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Google lays off 31 massage therapists as part of major staff cuts

02 Feb 2023 Google has let go of 31 massage therapists after senior leadership cut its global staff base by 12,000 employees.

According to California state documents, the massage therapists were laid off from four of the company’s California locations. Twenty-seven masseuses have been let go from the Mountain View corporate HQ, while Los Angeles lost two, and both the San Bruno and Irvine campuses have let go of one therapist each.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and its parent company Alphabet, recently announced the cuts in an email to Google staff.

“Over the past two years, we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth. To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.”

Roles affected included those across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels and regions.

Google has long been known for its employee perks including free massages, on-site medical care, cookery classes, daily fitness classes and more. However, the therapist lay-offs suggest the company could be rolling these back.

But – bearing in mind Google’s flair for creative tech solutions – Spa Business anticipates these lay-offs may not spell the end of workplace spa treatments for Google employees.

In future, these could instead be replaced by new touchless wellness experiences requiring no staff, such as robotic AI massage tables or VR headsets for guided meditation and breathwork.