(Reuters) – Alphabet, the parent company of search engine Google, will cut 12,000 jobs, the group said on Friday, marking the latest announcement in a long string of layoffs in the U.S. technology sector.
In an internal memo to staff, and shared with Reuters, chief executive Sundar Pichai explained that the company had rapidly increased its workforce in recent years “for a different economic reality than the one we face today”.
“I take full responsibility for the decisions that got us here,” he said.
These layoffs come a few days after the announcement by the competitor Microsoft of the loss of 10,000 jobs.
The layoffs at Alphabet, first reported by Reuters, will affect the entire company globally, including human resources and some support functions, as well as engineering and product teams.
The move comes at a time of economic and technological uncertainty for the industry, and at a time when Google and Microsoft have been investing in the burgeoning field of artificial intelligence (AI).
“I am confident of the tremendous opportunity that lies before us through the strength of our mission, the value of our products and services, and our early investments in AI,” Sundar Pichai said in the note. .
(Reporting Jeffrey Dastin in Davos, Switzerland; French version Diana Mandiá, editing by Blandine Hénault)
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