The announcements follow Microsoft's 10,000 staff reductions in the coming months
 |
| "Economic uncertainty leads Google to reduce staff and cut expenses." |
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, became the latest US tech giant to announce large-scale restructuring on Friday, citing a shifting "economic reality" as the reason for the 12,000 global job cuts
Microsoft announced the layoffs a day after saying it would cut 10,000 employees over the next few months. Similar layoffs were made by Amazon, Twitter, and Facebook's owner Meta as the once-unstoppable tech industry battled a major economic downturn.
Over the past two years, we've experienced significant growth spurts. In an email to employees, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai stated, "We hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today to match and fuel that growth."
Pichai stated, "We've undertaken a rigorous review across product areas and functions to ensure that our people and roles are aligned with our highest priorities as a company," adding that approximately 12,000 roles would be eliminated from the workforce.
"The roles we're eliminating reflect that review's outcome."
At the end of September 2022, Alphabet had nearly 187,000 employees working all over the world. The reductions amount to slightly more than 6% of the company's total workforce.
According to Pichai, American workers have already been informed of the cuts, whereas reductions in other nations will take longer due to labor laws in those nations.
Pichai added that the reductions will occur "across departments, functions, levels of responsibility, and regions."
"I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us to this point, and the fact that these changes will affect the lives of Googlers weighs heavily on me."
Unsustainable Pichai announced severance packages for US workers, which include paid vacations, at least 16 weeks of salary, their bonus for 2022, and health insurance for six months.
Wall Street applauded the reductions: Prior to the opening of the stock market, electronic trading saw Alphabet shares rise by 3.5%.
Tech's major players, according to analysts, had previously overspent without anticipating a slowdown.
Wedbush Securities' Daniel Ives stated that the layoffs highlight reckless spending throughout a "hypergrowth" industry.
He stated, "The reality is tech titans overhired at an unsustainable rate, and now darker macro is forcing these layoffs across the tech space."
Layoffs. FYI, a tech website, says that since the beginning of 2022, nearly 194,000 people in the industry have lost their jobs in the US, not including the ones that Alphabet announced on Friday.
As widespread inflation and rising interest rates have slowed growth, Hewlett-Packard and Salesforce, a leading cloud computing company, have also made major cuts this month.
The European Union has begun enforcing regulations to stop US tech giants from avoiding taxes, stifling competition, profiting from news content without paying for it, and serving as platforms for hate speech and disinformation.
0 Comments