Google LLC is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. The company has since rapidly grown to offer a multitude of products and services beyond Google Search, many of which hold dominant market positions.
These products address a wide range of use cases, including email (Gmail), navigation (Waze & Maps), cloud computing (Cloud), web browsing (Chrome), video sharing (YouTube), productivity (Workspace), operating systems (Android), cloud storage (Drive), language translation (Translate), photo storage (Photos), video calling (Meet), smart home (Nest), smartphones (Pixel), wearable technology (Pixel Watch & Fitbit), music streaming (YouTube Music), video on demand (YouTube TV), artificial intelligence (Google Assistant), machine learning APIs (TensorFlow), AI chips (TPU), and more. Discontinued Google products include gaming (Stadia), Glass, [citation needed] Google+, Reader, Play Music, Nexus, Hangouts, and Inbox by Gmail.[15][16] Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said he took "full responsibility" for the cuts, in an internal email.
The cuts will affect 6% of Alphabet's workforce worldwide, in teams including recruitment and engineering. This comes days after Microsoft announced 10,000 jobs would be lost, and weeks after Amazon announced 18,000 job cuts. Mr Pichai thanked staff for "working so hard" in their roles, adding that their "contributions have been invaluable". He wrote: "While this transition won't be easy, we're going to support employees as they look for their next opportunity. "Until then, please take good care of yourselves as you absorb this difficult news. As part of that, if you are just starting your work day, please feel free to work from home today." According to a recent filing with Companies House, Google has more than 5,500 staff in the UK.
But it is unclear how many of these will be affected by the cuts. 'Unsustainable' Mr Pichai announced severance packages for US employees, who will receive at least 16 weeks of salary, their 2022 bonus, paid vacations and six months of health coverage. He said he remained "optimistic about our ability to deliver on our mission, even on our toughest days". Wall Street welcomed the cuts - Alphabet shares rose by 3.5% in electronic trading before the stock market opened. Analysts have said tech's big guns had previously overspent, not seeing a slowdown on the horizon.
Are tech job cuts a warning for the wider economy?
What is behind the big tech companies' job cuts? Daniel Ives of Wedbush Securities said the layoffs highlight irresponsible spending across a sector basking in "hyper growth". The reality is tech stalwarts over-hired at a pace that was unsustainable, and now darker macro is forcing these layoffs across the tech space," he said. According to tech site Layoffs.
For your information, nearly 194,000 industry employees have lost their jobs in the US since the beginning of 2022, not including those announced by Alphabet on Friday. Hewlett Packard and cloud computing giant Salesforce also announced major cuts this month, as rampant inflation and rising interest rates have slowed growth.
US tech giants have also been facing scrutiny in the European Union, which has started enforcing regulations to stop them avoiding tax, stifling competition, profiting from news content without paying and serving as platforms for disinformation and hate. It's not only the Google market leader in IT sector is terminating the staffs but also other empire like Netflix, Amazon and Twitter do.
Around lakhs of employees started losing their jobs and employment opportunities for them is still a question mark.
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