Google has rescinded thousands of job offers to temporary and contract workers, as the company continues to feel the sting of the pandemic

• Google has rescinded job offers to more than 2,000 contract and temporary workers who were preparing to join the company, according to a new report.
• It's the latest cost-cutting move from Google, which is seeing its advertising business battered by the pandemic.
• Many of these contractors left full-time jobs to work with Google, and must now seek employment in a tough job market.
• Do you work at Google? Contact this reporter securely using encrypted messaging app Signal (+1 628-228-1836) or email (hlangley@businessinsider.com).
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Google has rescinded job offers to more than 2,000 temporary and contract workers globally, according to The New York Times.

Google, which is seeing its advertising business hit hard by the pandemic, reportedly told thousands of people who had already signed offers with their agencies that Google could no longer employ them.

"We're slowing our pace of hiring and investment, and are not bringing on as many new starters as we had planned at the beginning of the year," Google told contracting agencies, adding it "will not be moving forward to onboard," according to The Times.

A Google spokesperson told Business Insider that the move to cut back on contractors was in line with the company's previously-announced policy to slow hiring in 2020, however Google had not explicitly said that temporary workers would be part of this scaling back.

Over half of Google's workforce is made of contractors and temp workers, but these workers, who are often contracted through external agencies, don't enjoy many of the benefits or employment protections of Google's full-time staff.

Further, much of the guidance given to contract workers can be contradictory and confusing. The pandemic has further exposed the fault lines between full-time and contract workers, with some of Google's temporary work force being denied access to benefits like childcare, as Business Insider recently reported.

The Times reported that many of those who had their contract offers with Google rescinded left full-time jobs voluntarily, and as a result delayed their ability to receive unemployment benefits.

It's the latest cost-cutting move from Google, which last month laid out several other ways it would be tightening its belt in the coming months.

It has also put hiring freezes on certain areas of the business that it deems less essential, and has slowed hiring in others, to further offset losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Do you work at Google? Contact this reporter securely using encrypted messaging app Signal (+1 628-228-1836) or email (hlangley@businessinsider.com).