YouTube Music workers laid off after Cognizant contract ends
A contract between professional services company Cognizant and tech company Alphabet ended Thursday, leading to layoffs of YouTube Music workers, Cognizant said in a statement to KXAN.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A contract between professional services company Cognizant and tech company Alphabet ended Thursday, leading to layoffs of YouTube Music workers, Cognizant said in a statement to KXAN.
Cognizant and Google both tell KXAN that the contract reached its planned expiration date.
"These associates will become part of our deployable talent pool, better known as our ‘bench,’ where they are given seven weeks of dedicated, paid time to explore other roles within the organization and build new skills through our training ecosystem," said Cognizant in a statement. "Our priority is our people, and we will continue to provide support to our associates as they find their next project."
In April 2023, the National Labor Relations Board announced that the YouTube Music Content Operations Team, won its election for a union.
During its scheduled meeting on Thursday, the Austin City Council passed a 9-1 resolution in support of the laid off workers.
"While workers were at City Hall testifying, they received word that their team had been laid off. Instead of getting the chance to stay and celebrate the passage of their resolution, they instead needed to leave to go retrieve their personal belongings from their office," the Council's statement reads. "Now, many of the workers feel that they could lose their homes due to the sudden and unexpected layoff, which some of them believe could be retaliation for standing up today."
A Google spokesperson called it a "business-as-usual contract end," dismissing suggestions of a premature end as false.
“As we’ve shared before, these are not Google employees," a Google spokesperson said. "Cognizant is responsible for these workers' employment terms, including staffing. As is the case here, contracts with our suppliers across the company routinely end on their natural expiry date, which was agreed to with Cognizant."