Google is extending the contracts of temp workers whose jobs were about to end during the pandemic — starting with the hundreds that were due to leave this week (GOOG)

Sundar Pichai

Google is extending the contracts of temporary workers whose jobs were due to end during the pandemic.
The company is keeping workers who were due to end from March 20 onwards on for an extra two months.
Workers had raised concerns internally that workers might have to start looking for other jobs amid an unprecedented outbreak and economic downturn.
600 temporary Google workers had been due to end their roles at the company this week.
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Google is extending the contracts of its temporary workers whose jobs were due to end during the coronavirus pandemic.

On Tuesday, the Silicon Valley-based search engine giant informed its workers it would be extending the contracts of all workers due to end on March 20 or later by an extra two month "to support our temporary workforce during this unprecedented time," Business Insider has learned.

Google has more than 270,000 workers around the world, internal data shows — but roughly half of these are temporary workers, vendors, and contractors (TVCs), without all the same perks and benefits as full-time employees. Temporary workers are a subset of these, and are typically brought on for a one-year fixed-length contract, which can be extended for a maximum of two years.

As COVID-19, the coronavirus disease, has rocked businesses around the globe and sparked an severe and unexpected economic downturn, some Googlers have voiced concerns internally about what this might mean for temps whose contracts are expiring and may be forced to look for new jobs in an uncertain economy. Last week, one temp highlighted data on an internal company forum indicating that more than 600 other temp workers were due to end their roles at Google in the space of a single week as the pandemic grew.

After Business Insider reached out to Google for comment, a spokesperson said that Google has decided to extend the assignments of all temporary workers with contracts that end between March 20 and May 15 if they are legally able to, for an additional 60 days.

The company also informed workers of the change on Tuesday. "During the normal course of business, many temporary assignments are extended beyond their initial one year management — these extensions will proceed as normal," Google told workers.

"However, to support our temporary workforce during this unprecedented time, all temporary staff assignments that are scheduled to end from March 20, 2020, through May 15, 2020 will be automatically extended by 60 days from their original end date. This includes assignments that have reached their maximum length-of-service, where legally allowed."

Google also previously set up a fund that would offer paid sick leave to contractors and temp workers who couldn't work due to COVID-19 symptoms or quarantines.

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