Tag: Google layoffs

Technology

Still hiring: Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta layoffs give other sectors an opening

For the thousands of workers who'd never experienced upheaval in the tech sector, the recent mass layoffs at companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta came as a shock.Now they are being courted by long-established employers whose names aren't typically synonymous with tech work, including hotel chains, retailers, investment firms, railroad companies and even the Internal Revenue Service. All of those sectors have signaled on recruiting platforms that they are still hiring software engineers, data scientists and cybersecurity specialists despite the layoffs in Big Tech. It's a chance for them to level the playing field against tech giants that have long had their pick of the top talent with lucrative compensation, alluring perks and sheer name recognition. No employer is making ...
Technology

Big Tech Binged on Workers During Covid. Now, the Purge.

The spate of layoffs is a reaction to a hiring wave during the pandemic that got out of hand. But will it be an overreaction? The layoff announcements coming lately from the chief executive officers of big technology companies all contain variations on the theme of “we hired too many people during the pandemic,” expressed with varying degrees of contrition. At one end of the spectrum are Seattleites Andy Jassy of Amazon.com Inc. and Satya Nadella of Microsoft Corp. Amazon's layoffs were simply an outgrowth of its annual review, Jassy wrote, although he did allow that “this year's review has been more difficult given the uncertain economy and that we've hired rapidly over the last several years.” Microsoft's Nadella opted for bland corporatespeak: “As we saw customers accelerate th...
Technology

Google says U.S. Justice Department complaint is ‘without merit’

Google said on Wednesday it believes the complaint from the U.S. Department of Justice accusing the company of abusing its dominance in digital advertising is "without merit". Alphabet Inc's Google said on Wednesday it believes the complaint from the U.S. Department of Justice accusing the company of abusing its dominance in digital advertising is "without merit". The company also added it will "defend itself vigorously". The government on Tuesday said Google should be forced to sell its ad manager suite, tackling a business that generated about 12% of Google's revenue in 2021 while also playing a vital role in the search engine and cloud company's overall sales. Google, which depends on its advertising business for about 80% of its revenue, said the government was "doubling d...
Technology

Google’s Pichai Tells Staff Cuts Avoided ‘Much Worse’ Problems

Google’s chief executive officer told employees that cuts were made in a bid to act decisively as the company’s growth slowed. Google's chief executive officer told employees that cuts were made in a bid to act decisively as the company's growth slowed. In an internal meeting, Sundar Pichai, who is CEO of Google parent Alphabet Inc., said he had consulted with the company's founders and board in making the decision for 6% cuts, according to remarks reviewed by Bloomberg. “If you don't act clearly and decisively and early, we can compound the problem and make it much worse,” Pichai said. “These are decisions I needed to make.” Google said on Friday that it would cut about 12,000 jobs, becoming the latest tech giant to retrench after years of abundant growth and hiring. ...
Technology

Google Slashes Most Jobs at Area 120 Incubator as Part of Cuts

Alphabet Inc.’s Google has cut most of the jobs at Area 120, its in-house incubator for new projects, as part of a broad wave of layoffs across the company. Alphabet Inc.'s Google has cut most of the jobs at Area 120, its in-house incubator for new projects, as part of a broad wave of layoffs across the company. Three projects in the incubator will “graduate” later this year, meaning they will be folded into Google, a company spokesperson said Friday. “We have made the difficult decision to wind down the majority of the Area 120 team,” the spokesperson said. The managing partner of Area 120 remains with the company, the spokesperson said. Virtually all other workers who weren't involved in the three projects have lost their jobs, according to two people with knowledge of the m...
Technology

Google staff anxiety runs high after 12000 colleagues cut

The company, owned by Alphabet Inc., had finally decided to cut 12000 employees, or 6 percent of the workforce. Google employees, after watching peers at rival tech firms lose their jobs en masse, were anxious about when layoffs would happen to them. Then on Friday morning, some of them couldn't get into their corporate accounts. The company, owned by Alphabet Inc., had finally decided to cut 12,000 employees, or 6% of the workforce. Employees described a mostly orderly if impersonal transition, communicated mostly via the same technology products they helped build, with no direct answers for individuals about why they were included or not. Some found out they lost their jobs via messages sent to their personal email addresses. With no central way to see w...
Technology

Google cuts 12,000 jobs as tech woes bite again

The layoffs come a day after Microsoft said it would reduce staff numbers by 10,000 in the coming months, following similar cuts by Facebook owner Meta, Amazon and Twitter as the tech sector girds for economic downturn. Google's parent company Alphabet announced Friday it will cut about 12,000 jobs globally, citing a changing economic reality as it became the latest US tech giant to enact large-scale restructuring. The layoffs come a day after Microsoft said it would reduce staff numbers by 10,000 in the coming months, following similar cuts by Facebook owner Meta, Amazon and Twitter as the tech sector girds for economic downturn. The cuts follow a major hiring spree during the height of the coronavirus pandemic when companies scrambled to meet demand as people went online for w...