Alphabet cuts 12,000 jobs after pandemic hiring spree, refocuses on AI
Reuters (via The Star, Malaysia)
Staff memo announcing 12,000 layoffs, published on Google's blog
“The fact that these changes will impact the lives of Googlers weighs heavily on me, and I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us here. ... To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.”
Sundar Pichai20 January 2023- What you'll lose5/5
About 12,000 jobs.
- Condescension0/5
Contrite in tone.
- Tone-deafness4/5
'Weighs heavily on me', in a memo that pivots to AI.
- Doom0/5
None.
- Hypocrisy0/5
None.
Full time9 pitchforksof a possible 25
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The occasion
Staff memo announcing 12,000 layoffs, published on Google's blog, 20 January 2023.
Context
Pichai told staff that Alphabet would cut about 12,000 roles, roughly 6% of its workforce, after hiring for growth that did not last, and said he took responsibility. The memo says the company is confident about its opportunity thanks to 'our early investments in AI'.
Crowd reaction
Widespread criticism
The Alphabet Workers Union called the layoffs unacceptable the next day, noting Google made $17 billion in profits (Business Today, 2023-01-21). Two months later almost 1,400 Alphabet staff, backed by unions in the UK, Switzerland and Ireland, signed an open letter to Pichai asking him to reconsider the redundancy process and recalling 'Don't Be Evil' (Fortune, 2023-03-17; The Register, 2023-03-20). The backlash targets the layoffs the memo announced rather than the memo's wording.
- CNBC (via NBC Bay Area): Google to Lay Off 12,000 People — Read the Memo CEO Sundar Pichai Sent to Staff
- Fortune: Google employees get a day to work from home after Alphabet layoffs
- The Independent (via Yahoo News): Google announces mass layoffs amid tech slump. Read the CEO's full memo on the cuts
- Reuters (via The Star, Malaysia): Alphabet cuts 12,000 jobs after pandemic hiring spree, refocuses on AI
- Where the exact words are printed