Alphabet, Google’s parent company has announced a job cut of 12,000 of its global workforce. The figure represents about 6 percent of the company’s global workforce. In a company-wide email to employees, CEO Sundar Pichai said that he was “deeply sorry” to workers that will be affected by the decision, and that it was a “difficult decision to set us up for the future.” The layoff will affect 12,000 of the company’s global workforce; and Pichai said he takes “full responsibility for the decisions that led us here.”
It is becoming a trend in the tech industries these days, with many companies in the US sending sizeable percentage of their workforce packing.
Pichai however, said that employees affected by the company’s decision would be paid during the full notification period of 60 days minimum. Alphabet will also offer severance packages starting at 16 weeks salary plus two weeks for every additional year at Google “and accelerate at least 16 weeks of GSU vesting.”
The company will also pay 2022 bonuses and remaining vacation time, while offering 6 months of healthcare, job placement services, and “immigration support for those affected.”
Over the last couple of months, companies like Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon have let go some of their staff in a bid to cut cost.
Last November, Mark Zuckerberg the Meta CEO announced a 13 percent job cut, with 11,000 employees asked to go. Meta, however, is not the first nor is likely to be the last to announce job cuts in the tech industry.
In a message to employees while announcing the job cut, Zuckerberg had this to say:
“Today I’m sharing some of the most difficult changes we’ve made in Meta’s history. I’ve decided to reduce the size of our team by about 13% and let more than 11,000 of our talented employees go.”
Reports of Meta’s plans to disengage some of its workforce were rife during the last couple of days, and that has now been confirmed with this announcement.
Only a couple of weeks ago, Twitter continued its downsizing by laying off some of its workforce. According to Bloomberg, Twitter laid off “at least a dozen” workers across its offices in Dublin and Singapore. Among casualties of its latest layoffs is Analuisa Dominguez, Twitter’s former senior director of revenue policy.
The report also added that workers responsible for handling its misinformation policy, as well as a handful of employees involved with the company’s global appeals process and state program were all asked to leave.
