Alphabet Inc is eliminating 12,000 jobs, its chief executive said in a staff memo shared with Reuters. The cuts mark the latest to shake the technology sector and come days after rival Microsoft Corp said it would lay off 10,000 workers.

The job losses affect teams across the company including recruiting and some corporate functions, as well as some engineering and products teams.

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The layoffs are global and impact US staff immediately, Google said.

Sundar Pichai, Alphabet's CEO, said in the note, "I am confident about the huge opportunity in front of us thanks to the strength of our mission, the value of our products and services, and our early investments in AI."

Pichai said Alphabet would be paying affected employees 16 weeks of severance and six months' worth of health benefits in the US, with other regions receiving packages based on local laws and practices. He also said he takes “full responsibility for the decisions that led us here."

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He added, "Googlers, I have some difficult news to share. We’ve decided to reduce our workforce by approximately 12,000 roles. We’ve already sent a separate email to employees in the US who are affected.

This will mean saying goodbye to some incredibly talented people we worked hard to hire and have loved working with. I’m deeply sorry for that. I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us here. In other countries, this process will take longer due to local laws and practices."

The news comes during a period of economic uncertainty as well as technological promise, in which Google and Microsoft have been investing in a fledgling area of software known as generative artificial intelligence.

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First Published:Jan 20, 2023 4:21 PM IST