Google's parent company Alphabet announced it will cut 12,000 jobs - or about 6% of its workforce - across its entire business and globally, as it struggles with an uncertain economic outlook.
The layoffs are the latest to hit the tech industry, after similar staff reductions at Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, in an email to staff, said the company had "hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.
" Pichai emphasised that the cuts represent "a difficult decision to set us up for the future" and that the company had undertaken "a rigorous review across product areas and functions."
Google's parent company Alphabet will cut around 12,000 jobs, equivalent to 6% of its global workforce.
This comes amid a slowdown in the tech industry, as companies reassess their strategies following a period of rapid growth during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in an email to staff that the company had "hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.
" The cuts will affect workers across the business and the globe, and represent one of the largest ever for the company.
The Wall Street Journal quoted an unnamed source who said that the layoffs would be focused on sales, recruitment and engineering staff.
The sources also noted that Pichai's message struck a more somber tone compared to those of peers such as Microsoft's leadership team.
The Independent reported that Google joins other tech giants in this staff reduction including Amazon and Facebook Owner Meta.