Jan 20 (Reuters) – Google parent Alphabet Inc ( GOOGL.O ) is cutting about 12,000 jobs, or 6 percent of its workforce, it said on Friday, as Silicon Valley reels from recent layoffs and faces a troubled perspective.
Alphabet, whose shares rose 3 percent in premarket trading, is making the cuts just as the U.S. company faces a threat to its longtime position at the top of the technology sector.
For years, Alphabet has attracted top talent to build Google, YouTube and other products that reach billions of users, but it is now locked in competition with Microsoft Corp ( MSFT.O ) in a booming field known as generative artificial intelligence.
The cuts at Alphabet come days after Microsoft announced it would cut 10,000 jobs.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai told employees in a memo that the firm has reviewed its products, people and priorities, resulting in job cuts in various geographic and technology areas. It has grown rapidly for better times, but now faces “a different economic reality.”
“The fact that these changes will affect the lives of Googlers weighs heavily on me, and I take full responsibility for the decisions that got us here,” Pichai said.
Alphabet’s job losses affect teams across the company, including recruiting and some corporate functions, as well as some engineering and product teams.
The cuts are global and affect US personnel immediately.
Alphabet has already sent an email to affected employees, the memo said, while the process will take longer in other countries due to local labor laws and practices.
The news comes at a time of economic uncertainty as well as technological promise.
“I am confident in the tremendous opportunity ahead thanks to the strength of our mission, the value of our products and services, and our early investments in AI,” Pichai said.
Reporting by Jeffrey Dustin in Davos, Switzerland; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Alexander Smith
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