
Google ska sparka 12 000 arbetare
- Google har anslutit sig till andra teknikföretag, som Amazon, Microsoft och Meta, för att säga upp personal.
- Alphabet sa att företaget riktade sin uppmärksamhet mot artificiell intelligens och skulle eliminera produkter som inte var i linje med dess prioriteringar.
- Google medgav att de överhyrt i väntan på en boom på marknaden.
Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, announced on Friday that it is slashing 12,000 jobs, or 6% of its workforce, as the technology industry struggles with layoffs and businesses gamble their futures on artificial intelligence (AI). Google has remained one of the biggest players in the research field, but the decision to reduce its workforce spells bigger trouble for the tech world at large.
Google’s decision to slash jobs follows a similar move by its rivals Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta, which together have uppsagd tens of thousands of employees. Sundar Pichai, CEO of parent company Alphabet, said the company will eliminate products and operations that are not “aligned with our highest priorities as a company.”
Pichai mentioned that a lot of those priorities center on artificial intelligence. He cited Alphabet’s efforts in AI and said that they had contributed to the improvement of “Google’s products” and the company’s plans to offer some whole new experiences for consumers, developers, and companies.
The recent layoffs will affect teams across the organization, including recruiting, various corporate operations, as well as some technical and product teams. Pichai acknowledged that Google had increased its staff in anticipation of growth that never happened. He wrote in a post skickas till personal,
För att matcha och driva på den tillväxten anställde vi för en annan ekonomisk verklighet än den vi står inför idag.
Pichai said the decision to layoff staff would mean “saying goodbye to some incredibly talented people we worked hard to hire and have loved working with,” adding that he was “deeply sorry for that.”
“The fact that these changes will impact the lives of Googlers weighs heavily on me, and I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us here,” Pichai wrote.
Google sa också att de skulle erbjuda stöd till berörda anställda, vilket inkluderar ett avgångsvederlag samt hälsovårdsförmåner, anställning och immigration. Alphabet har redan skickat ett meddelande till de drabbade individerna, men processen kommer att ta längre tid i vissa länder på grund av lokal policy.
Experter tror att den massiva uppsägningen kommer att kosta Alphabet lika mycket som de $1 miljarder Microsoft sa att de skulle spendera på berörda anställda. Det har dock inte funnits några officiella bekräftelser på den exakta siffran.