Alphabet (GOOGL) stock is at $168.76 a share today, down slightly from the previous day but far higher than it was at the beginning of the year at $138.9 per share.

The company is under fire from its own employees right now who are asking when the cost-cutting plans will be scrapped amid record profits and stock price gains. Employees are complaining of heavy layoffs, pay cuts, and low worker morale. They want to know when they will start to see some of the benefits of the company’s recent profits.

Some of the complaints include the requirements to work from the office post pandemic and how there are fewer employee perks being offered now than there were a few years ago. There are concerns among the workforce that the company is losing cohesion between the employees and the management staff.

Google has yet to respond to the complaints and is having artificial intelligence scan the employee forums and summarize the complaints so that the company can prepare a response. This hands-off approach to dealing with employee dissatisfaction could have a further deleterious effect on the workforce morale.

Google Stock Buyback Plan

This has been a profitable quarter for Google, with the company pledging billions of dollars to buy back stock shares. While the stock is so high, this could be a great time for employees to cash out their shares and earn big, but it also makes investors wonder if Google can sustain its growth by spending so much at this high price point.

Google is betting on artificial intelligence in a big way, committing major resources to developing new AI tech and implementing existing AI programs into its business operations. This could prove to be a cost-effective move in the future, but it could also mean that more layoffs are incoming.