Although several major companies across the tech industry have announced mass layoffs as rising inflation and uncertain macroeconomic conditions fuel recession fears, Alphabet Inc., the parent company of search giant Google, has been obviating this undesirable. The tech behemoth is yet to announce any major layoff, despite several reports of upcoming job cuts inside the company.
However, Alphabet employees will not be immune to this industry-wide layoffs for too long. Employees at Google anticipate an imminent announcement of a huge layoffs, according to reports.
In November, The Information had reported that Alphabet was planning to lay off nearly 10,000 low performing employees starting early 2023 in order to curb costs.
Slumping ad market has weighed heavily on Google’s bottom line, which in turn has made investors urge the company to seek avenues to cut expenses. Executives at Alphabet are seemingly more focused to cut down costs of projects and make the company more efficient.
The employees have also noticed changes in performance reviews as well as a drop in travel budgets, that allude a possible job cut.
As per the report, the tech major has asked managers to identify 6 percent of its staff using a new performance management system. This accounts for around 10,000 people. The new system helped managers identify underperforming employees and push out thousands of lowest-ranked employees. The managers could also use the ratings to avoid paying staff bonuses and stock grants.
In July, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai launched the “Simplicity Sprint” in an effort to bolster efficiency during an uncertain economic environment.
Meanwhile, people see a mass layoff already in the offing, as last week Verily, which specializes in health sciences and is one of Google’s sister companies, pruned 240 jobs. Intrinsic, the industrial robotics company that was launched in July 2021, also is laying off around 40 employees or 20 percent its workforce.
On project level, the company has canceled the next generation of its Pixelbook laptop, cut funding to its Area 120 in-house incubator, and has also shut down its digital gaming service Stadia.
As of September 20, 2022, Alphabet had 186,779 employees.
Almost all major tech firms, including Amazon, Meta, Twitter, and Microsoft have announced job cuts or hiring freeze in the recent past.
In early January, Amazon announced plans to eliminate over 18,000 jobs citing uncertain economy. The reductions are expected to impact several teams, mainly in Amazon Stores and People, Experience, and Technology or PXT organizations.
Cloud-based software company Salesforce.com Inc. also announced a restructuring plan, including around 10 percent job cuts, aiming to reduce operating costs and improve operating margins.
Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. was planning to lay off over 13 percent of its workforce or more than 11,000 employees.
Elon Musk’s Twitter, following its $44 billion acquisition, laid off more than half of its workforce just days after the takeover, and the process is still afoot.
Chipmaker Intel Corp. was planning thousands of job cuts amid a slowdown in the personal computer market, Bloomberg had reported.
In mid-October, Microsoft announced layoffs across multiple divisions, impacting fewer than 1,000 people, Axios had reported citing a source.
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