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Google parent Alphabet slashes jobs, pushing tech layoffs over 200,000

Firings come as Facebook’s CEO warns that additional cuts could hit the social media company too

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Updated January 20, 2023 at 5:49 p.m. EST|Published January 20, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. EST
A person walks by the Google booth at the Las Vegas Convention Center before the start of the CES tech show on Jan. 2 in Las Vegas. (John Locher/AP)
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Google’s parent company Alphabet is cutting the most jobs in its history, showing that its massive investments in artificial intelligence haven’t offset the pullback in advertising and tech spending that has triggered a parade of tech companies to announce mass layoffs in recent months.

In an email posted on the tech giant’s blog Friday, Sundar Pichai, the company’s chief executive, informed staff that it was cutting 12,000 jobs. He said the cuts — estimated at 6 percent of the workforce — span the company’s product areas and regions, and that the decision followed a companywide review.