Google to lay off 12,000 people – read CEO Sundar Pichai’s memo sent to staff

• Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, said in an email sent to company employees on Friday that the firm will lay off 12,000 employees.
• This comes after Amazon and Microsoft laid off a total of 28,000 people.
• Read the full memo that Pichai sent out to staff on Friday.

Google said Friday it will lay off 12,000 people from its workforce, adding to a slew of major US tech companies cutting jobs amid fears of a looming recession.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, said in an email sent to company employees on Friday that the firm will immediately begin layoffs in the US. In other countries, he said, the process “will take longer due to local laws and practices.”

The web search and video-sharing giant will offer US employees 16 weeks of severance pay, plus two weeks for each additional year they work at Google, Pichai said.

Tech companies are currently facing a myriad of challenges, not least because of rising interest rates and inflation over the past year, which have eroded tech stocks and forced advertisers to slash online ad spending.

The increase in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve, in particular, has led to a decrease in appetite for the shares of American technology companies. The gloomy macroeconomic climate, in turn, has forced these companies to cut their workforce drastically.

On Wednesday, Amazon began a new wave of job cuts affecting more than 18,000 people. On the same day, Microsoft announced plans to lay off 10,000 employees.

twitter led Elon Muskalso made layoffs, cutting more than half of the company’s staff since taking over as CEO late last year.

Friday’s Google layoff comes after CNBC reported on Wednesday that the firm is deferring some of employee year-end bonus checks to March or April rather than January.

Read the full memo Pichai sent out to employees on Friday:

googlers,

I have some difficult news to share. We have decided to cut our workforce by approximately 12,000 positions. We have already sent a separate email to affected employees in the US. In other countries, this process will take longer due to local laws and practices.

This will mean saying goodbye to some of the incredibly talented people we worked hard to hire and enjoyed working with. I deeply regret this. The fact that these changes will affect the lives of Google employees weighs heavily on me, and I take full responsibility for the decisions that brought us here.

Over the past two years, we have witnessed periods of dramatic growth. To match and fuel this growth, we hired employees for a different economic reality than the one we face today.

I am confident in the tremendous opportunities that lie ahead of us through the strength of our mission, the value of our products and services, and our early investments in AI. To fully capture it, we will need to make difficult choices. Therefore, we have conducted a thorough review of product areas and functions to ensure that our people and roles are in line with our highest priorities as a company. The roles we remove reflect the results of this check. They overlap with Alphabet, product areas, features, tiers and regions.

To the Google employees who are leaving us: Thank you for your hard work helping people and businesses around the world. Your contribution has been invaluable and we are grateful for it.

While this transition will not be easy, we are committed to supporting employees as they look for the next opportunity.

IN THE USA:

• We will pay employees for the duration of the notice period (minimum 60 days).
• We will also offer a severance pay starting at 16 weeks salary plus two weeks for each additional year at Google, and accelerate at least the 16-week GSU transition.
• We will pay bonuses for 2022 and the rest of the vacation.
• We will offer 6 months of medical care, employment services and immigration support for those affected.
• Outside the US, we will support employees in accordance with local regulations.

We, a company with almost 25 years of experience, have to go through difficult economic cycles. These are important points to sharpen our focus, rebuild our cost base and direct our talent and capital to our highest priorities.

Limited in some areas allows us to bet big in others. The company’s turn to be a pioneer in artificial intelligence a few years ago has led to groundbreaking advances in both our business and the entire industry.

Thanks to these early investments, Google products are better than ever. And we’re getting ready to share brand new experiences for users, developers, and businesses. There are great opportunities ahead of us with the use of AI in our products, and we are ready to approach this with courage and responsibility.

All of this work is an extension of the “healthy disregard for the impossible” that has been the foundation of our culture from the very beginning. When I look at Google today, I see the same spirit and energy that drives our efforts. That is why I remain optimistic about our ability to carry out our mission even in the most difficult days. Today is definitely one of them.

I’m sure you have many questions about how we’re going to move forward. On Monday we will organize the town hall. See your calendar for details. Until then, please take care of yourself while you digest this difficult news. As part of this, if you are just starting your day at work, please feel free to work from home today.

-Sundar