Software engineer dies after falling from 14th floor of Google's New York office
A 31-year-old software engineer has died after falling from the 14th floor of Google's office building in New York City.
The New York Police Department responded to the scene at around 11:30pm on Thursday (4 May), after receiving a 911 call reporting an unconscious person lying on the ground at 111 Eighth Avenue on West 15th Street.
The man, whose name hadn't been released pending family notification, was taken to New York's Bellevue Hospital, but was pronounced dead upon arrival.
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Sources cited by the New York Post have said handprints were found near the edge of an open-air terrace located on the 14th floor of the building, which Google has worked out of since 2010.
Police investigating the scene reportedly found no evidence of a note or security footage of the moments leading to the man's death.
The man is believed to have been a senior software engineer at the company, and his death comes after another Google employee was believed to have taken his own life in February in an apartment located close to Google's offices.
Family members set up a GoFundMe page for 33-year-old Jacob Pratt, describing him as a 'loving, kind, caring, and funny person'.
The fundraiser aimed to raise donations in honour of Pratt to be split equally between two charities; Make-A-Wish Michigan and National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Last month, the Pratt family thanked those who had donated to the fundraiser for their contributions.
"We are honestly floored at the generosity of family and friends," they wrote. "Two $6,000 donations were made to Make-A-Wish and NAMI respectively today.
"We are grateful for your support and love during this difficult time and hope Jacob's memory lives on through these two organizations."
In its most recent report in 2021, the US Bureau of Statistics said there were 307 workplace-related deaths by suicide in 2019, the highest on record.
The figures marked an increase of 1.0 percent from 2018, and an increase of 34.1 percent from 2015, when figures saw a 10-year low.
Employees at Google were hit with layoffs at the start of this year, when the company announced plans to cut 12,000 jobs.
In an email to staff, Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote: "Over the past two years we've seen periods of dramatic growth. To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today."
In a statement to UNILAD following the recent death of the employee, Google said: “We are very saddened by this tragic incident involving one of our employees. Our thoughts are with their family, and out of respect for them and their privacy, we aren’t commenting further."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123
Topics: Google, Mental Health, US News
Emily Brown