Google CEO Sundar Pichai spoke at a panel of the US Summit of CEOs, hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce on June 9, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
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Google sent an email to the entire company on Friday about the historic Supreme Court ruling overturning Rowe v. Wade, explaining that officials in the affected states could apply for relocation without explaining why.
“This is a profound change for the country, which deeply affects so many of us, especially women,” wrote Google’s chief human officer Fiona Chiconi in an email to workers seen by CNBC. “Google employees can also apply for relocation without reason, and those who monitor this process will be aware of the situation.”
The note does not say how many requests the company will approve and does not make promises. The company is still in the process of outsourcing relocations to employees who do not want to return to their designated physical office due to the company’s office return policy, which began in April.
Google has more than 30 locations in the United States
Cicconi also said he would provide “support sessions” to employees in the coming days.
Google’s statement comes when corporations across the country, including Amazon and Meta, say they will pay employees to travel to have abortions if they are in states where it is banned following a Supreme Court ruling on Friday. canceled Roe v. Wade, backs federal abortion law.
When the decision first expired, Google said it would provide travel benefits for employees seeking abortion care outside the country. The US compensation plan and the company’s health insurance plan for full-time employees cover non-state health care providers who are not available where the employee lives and works, Chiconi added in the note.
When CNBC asked for comment on Friday morning, a spokesman said the company had nothing to add. He did not respond to requests for comment regarding Cicconi’s email or relocation details.
The company also did not respond to requests for comment on whether it would comply with potential law enforcement requests for consumer data. Last month, a group of 42 Democrats called on Google CEO Sundar Pichai in a letter to stop collecting and storing unnecessary or non-aggregated location data that could be used to identify people seeking an abortion.
Here is the full note from Google CEO Fiona Chiconi:
Hello everyone,
This morning, the US Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade.
This is a profound change for the country that affects so many of us, especially women. Everyone will respond in their own way, whether it requires space and time for processing, speaking, volunteering outside of work, a reluctance to discuss it at all, or something else entirely. Please keep in mind how many of your colleagues feel and, as always, treat each other with respect.
Equity is extremely important to us as a company and we share concerns about the impact this decision will have on people’s health, lives and careers. We will continue to work to make reproductive health information available in our products and will continue to work to protect consumer privacy.
To support Google employees and their dependents, our U.S. plan for benefits and health insurance covers out-of-state medical procedures that are not available where the employee lives and works. Google employees can also apply for relocation without reason, and those who monitor this process will be aware of the situation. If you need additional support, contact a 1: 1 human consultant.
In the coming days, we will be organizing support sessions for Google employees in the United States. They will be published in Googler News.
Please feel free to lean on your Google community in the coming days and continue to take good care of yourself and each other.
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