or a PhD in their field of expertise. At least some workers hit by this layoff were told the cuts were the result of a "ramp-down" on the project, but at least a few workers seem skeptical of that reason. Some believe the cuts may be related to worker protests over pay and job security concerns, per Wired. The publication also reported that documents from GlobalLogic indicate the company may be using human raters to train a system that can automate the rating process, which would leave AI to moderate AI. The folks tasked with tightening up Google's AI outputs are far from the only ones in the industry getting squeezed. According to Business Insider, Elon Musk's xAI recently laid off at least 500 workers who were tasked with doing data annotation. The layoffs appear to be a part of a shuffling of efforts within the company, which is moving away from "generalist" data annotators and ramping up its "specialists." Given that Google just cut contractors who would likely fall under that "specialist" label, it probably feels a bit precarious out there. It's been a tough go for people who are actually handling the data that feeds AI tools. Shortly after Meta invested in data labeling firm Scale AI, the company cut 14% of its staff, including 200 full-timers and about 500 contractors. Meta itself is reportedly looking seriously at downsizing its AI department as it keeps shifting priorities and trying to figure out how to get a leg up in the AI race. It's also hard not to look at the layoffs of lower-level workers and contractors without thinking about the multi-million dollar job offers being thrown at AI specialists to secure their talents, but this tends to be how things go: the people doing the grunt work that must be done to keep the gears turning are considered replaceable while more and more money flows to the top to people who no one really knows what they do, but they make a lot of money so it must be important.

Hundreds of Gemini's human guiderails got the axe last month after rumblings of a union

A firm working with Google has quietly laid off more than 200 contractors tasked with training and improving its AI products, including Gemini and AI Overviews. According to a new report from Wired, the cuts took place in at least two rounds last month and blindsided workers who say they received little to no notice before being terminated. Some affected contractors had recently begun working to form a union for more consistent pay and benefits. Contracting firms continue to fight worker organization "This is the playbook," say industry experts The affected workers were part of a group of "super raters" employed by GlobalLogic, a Hitachi-owned outsourcing firm that has supplied Google with human evaluators for years. Their job was to rate, rewrite, and refine AI outputs to make Gemini sound more human, as well as test Google's AI-generated search summaries for accuracy and usefulness. In other words, these were the people teaching Google's AI to act less robotic. Now, many of them are out of work. "I was just cut off," said Andrew Lauzon, a recently terminated rater who joined GlobalLogic in March. "I asked for a reason, and they said ramp-down on the project -- whatever that means." The layoffs come after months of worker frustration over pay disparities, job insecurity, and increasing pressure to hit performance metrics that some say compromise quality. According to multiple workers, GlobalLogic has been gradually ramping up automation in the very systems these raters are helping train, leading some to believe they are effectively working on their own replacements. Internal documents seen by Wired suggest that Google's goal is to automate response rating entirely, potentially reducing the need for human oversight in the future. "We're like the lifeguards on the beach," one rater told the publication. "We're there to make sure nothing bad happens." Adding to the tension, workers say that attempts to unionize were met with resistance. Several claim that GlobalLogic deleted online discussions about pay parity and eventually banned social channels used by remote workers. Two contractors have filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging retaliation and wrongful termination. Google, for its part, emphasized that these individuals are not direct Alphabet employees. "As the employers, GlobalLogic and their subcontractors are responsible for the employment and working conditions of their employees," a Google spokesperson told Wired and reiterated to Android Police. GlobalLogic declined to comment to Wired. For now, the remaining raters say morale is at an all-time low -- and they worry they could be next on the chopping block.

200 Google AI workers were reportedly laid off

Google recently laid off about 200 Google contractors who helped moderate and improve AI products. The news came from Wired, which reported more than 200 workers had "been laid off without warning in at least two rounds of layoffs last month." The tech-focused magazine spoke with a number of the workers, who alleged the layoffs followed issues over pay and job security. These contractors, Wired noted, are specialists -- holding a master's or a PhD -- who use their expertise to help teach and moderate AI products like chatbots, or Google's AI Overviews. The workers, meanwhile, alleged unfavorable working conditions, with two former employees taking complaints to the National Labor Relations Board alleging they were unfairly fired. "These individuals are employees of GlobalLogic or their subcontractors, not Alphabet," Courtenay Mencini, a Google spokesperson, told Wired in a statement. "As the employers, GlobalLogic and their subcontractors are responsible for the employment and working conditions of their employees. We take our supplier relations seriously and audit the companies we work with against our Supplier Code of Conduct."

