Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced on Friday that the tech giant will cut 12,000 jobs worldwide.
With the announcement of layoffs, Google becomes the latest tech giant after Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon to lay off employees amid the global economic downturn.
What did Google CEO Pichai say?
In an email to employees, the Indian-origin CEO said, “I have some difficult news to share. We have decided to reduce our workforce by approximately 12,000 roles.”
Pichai said the layoffs at Google were done after a “rigorous review” of its operations. Jobs are being eliminated as “cuts across alphabets, product areas, functions, levels and regions”.
Pichai noted in his mail, “Over the past two years, we’ve seen a period of dramatic growth. To match and fuel that growth, we’ve hired for a different economic reality than we have today. ” Company news blog.
Big cut in jobs in IT sector
Earlier this week, Microsoft announced 10,000 job cuts, or about 5 percent of its workforce.
Amazon is also cutting 18,000 jobs and Facebook parent Meta is reducing 11,000 positions.
I am deeply sorry: Pichai
“I am deeply sorry for this. The fact that these changes will affect the lives of Googlers weighs heavy on me, and I take full responsibility for the decisions that got us here,” he elaborated.
Digital consumption soared during the pandemic years, prompting companies to diversify portfolios and increase hiring.
But as consumers cut their digital footprint as normalcy returned after the pandemic, companies were forced to restructure and cut costs.
Pichai said he was convinced of the huge opportunity for the company because of “our early investments in AI,” which will require Google to make tough choices.
“As a nearly 25-year-old company, we are bound to go through tough economic cycles. This makes sharpening our focus, re-engineering our cost base and building our talent and capital among our top priorities,” Pichai said. There are important moments to direct.
“Being constrained in some areas allows us to bet big on others. Pushing the company to be AI-first has driven unprecedented progress across our businesses and the industry as a whole,” he said.
In the US, Google will pay employees during the full notification period (minimum 60 days), 16 weeks’ pay plus a two-week severance package for each additional year at Google, and 6 months of health care, job placement services , and immigration assistance for those affected.
“In other countries, the process will take longer due to local laws and practices,” he said.
“This will mean saying goodbye to some incredibly talented people we worked hard to hire and loved working with. I am deeply sorry. The fact that these changes will affect the lives of Googlers, It weighs heavily on me, and I take full responsibility for the decisions that got us here, Pichai said.
A day before Google’s announcement, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said his company would lay off less than five percent of its total workforce as the technology giant aligns its cost structure with revenue and customer demand.
“Today, we are making changes that will result in a reduction of 10,000 jobs across our total workforce” by the end of the third quarter of fiscal year 2023.
Describing the present times as a “significant change”, Nadella said that customers who accelerated their digital spending during the pandemic are now adapting to reduce their digital spending.
Nadella said the next big wave of computing is being born with advances in artificial intelligence, “as we transform the world’s most advanced models into a new computing platform.” The bloodshed that started last year in the tech sector continues till 2023.
meta cut jobs
Meta, the parent of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, laid off more than 11,000 employees in November last year, or about 13 per cent of its workforce.
“I want to take accountability for these decisions and how we got here. I know this is hard for everyone, and I am especially sorry for those affected,” Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said earlier. Said.
(with PTI inputs)
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