Google’s parent Alphabet announced it intends to eliminate 12,000 jobs, about six percent (6%) of its workforce. From a macro perspective, layoffs that began in 2022 are accelerating across technology companies.
In an email sent to staff, Google’s parent Alphabet Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai wrote that, “Over the past two years we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth,” reports Bloomberg. “To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.”
Moreover, Pichai said that he was “deeply sorry” to workers that will be let go and that it was a “difficult decision to set us up for the future.” The layoffs will be felt globally and across the entire company, and Pichai said he takes “full responsibility for the decisions that led us here.”
“Taking full responsibility without consequence seems like an empty platitude.” ~ Layed-off Google employee
Google's parent firm Alphabet will lay off 12,000 workers, its chief executive said in a staff memo shared with @Reuters https://t.co/xR6xA1kI0X pic.twitter.com/ahYvVMzcEB
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 20, 2023
With the layoffs, Google joins a host of other giant technology companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook that have announced layoffs and drastically scaled back operations amid a faltering global economy and soaring inflation, reports Bloomberg.
Despite Google’s strong ad and cloud-computing divisions, the company saw a 27 percent drop in profit last quarter compared to the year before, and Pichai said Alphabet would need to reduce expenses and hiring, reports Engadget.
As Google announced the companywide layoff, many employees had been bracing for a potential layoff and have been questioning executive leadership about the criteria for layoffs which surprised some employees, who woke up to find their access to company properties cut off, reports CNBC. Some of the laid-off employees had been long-tenured or recently promoted, raising questions about the criteria used to decide which positions were cut.
References:
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-20/google-cutting-12-000-jobs-in-6-slash-to-global-workforce
- https://www.engadget.com/google-parent-alphabet-is-laying-off-12000-employees-105523115.html
- https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/21/google-employees-scramble-for-answers-after-layoffs-hit-long-tenured.html