These layoffs at Alphabet are not part of a wide-scale layoff at the company, the report noted.
American multinational tech major Alphabet is reportedly laying off employees from its global recruiting team. The decision follows as the parent company of Google slows hiring amid an ongoing global economic slowdown.
While the number of affected workforce is unclear, a Reuters report highlights that the job cut at Alphabet will affect a few hundred employees. Additionally, these layoffs are not part of a wide-scale layoff at the company and a significant majority of the team responsible for hiring critical roles will be retained. Furthermore, the Sundar Pichai-led company will help the affected staff search for roles within the company and elsewhere.
This is not the first time Alphabet has trimmed down its workforce. Google’s parent announced to cut 12,000 jobs, or around 6% of its workforce, in January to lower its costs. The Sundar Pichai-led company was prepared for “a different economic reality” and the CEO took “full responsibility” for the decisions that led to the layoffs. Apart from downsizing the workforce, the company also said to reduce bonuses and curtail on-campus facilities for employees like free snacks, gym, laptops, etc.
Following the layoffs, several employees at Google’s offices in London and Zurich even staged a walkout to protest against the job cuts. Some criticize the company saying that it prioritizes executive pay over the pay and overall well-being of its employees. Alphabet said in a filing in April that its chief executive officer Sundar Pichai earned a total compensation of $226 million (approximately Rs 1,854 crore) in 2022. Amid the several cost-cutting measures by the tech major, the news raised many eyebrows.
Not just Sundar Pichai-led Alphabet, several tech companies including, Meta, Twitter, and Microsoft, among others, have laid off thousands of employees in an attempt to gear up for a global economic slowdown. In a nutshell, a setback in consumer spending due to high inflation and interest rates along with the threat of a looming recession this year has pushed corporates to keep a lid on their spending.
