Originally published at: Dream job nightmare: Google leaves new hire jobless and without an apartment | Boing Boing
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i wonder if he’ll get severance, or even any compensation for moving costs ( which would normally get reimbursed. )
he’s probably wondering the same thing 
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In university a friend of mine got a scholarship from Google and they were complete dicks about everything, especially when he showed a shocking lack of gratitude and had the nerve to ask for the money he had been promised. So this sounds exactly what I would expect from Google.
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I expressed surprise on a previous post where something like this happened but it turns out this is more common than people think; big companies can get away with the reputation hit because of course they can.
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And I thought a contract was binding on both parties. Silly me.
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Don’t be evil.
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I had a parallel experience, though on a somewhat different scale.
A large international manufacturer (construction materials) offered me a position with a good salary and benefits package. I left my prior employer – of 10+ years – and took a couple weeks off before starting my new position. In the intervening time the economic downturn of 2008 took hold and my to-be employer laid off a couple thousand people on the manufacturing side and imposed a hiring freeze across the entire company. Though I was to work as an engineer in support of their sales team, the hiring freeze meant that the offer of employment was no longer valid, written offer notwithstanding.
Luckily for me, the offer had come from a VP of the company and he went to bat for me. While I didn’t get a “job”, I did get a consulting contract. They even paid for me to set up and furnish a home office, file all the necessary paperwork, get insurance, etc. In the end, I was earning more and had the easiest transition from wage earner to self-employed there ever was.
I somehow suspect that the subject of this article will not be so lucky.
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Oh, not to worry, I’m sure there’s some fine print somewhere in the contract that covers this situation (and screws over the employee)!
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Surprised UK allows this. It’s absolutely 100% legal in the US. I know because I had this happen on a hire of mine last year and had to throw a Karen-level fit for a month to get it overturned.
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Wow, that is really harsh.
I have to wonder about his visa. I don’t know it works in the UK, but for the US he would have to have had the work visa sponsored by Google before getting on the plane. Once he landed and they terminated his contract though, he’s now overstaying that visa and must self-deport (or at least is supposed to- few people actually do). That means getting a new job could be quite difficult and he has nowhere to go back to.
Wow, I feel for this guy. What a terrible situation.
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Almost two years ago I spent 6 months going through Google’s interview process before eventually deciding that I really didn’t want to pull up and move to NYC or the Bay area, because what if things didn’t work out.
I’ve spent the last several months grateful that I made that decision.
I hope that things work out for this person, because that really really sucks
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I suspect it is not legal in the UK. He’ll probably have to go to the UK and take Google to the Employment Tribunal to get anything back though.
I wonder if a Russian can even do that right now?
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Could that have been their motivation to try and get away with it? Google’s pretty much a mustache twirling villain most days.
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This kind of thing is definitely not allowed in Japan, where Google would be forced to reinstate him or else get in front of a judge and say that they are facing a solvency crisis that makes his hiring impossible (or something of that magnitude).
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Holy hell. I’m the one at work always telling people “until the contract is signed by everyone, you don’t have a contract.” Because shenanigans.
This is a whole new level of shenanigans.
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Thank you for making the world a bit better. Seriously.
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