January 2023 has been a busy year for layoffs with Amazon, DIRECTV, Microsoft, and now Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is laying off staff.
In an email sent to staff today, CEO Sundar Pichai laid out the reasons for the staff cuts. “Over the past two years we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth. To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today,” he wrote.
“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. To fully capture it, we’ll need to make tough choices. So, we’ve undertaken a rigorous review across product areas and functions to ensure that our people and roles are aligned with our highest priorities as a company. The roles we’re eliminating reflect the outcome of that review. They cut across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels and regions.”
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, will offer a minimum of 60 days’ pay during the notice period and 16 weeks’ salary after the employees are terminated. For every year someone has worked at Google, they will receive two additional weeks of pay. Plus, bonuses from 2022 and any remaining vacation time will be paid. Employees will also get six months of healthcare and job placement services.
“As an almost 25-year-old company, we’re bound to go through difficult economic cycles,” said CEO Pichai. “These are important moments to sharpen our focus, reengineer our cost base, and direct our talent and capital to our highest priorities.”