Approximately 6% of the company’s employees will be impacted by the layoff.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has announced a plan to lay off approximately 12,000 employees globally in their latest round of job cuts.
This new development follows Microsoft’s announcement of plans to lay off about 11,000 employees.
On Friday, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet Inc., announced in a blog post that the company plans to cut its workforce by around 12,000 positions.
“We have already informed employees in the US who will be affected by this decision through a separate email. In other countries, the process will take longer due to compliance with local laws and regulations. This will mean that we’ll have to part ways with some highly skilled and talented individuals whom we have worked hard to hire and have enjoyed working with. I am deeply remorseful for this. The realization that these changes will affect the livelihoods of our Googlers is a heavy burden on me, and I accept full responsibility for the choices that have led us to this point,” Pichai stated.
He stated that over the past two years, the company has experienced significant growth. He added that “I am optimistic about the vast potential ahead of us, owing to the power of our mission, the worth of our offerings, and our early investments in AI.”
“In order to fully capitalize on this opportunity, we need to make difficult decisions. We have therefore conducted a comprehensive review of our product areas and functions to ensure that our resources and positions align with our top priorities as a company. The positions we are eliminating are a result of this review, and they span across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels, and regions,” Pichai stated.
He acknowledged that the layoff is a crucial opportunity to refine the company’s priorities, optimize its costs, and redirect talent and resources to its most critical areas.
In its earnings report from October, the company reported revenue of $69 billion and profit of $13.9 billion, indicating an increase in revenue (compared to $65.1 billion the previous year) but a decrease in profits (compared to $18.9 billion in the same quarter in 2021).
Google has joined the list of tech companies implementing large-scale layoffs, with employees of Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, Salesforce, and Microsoft being impacted by this new wave of job cuts in the industry.
Layoffs
Previously in January, Salesforce revealed plans to lay off around 10% of its staff. In the previous year, Amazon cut about 3% of its corporate employees and under 1% of its worldwide workforce. In November 2022, Twitter Inc. let go of 50% of its employees as advertisers withdrew spending due to issues surrounding content moderation.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, also announced plans to lay off more than 11,000 of its employees, resulting in a reduction of the company’s workforce by roughly 13%. On Thursday, Microsoft announced similar plans to lay off approximately 11,000 employees, which would reduce the company’s workforce by about 5%.
Source: Premium Times