20 years at Google and they get laid off GEEZE!!! Why would someone with 20 years on the job get laid off??
Getting near retirement age? It happens in a lot of places.
I spent over 40 years in commercial banking and have seen this a number of times with mergers and acquisitions. What never seems to be included in the calculation is the cost of valuable corporate memory. The temptation to use a broadsword to cut rather than a scalpel can result in huge losses in ability, memory, and clients. Try being a supervisor who has to track down a furloughed employee because nobody kept the combination to the main vault.