Google parent Alphabet to cut 12,000 jobs as tech job losses continue

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, will cut about 12,000 jobs, as tech companies across the board continue to engage in mass layoffs.

“Over the past two years we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth,” CEO Sundar Pichai said in an email to Google employees on Friday. “To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.”

After a “rigorous review,” Pichai said they would be cutting positions across “product areas, functions, levels and regions” at Alphabet.

“As an almost 25-year-old company, we’re bound to go through difficult economic cycles,” Pichai added. “These are important moments to sharpen our focus, reengineer our cost base, and direct our talent and capital to our highest priorities.”

The company will offer severance packages to those affected by the layoffs, as well as six months of health care, job placement services and immigration support. Alphabet will also hold a town hall with employees on Monday.

The mass layoffs in Big Tech follow a hiring boom as the COVID-19 pandemic changed consumers’ purchasing habits, as well as growing concerns that the U.S. economy will soon face a recession.

Microsoft announced on Wednesday that it plans to lay off 10,000 employees, or about 5 percent of its workforce, as revenue growth slows. Amazon said earlier this month that it will cut about 18,000 roles after hiring “rapidly over the last several years.”

Updated at 7:54 a.m.