All that was missing was him. Google announced on Friday the elimination of around 12,000 jobs worldwide, becoming the last American technology giant to initiate a large-scale social plan.
“Over the past two years, we’ve had periods of dramatic growth,” Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, said in an email to employees. “To support and fuel this growth, we hired in an economic context different from that which we know today”, he added, specifying that the economic situation forced the company to reduce the workforce.
Alphabet had nearly 187,000 employees worldwide at the end of September 2022. The cuts therefore represent just over 6% of its total workforce. They will be done “in all departments, functions, levels of responsibility and regions,” said Sundar Pichai. The American employees concerned have already been notified. In other countries, the procedure will take more time. depending on local labor law.
Before Alphabet, other American tech pillars, such as Microsoft, Meta (parent company of Facebook and Instagram) or Amazon, have announced massive layoffs in recent months. The sector is facing a difficult period in an environment of inflation and rising interest rates.