Google’s parent Alphabet Inc said it is cutting about 12,000 jobs, or 6 percent of its workforce, as the technology sector reels from layoffs and companies stake their futures on artificial intelligence,
Alphabet’s shares rose almost 4 per cent in pre-market trading.
The cuts come at a delicate moment for the US company, which has long been the leader in key areas of AI research.
Alphabet now faces a challenge from Microsoft Corp in a branch of tech that can, for instance, create virtually any content a user can think up and type in a text box.
Microsoft this week said recession worries were forcing it to shed 10,000 jobs, less than 5 percent of its workforce, and would focus on imbuing its products with more AI going forward – a point Alphabet’s CEO Sundar Pichai echoed in a staff memo.
Pichai told staff in a memo that the firm had reviewed its products, people and priorities, leading to job cuts across geographies and tech.
“Over the past two years we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth. To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today,” he said.
“The fact that these changes will impact the lives of Googlers weighs heavily on me, and I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us here.”
Pichai became Alphabet CEO in 2019.
Still, he said, Google was gearing up “to share some entirely new experiences for users, developers and businesses,” and the company has “a substantial opportunity in front of us with AI across our products”.
Alphabet’s job losses affect teams across the company including recruiting and some corporate functions, as well as some engineering and products teams.
The layoffs are global and impact US staff immediately.
In the memo, Pichai said US employees would be paid during the full notification period – a minimum of 60 days.
A severance package starting at 16 weeks’ salary, and two weeks for every additional year at Google, will also be provided.
Alphabet will continue to pay 2022 bonuses and any remaining vacation time employees might have.
The company will also offer six months of “healthcare, job placement services and immigration support” for those affected.
Source: Reuters
