Jan 20 (Portal) – Google’s parent Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) is cutting about 12,000 jobs, or 6% of its workforce, the company said on Friday, in the latest cuts to shake up the tech sector.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in an employee memo shared with Portal that the company has rapidly expanded headcount in recent years “for a different economic reality than the one we face today.”
“I take full responsibility for the decisions that brought us here,” he said.
The cuts come days after competitor Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) announced it would lay off 10,000 workers.
Alphabet’s job cuts will affect teams across the company, including recruiting and some corporate functions, as well as some engineering and product teams.
The layoffs are global and will directly impact US employees.
Alphabet has already emailed affected employees, the memo said, while in other countries the process will take longer due to local labor laws and practices.
The news comes at a time of economic uncertainty and technological promise, during which Google and Microsoft have invested in a burgeoning software area known as generative artificial intelligence.
“Thanks to the strength of our mission, the value of our products and services, and our early investments in AI, I am confident in the great opportunity that lies ahead,” Pichai said in the statement.
Portal was the first to report the news.
Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in Davos, Switzerland; Edited by Elaine Hardcastle and Alexander Smith
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