In January 2023, Google laid off roughly 12,000 employees, or about 6% of its workforce.Mateusz Wlodarczyk/Getty Images
Google’s latest earnings report indicates a significant allocation toward severance costs, with $700 million earmarked for this quarter alone. This allocation follows a trend set in 2023, where the company incurred $2.1 billion in severance and related expenses after a series of mass layoffs.
In January 2023, Google initiated a round of layoffs affecting approximately 12,000 employees, constituting about 6% of its workforce at the time. The recent layoffs at the beginning of 2024 further underscore Google’s efforts to streamline operations, particularly within core engineering and hardware teams.
CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged the evolving economic landscape, noting that the company’s hiring practices had been geared towards a different economic reality than what transpired. Affected employees received severance packages inclusive of at least 16 weeks’ salary, with additional compensation based on years of service, accelerated vesting of restricted stock units, and payment of 2022 bonuses and accrued vacation time.
These layoffs are part of a broader trend in the tech industry, where companies are reassessing their staffing needs in response to changing economic conditions following the pandemic-induced tech boom.
Google’s earnings for Q4 2023 reflected a revenue of $86.3 billion, marking a 13% increase year-over-year, and a total fiscal year revenue of $307.4 billion, up 9% year-over-year. Despite these positive financial indicators, the company’s strategic realignment suggests a concerted effort to optimize operations for sustained growth and adaptability in the evolving market landscape.
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