BEVERLY HILLS—On Friday, January 20, Google officials announced that they would be laying off 12,000 employees. Google employs approximately 2,000 people in the Los Angeles Westside Pavilion, the Binocular Building, and the Spruce Goose building in Beverly Hills.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai, announced on the company’s news blog he had some “difficult news to share.” Pichai relayed that the employees, “Were hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.”
“This will mean saying goodbye to some incredibly talented people we worked hard to hire and have loved working with. I’m deeply sorry for that. 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.”
The reduction in staff will be through a variety of departments. U.S. employees that were affected have already been notified. Google will pay for a full notification period of 60 days, and at least 16 weeks salary in severance pay. Laid-off employees will still receive their 2022 bonuses, vacation time, and six months of healthcare coverage. Their severance package includes access to job placement services and immigration support for those who need it.
Pichai indicated that a company as old as Google could expect, “Difficult economic cycles.” In his message, he thanked all those who invested in Google.
Google is not the only technology company to experience layoffs. The Microsoft company announced layoffs of approximately 10,000 employees including the Xbox division. In addition, Amazon is cutting 18,000 jobs, and Meta, the parent company of Facebook is reducing their staff by 11,000.
