In a Google blog post, quoting an email from CEO Sundar Pichai, it was announced that the company has decided to cut its workforce by 12,000 people. This means that roughly 6% of the total number of employees will lose their jobs. Layoff emails have already been sent to affected US employees and will be sent shortly to employees in other countries due to the delay local laws.
Pichai continues by saying that he takes full responsibility for this troublesome decision, which was mentioned last year as well: We’ve seen dramatic growth cycles in the last two years. To capture and nurture this growth, we hired new employees in a different economic reality than we face today. Thanks to the strength of our mission, the cost of our products and services, and our early investments in AI, I am confident of the great opportunity ahead. We’re going to have to make tough choices to capture him completely. That’s why we undergo rigorous scrutiny across business areas and functions to ensure our people and roles are aligned with our highest priorities as a company. The roles we have eliminated reflect the outcome of this review. To the Googlers who left us: Thank you and you’ve worked hard to help people and businesses everywhere. Your contributions were invaluable and we are grateful for them.”
Google says 2022 bonuses and permit prices will be paid in the US. In addition, those affected will be paid for the full notice period (minimum 60 days) with severance packages starting at 16 weeks’ salary. Finally, a six-month wellness, immigration and job placement basis will be offered. However, it is unknown if there will be any financial or other kind of reinforcement outside the USA.
