Google will lay off 12,000 jobs

Google’s parent company Alphabet has become the latest tech giant to start shrinking after years of growth and hiring, announcing it will lay off nearly 12,000 people, more than 6 percent of the global workforce.

“We take full responsibility for the decisions that got us here,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in an email to employees today, saying the layoffs will affect all companies globally.

TECH GIANTS ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE

Pichai sent an email: “These are; “These are key moments to sharpen our focus, restructure our cost base and direct our capital towards our top priorities.”

With the layoffs, Google joins a number of other tech giants that have scaled back operations amid recession concerns and rising inflation. Meta, which previously owned Facebook and Instagram, social media company Twitter and e-commerce giant Amazon were also companies to shrink.

The company, which has many services, including the YouTube video platform, the Gmail email service and the Google search engine, has been experiencing serious problems recently due to slowdowns in digital advertising.

THE COMPANY IS REDUCING ITS EXPENSES

In October, the company reported earnings and revenue that missed expectations. The company’s profit fell 27 percent from a year earlier to $13.9 billion. Pichai announced that Google would cut spending, while Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat said the number of new jobs would be cut in half.

Google had made a number of cost-cutting moves in recent months, canceling the next-generation Pixelbook laptop. On the other hand, the cloud-based gaming service Stadia has also been permanently shut down. Verily, Alphabet’s biotech unit, also laid off 15 percent of its employees earlier this month.