The parent company of Google, Alphabet, announced that it will cut 12,000 jobs, or 6% of its workforce, in the most recent layoffs to shake the technology industry.
In a staff memo, Alphabet’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, explained that the company had recent times rapidly increased headcount “for a different economic reality than the one we face today.”
“I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us here,” he said.
Days earlier, rival Microsoft announced it would fire 10,000 employees.
Teams across the company, including recruiting, some corporate functions, as well as some engineering and product teams, are impacted by job losses at Alphabet.
The layoffs are widespread and immediately affect US employees. How the cuts will affect Ireland, where Google employs 7,000 people and owns several buildings in Dublin, is not yet clear.
While the process will take longer in other countries due to local employment laws and practises, Alphabet has already emailed the affected employees, according to the memo.
The announcement comes at a time when both the economy and technology are showing great promise, and Google and Microsoft have been making investments in generative artificial intelligence, a new field of software.
Pichai wrote in the note, “I am confident about the huge opportunity in front of us thanks to the strength of our mission, the value of our products and services, and our early investments in AI.