Google’s parent company is to cut 12,000 jobs worldwide as global big tech firms continue to adjust to the post-pandemic world.
Recruiting, various corporate functions, engineering and products teams would be subject to job losses which will affect about 6% of Alphabet’s worldwide workforce.
Companies House records show there are about 5,500 Alphabet staff in the UK; it is unknown how many of these will be affected.
According to Alphabet’s chief executive, Sundar Pichai, the redundancies followed a “rigorous review” of the business. He added: “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 wrote: “While this transition won’t be easy, we’re going to support employees as they look for their next opportunity.
“Until then, please take good care of yourselves as you absorb this difficult news. As part of that, if you are just starting your work day, please feel free to work from home today.”
He thanked staff for “working so hard” in their roles and said their contributions had been “invaluable”. He said he took full responsibility for the cuts.
The cuts come days after Microsoft said it would cut 10,00 jobs, citing the shift in digital spending habits as countries have lifted Covid-19 restrictions and weaknesses in the global economy.
Alphabet also owns YouTube but it is as yet unknown how the video platform will be affected.
Other job cuts in the US tech industry in recent months include 18,000 redundancies at Amazon, 11,000 at the Facebook owner, Meta, and 8,000 at the business software company Salesforce.
On Wednesday morning, thousands of Amazon workers woke up to an email from their employer informing them their role had “been eliminated” with immediate effect.
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