Google said on Friday that it would lay off 12,000 people from its workforce, adding to a slew of major U.S. tech companies cutting jobs amid fears of an impending recession.
Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, said in an email to the company’s employees on Friday that the company will begin laying off employees in the US immediately. In other countries, the process “will take longer due to local laws and practices,” he said.
The video search and sharing giant will give employees in the United States 16 weeks of severance pay plus two weeks for every year they’ve worked at Google, Pichai added.
Tech companies are facing many challenges at the moment, especially as rising interest rates and inflation over the past year have depressed tech stock prices and forced advertisers to cut ad spending. online report.
In particular, the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike has led to an appetite for US tech stocks. The bleak macroeconomic environment in turn has put pressure on those companies to drastically cut their workforces.
On Wednesday, Amazon started a new wave of job cuts affects more than 18,000 people. That same day, Microsoft announced the plan lay off 10,000 workers.
Twitter, under the leadership of Elon Muskalso cut the company’s headcount by more than half since taking over as CEO late last year.
The move to lay off from Google Friday comes after CNBC reported on Wednesday that the company has postponed part of the employee’s year-end bonus until March or April instead of January.
Read the full memo Pichai sent employees on Friday:
Google employee,
I have some difficult news to share. We have decided to cut our workforce down to about 12,000 roles. We have sent a separate email to the affected US employees. In other countries, this process will take longer due to local laws and practices.
This means saying goodbye to some of the incredibly talented people we’ve worked so hard to recruit and love to work with. I am extremely sorry for that. The fact that these changes will affect the lives of Googlers weighs heavily on me, and I take full responsibility for the decisions that have brought us here.
Over the past two years, we have seen periods of strong growth. To accommodate and drive that growth, we recruited for an economic reality that was different from the reality we face today.
I am confident of the enormous opportunity ahead given the strength of our mission, the value of our products and services, and our early investments in AI. To fully grasp it, we will need to make tough choices. So we’ve conducted rigorous reviews of product areas and functions to ensure that our people and roles align with our highest priorities as a company. company. The roles we are removing reflect the results of that review. They cut across the Alphabet, product domain, function, level, and region.
To Googlers leaving us: Thank you for working so hard to help people and businesses everywhere. Your contributions are invaluable and we are grateful to them.
While this transition will not be easy, we will support employees as they look for their next opportunity.
United States:
- We will pay employees within full notice (minimum 60 days).
- We will also offer severance packages starting at 16 weeks pay plus two weeks for each additional year at Google and accelerating to at least 16 weeks of GSU.
- We will pay the bonus for 2022 and remaining leave.
- We will provide health care, job placement and immigration assistance for 6 months to those affected.
- Outside of the United States, we will support employees in line with local practice.
As a nearly 25-year-old company, we are bound to go through tough economic cycles. These are key times to strengthen our focus, restructure our cost base, and direct our talent and capital to our highest priorities.
Being restricted in some areas allows us to bet big on others. The company turnaround to be AI-first in previous years has led to breakthroughs in our businesses and the industry as a whole.
Thanks to those early investments, Google products are better than ever. And we’re also ready to share some brand new experiences for users, developers and businesses. We have a significant opportunity ahead of us with AI across our products and are ready to approach it boldly and responsibly.
All this work is a continuation of the “sane disregard for the impossible” that has been at the core of our culture from the beginning. Looking around at Google today, I see that same spirit and energy driving our efforts. That is why I remain optimistic about my ability to fulfill my mission, even on the most difficult days. Today is definitely one of them.
I’m sure you have many questions about how we’re going to move forward. We will hold a town hall on Monday. Check your calendar for details. Until then, take good care of yourself as you absorb this difficult news. As part of that, if you’re just starting your workday, please feel free to work from home today.
-Sunday
