Google’s parent company Alphabet lays off 6% of its workforce, totaling 12,000 jobs

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has announced that it will be eliminating around 12,000 jobs, which is 6% of its workforce. This move is the latest in a series of job cuts that have shaken the technology sector recently.

The cuts come days after rival Microsoft said it would lay off 10,000 workers.

In a memo to staff, Sundar Pichai, Alphabet’s CEO, stated that the company had expanded its headcount rapidly in recent years in anticipation of a different economic reality than the one that is currently faced. Pichai took full responsibility for the decisions that led to the current situation.

The cuts will impact teams across the company, including recruiting, corporate functions and some engineering and products teams. The layoffs are global and will take effect immediately for U.S. staff, while the process will take longer in other countries due to local employment laws and practices.

Despite the job losses, Pichai expressed confidence in the huge opportunity in front of the company, thanks to the strength of its mission, the value of its products and services, and its early investments in artificial intelligence.