The parent company of Google, Alphabet, has announced plans to reduce its workforce by cutting around 12,000 jobs worldwide, which is more than 6% of its total employees. This move comes as a result of the current economic climate and follows similar actions taken by other tech companies such as Meta Platforms, Twitter, and Amazon. Despite a strong search business, Google is facing challenges in digital advertising, and its cloud computing division is not performing as well as competitors Amazon and Microsoft. The CEO, Sundar Pichai, has taken responsibility for the decision to lay off employees in an email to staff.
In an email to employees, Pichai stated that the company is making these changes in order to focus on its most important priorities and streamline its costs. He also mentioned that there is a big opportunity for the company in the field of Artificial Intelligence and that they are investing heavily in this area despite the increasing competition.
Google has been making efforts to reduce expenses lately, including canceling the development of its next Pixelbook laptop and closing down its cloud gaming service, Stadia. At the beginning of the year, Verily, a subsidiary of Alphabet, announced it would be letting go of 15% of its employees. CEO Sundar Pichai stated that those impacted by the layoffs will be provided with 16 weeks of severance pay and six months of health benefits in the US, while employees in other countries will receive packages that comply with their local laws and regulations.
