Layoffs continue at big tech companies. And it’s Alphabet’s turn. The company, parent of Google among other companies, has just announced that it will lay off approximately 6% of its workforce worldwide, which is equivalent to eliminate 12,000 jobs.
In a statement released a few hours ago by the company, the CEO of Alphabet, sundar pichaihas explained that although it is true that in the last two years the company has experienced “dramatic” growth, partly motivated by the new needs that have arisen as a result of the pandemic, now the economic conditions are very different.
Thus, in a scenario that points to the end of the “fat cows” for the technology industry and that is marked by inflation and a price of energy that is difficult to contain, Alphabet has made a decision that was actually expected by all. Employees who are laid off in the United States (where the bulk of the cuts are expected to take place) will receive severance pay of 16 weeks, plus an additional two weeks for each year they have worked for the company. In addition, they will continue to pay for their employees’ health insurance for another six months and offer them support in finding a new job. In other countries, the statement published by the multinational refers to the fact that current legislation will be applied.
The news further implies that four of the five “big tech” companies have announced significant cuts in recent months, with Apple being the only one that hasn’t announced any major layoffs so far. This week, Microsoft announced cuts of 10,000 jobs, affecting about 5% of its workforce, following Amazon’s decision to cut 18,000 positions, or 1.2% of its global headcount.
Previously, Facebook parent Meta announced another 11,000 cuts in November and Salesforce announced a few months ago that it would reduce its workforce by 10%, which would end up affecting more than 7,000 workers. In other words: in the last six months alone, more than 50,000 people have lost their jobs in the technology industry.