Google layoffs: Over 200 Google AI workers fired amid pay disputes and automation concerns - The Economic Times

Over 200 contractors who worked on evaluating and improving Google's AI products, including Gemini and AI Overviews, have been laid off, according to a report by Wired. The workers were let go without warning during at least two rounds of layoffs last month. The report suggests the cuts came amid ongoing disputes over pay and working conditions. Workers claim the layoffs were partly aimed at silencing their protests about low wages and job insecurity. In recent years, Google has outsourced much of its AI evaluation work to thousands of contractors hired by GlobalLogic, a company owned by Hitachi, and other outsourcing firms. Known as raters, these contractors review, edit, and improve the Gemini chatbot's responses to make them sound more natural and "intelligent". Most GlobalLogic raters are based in the US and work with English-language content. Like social media moderators, they use their skills and judgement to train chatbots and AI tools such as Google's AI Overviews, helping these systems give accurate answers across many subjects. The Wired report also says that remaining workers worry they may be training AI systems to replace themselves. GlobalLogic appears to be using human raters to teach Google's AI how to rate responses automatically, potentially making their own roles obsolete. At the same time, the company is making it harder for current staff to stay on. In July, GlobalLogic required workers in Austin, Texas, to return to the office. This decision affected some employees who cannot afford to commute or have disabilities or caregiving duties. Despite performing what they called skilled and important work, many workers say they are underpaid, face poor job security, and endure difficult working conditions. These problems have hurt morale and made it harder for staff to do their jobs well. However, a Google spokesperson told Wired: "These individuals are employees of GlobalLogic or their subcontractors, not Alphabet. As the employers, GlobalLogic and their subcontractors are responsible for the employment and working conditions of their employees. We take our supplier relations seriously and audit the companies we work with against our Supplier Code of Conduct." This report comes amid other Google job cuts. The company recently cut over a third of its managers who lead small teams. Brian Welle, Google's vice president of People Analytics and Performance, said Google now has 35% fewer managers as part of efforts to reduce management layers and boost efficiency. Earlier, Google laid off 200 staff from its global business unit, which handles sales and partnerships. In April, hundreds of employees were let go from the platforms & devices unit, responsible for Android, Pixel, and Chrome. Google has also offered 'buyout' packages, encouraging staff to leave voluntarily. In June, this option was made available to employees in several departments, including knowledge and information (K&I), central engineering, marketing, research, and communications. Similar buyouts were offered earlier this year following the merger of the Android and Pixel teams.

Google Sparks Backlash After Firing Hundreds Of AI Workers Amid Disputes Over Poor Pay, Stressful Work, And Labor Rights

This year so far has revolved around AI growing rapidly and the technology expanding extensively, making tech companies entirely restructure their organizations. The growing focus on technology, however, comes with a cost, and many companies have laid off several of their employees to direct resources to artificial intelligence. Google is focused on improving its offering as well, which includes Gemini and AI Overviews; however, unlike other tech giants, it seems to be pivoting in a different direction by laying off hundreds of Google AI workers amid conflict over poor working conditions. Google is also pushing ardently to dominate the artificial intelligence market, and these efforts are now being met with controversy, not because of the products brought forward, but because of how the team behind them is treated. As per a recent Wired report, more than 200 contractors who supported Google's AI projects, including Gemini and AI Overviews, were laid off in August without any prior notice. These employees were hired through outsourcing firms and played a vital role in escalating Google's AI efforts. The responsibilities of the staff members included analyzing the AI responses, rewriting them, rating the content, and providing feedback to ensure the systems are operating seamlessly and accurately. Despite their important contributions, many faced pay disparities and poor working conditions. The super raters employees hired through GlobalLogic, for example, were paid $28 to $32 per hour, and contractors that did similar work received a different pay that ranged from $18 to $22. Several employees claimed that they had no job security and access to non-fringe benefits. It seems like tensions escalated further when employees started showing frustration over these working conditions and started considering unionization efforts. These efforts, however, did not sit well with Google, which left warnings for employees who used social platforms to discuss work conditions. Shortly after, abrupt firing began, and when one of the employees asked about it, he was given a vague statement regarding ramping down a project. Some of the team members even suggested that unrealistic tasks were assigned that were difficult to maintain and added to the workplace stress. While Google has stepped back from direct responsibility suggesting it is the job of its contractors and subcontractors to oversee day-to-day working conditions, many workers still remain disdained and claim the policies in place have done little to prevent them from the ill working experience. These layoffs tend to highlight the ongoing challenges in the AI industry, where despite the systems becoming largely autonomous, they still remain heavily dependent on human labor who are often undervalued in the process.

Over 200 Google AI subcontractors laid off after complaining about...

