The parent company of Google, Alphabetwill cut approx 12,000 employeesi.e. the 6% of the workforcethe CEO said in a note to employees, Sundar Pichai.
In addition, Pichai noted in the note that the company has rapidly expanded its headcount in recent years “due to an economic reality different from the one we face today. Me I take full responsibility of the decisions that brought us here,” he concluded.
Google joins Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, fires 12,000 employees
The cuts come two days after rival Microsoft announced it was laying off 10,000 employees. The job cuts announced by Alphabet will affect all departments of the company, including human resources, the engineering team and product teams.
The layoffs are global and effective immediately for US personnel, while the process will take longer in other countries due to local employment laws and practices.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google has sent an email to affected employees, according to the memo released by Sundar Pichai.
“I am confident of the tremendous opportunity in front of us due to the strength of our mission, the value of our products and services, and our first investments in artificial intelligence“, Pichai said in the statement.
The decision to downsize the workforce comes amid a period of economic uncertainty and technological promise, in which Google and Microsoft have invested in generative AI.
The layoffs have hit companies across the tech sector, Amazon.com announced the dismissal of 18,000 people. A few weeks ago too Salesforce announced plans to fire 8,000 employeesi.e. the 10% of the global workforce, marking the largest reduction in the number of employees in the company’s history.
Tuesday, Unity Software he stated he would fire 284 employees. The provider of tools for creating games and other applications previously announced layoffs in June when it cut about 225 seats of work.