Alphabet's layoffs came only days after Microsoft announced a 10,000-person layoff.
Digital Desk: Google's parent Alphabet Inc is eliminating about 12,000 jobs, or 6% of its workforce, it said Friday, as Silicon Valley reels from recent layoffs and faces a troubled outlook.
Alphabet, whose stock jumped 3% in pre-market trade, is making the changes as the business faces a challenge to its long-held position atop the technology sector.
For years, Alphabet has drawn elite talent to construct Google, YouTube, and other products that reach billions of people, but it is also competing with Microsoft Corp in generative artificial intelligence, a new field.
Alphabet's layoffs came only days after Microsoft announced a 10,000-person layoff.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai informed employees in a memo that the company had assessed its products, people, and priorities, resulting in job losses across geographies and technologies. It had aggressively expanded for better times but now confronted "a new economic reality".
"The reality that these changes will have an impact on the lives of Googlers weighs deeply on me, and I accept full responsibility for the decisions that brought us here," Pichai stated.
The job reductions at Alphabet touch teams across the organization, including recruiting, some corporate operations, and some engineering and product teams.
The cutbacks are global in scope and have a direct impact on US employees.
According to the message, Alphabet has already emailed concerned employees, but the procedure would take longer in other countries due to local employment rules and norms.
The announcement comes at a time of economic instability as well as technological promise.
"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," Pichai said.
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