More than 200 of Google's subcontractors who helped test artificial intelligence products were laid off last month - with the dismissals coming after the workers had complained over low pay and poor working conditions. The ousted workers were responsible for testing Google's Gemini AI chatbot to help its responses sound more human and were employed through an outside firm called GlobalLogic, not Alphabet itself. Still, Google has faced criticism in the past over the treatment of third-party contractors under its roof. Some claim that the cuts, which occurred abruptly in two waves last month, were meant to crush long-running complaints about low pay and a lack of job security for the testers - who needed a master's or a PhD to participate in a "super rater program," which is focused on AI according to Wired. "I was just cut off," Andrew Lauzon, one of the laid-off workers, told Wired. "I asked for a reason and they said ramp-down on the project - whatever that means." At least two workers caught up in the layoffs have filed formal complaints with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that they faced retaliation for raising concerns. In total, Wired spoke to eight workers who described being underpaid or faced poor working conditions, such as being told they had just five minutes to complete individual tasks. "I don't even keep count of how many I do in a day," one worker identified as "Alex" told the outlet. "I just focus more on the timer than anything else -- it's gone from mentally stimulating work to mind-numbing." Workers had recently grown concerned that GlobalLogic was planning to replace their human testers with AI products that could perform the same task, according to Wired, which obtained internal documents that showed contractors were being used to train a Google AI system that rates chatbot responses. The outsourcing firm had reportedly taken steps that were seen as an effort to thin its ranks, such as implementing a mandatory return-to-office policy for contractors based in Austin, Texas. "How are we supposed to feel secure in this employment when we know that we could go at any moment?" Lauzon added. A Google spokesperson said the testers were temporarily assigned to provide feedback about its products and that their ratings were just one of several metrics used to track Gemini's performance. "These individuals are employees of GlobalLogic or their subcontractors, not Alphabet," the Google spokesperson said in a statement. "As the employers, GlobalLogic and their subcontractors are responsible for the employment and working conditions of their employees. GlobalLogic did not immediately return a request for comment. The problems allegedly accelerated as Google stepped up work on AI in 2023. GlobalLogic began hiring more subcontractors through third parties to meet the labor demand who were paid $18 to $22 per hour for their work - less than the $28 to $32 per hour earned by the firm's in-house "super raters." The super raters began organizing a union to seek better pay and had built a chapter with 18 members as of December 2024, according to Wired. That number ballooned to 60 by February. The workers allege that GlobalLogic clamped down on internal communications in response, including banning use of social channels during work hours. The layoffs come as Google is locked in intense competition with the likes of Sam Altman's OpenAI and Elon Musk's xAI to develop the best AI chatbot. Google has faced criticism over Gemini's habit of spitting out hallucinations full of wrong information, such as falsely claiming that Eminem performed at the funeral of Jeff Bezos's mother. At the same time, Google has conducted its own layoffs as part of internal restructuring. That includes offering "voluntary" buyouts to some remote workers while pushing a three-day-per week return to office mandate.

Google Axes 200 AI Contractors in Protest Crackdown, Fuels Debate Over Worker Rights & Pay

In 2025, almost all the big tech companies are conducting multiple rounds of job cuts. Now, this contractor layoff has raised some serious questions, leading to protests about pay disparity, job insecurity, and demanding working conditions. It's been a while since Google outsourced its AI rating work, which includes evaluating, editing, or rewriting the Gemini chatbot's response to make the answers more human-like than before. Thousands of contractors work on the training process to make more intelligent. However, the sudden blow has come to those workers who were assigned to the project by Hitachi-owned GlobalLogic. After the layoffs, workers shared their opinions on different platforms and in interviews. One of them , "I was just cut off. I asked for a reason, and they said ramp-down on the project - whatever that means." According to the contractors, they used to perform highly skilled jobs, such as evaluating AI responses, rewriting or editing output, checking correctness, and sometimes crafting prompts. A group of these laid-off contractors holds advanced degrees like Master's and PhDs. Further, their complaints reveal the disparity in paychecks. While contractors hired by GlobalLogic earned $28 to $32/hour, employees hired by other third-party companies get $18 to $22/hour for equivalent work. Two workers even complained to the US National Labor Relations Board, stating that they were fired for voicing concerns about wages or transparency.

Google quietly lets go of 200 AI contractors as labor tensions rise: Here's what we know

Pay disparities and unstable working conditions remain key concerns among affected staff. Google is again in the headlines for laying off over 200 contractors responsible for reviewing and refining Google's artificial intelligence products last month, as per workers who spoke to WIRED. These job cuts took place in at least two rounds and have raised concerns of retaliation against employees who had been pushing for higher wages and better working conditions. These staff were employed by GlobalLogic, a Hitachi-owned outsourcing firm, as well as other contractors supplying human evaluators for Google's AI tools, including its Gemini chatbot and AI Overviews in Search. Much similar to social media content moderators, these raters reviewed AI generated outputs, corrected answers and ensured the system produced safe and accurate responses. As Google's generative AI initiatives expanded in 2023, GlobalLogic began assembling a team. Despite having advanced degrees and qualifications, many workers described their jobs as low-paying, unstable, and unsatisfactory. Pay disparities were also mentioned in the reports, with some employees earning $28-32 per hour and others earning $18-22 for the same position while working for subcontractors. According to several contractors, GlobalLogic has been hiring new employees while implementing layoffs and developing AI models to replace them. The workers, as per the WIRED, suspected that the cuts are tied to organising efforts. Previously, some contractors began discussions with the Alphabet Workers Union, citing low pay and job insecurity. Membership reportedly grew from under 20 in late 2024 to around 60 by early 2025. As organizing picked up, GlobalLogic allegedly restricted access to internal communication platforms where pay equity was being discussed. At least one organizer who continued raising concerns was later dismissed for "policy violations," a decision he argues was linked to union activity. Two contractors have since filed complaints with the US National Labor Relations Board. Google said the affected workers were not its employees and that GlobalLogic and subcontractors are responsible for their conditions, the report added.