## TL;DR
Suspended users cannot receive license changes. Unsuspend the user if they are returning, or delete the account if they are gone, then assign the license.

```text
"Google Workspace license assignment failed" suspended user
```

## Use this when
- License assignment fails and the user shows as suspended.
- A returning employee's account was suspended, not deleted.
- Offboarding automation suspended the account before licensing ran.

## Not for this skill when
- The user should stay suspended. Look at archived user licenses instead of assigning.
- The user is active. Then the failure has another cause.
- The org is out of licenses. That is a purchasing problem.

## Steps
1. Confirm the user is suspended in the Admin console. Verify: the status is actually suspended.
2. Decide: unsuspend for a returning user, delete for a departure. Verify: the decision matches HR reality.
3. Apply the status change. Verify: the account reflects it.
4. Retry the license assignment. Verify: it succeeds.
5. If this was offboarding gone wrong, confirm the offboarding workflow actually completed instead of stalling at suspension. Verify: no other steps are pending.

## Variant phrasings
### Google Workspace suspended license error
The product-first phrasing.
### cannot license suspended user
The plain-English search.
### assign license failed Google
The generic phrasing.

Compatibility: Google Workspace Admin console license management.

## Why it happens
Suspension freezes the account state, including license changes. The assignment API rejects writes to suspended accounts rather than queueing them.

## Edge cases / pitfalls
- Automated offboarding racing the license assignment: suspension lands first, assignment fails second.
- Archived User licenses as the correct answer for leavers whose data must be kept.
- Suspension via a security rule that re-suspends on unsuspend; fix the rule first.
- The user suspended in one system but active in another due to sync lag.

## Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_tBqMyj_ZPg5lZdCktzr78w