Google India fires 453 employees; CEO Sundar Pichai writes mail to affected staff

According to a report by businessline, the mail was sent to the affected employees by Sanjay Gupta, country head and vice president of Google India.

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The report said it is yet to be confirmed if the sacking of 453 employees includes the 12,000 job cuts or if there has been a new round of layoffs.

Last month, Google’s parent Alphabet Inc announced that the company would be firing 12,000 employees or 6% of its staff globally.

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“We’ve already sent a separate email to employees in the US who are affected. In other countries, this process will take longer due to local laws and practices,” Pichai said in his mail.Pichai also said the company had undertaken a “rigorous review across product areas and functions” to ensure that people and roles are aligned with the company’s highest priorities.

“The roles we’re eliminating reflect the outcome of that review. They cut across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels and regions,” he added.

Also read: Devastated, shocked’: sacked Google employees left distraught as layoffs impact 12,000

Last month, Microsoft announced it is slashing 10,000 jobs or nearly 5% of its workforce. Amazon is also planning to cut 18,000 jobs. Meanwhile, Facebook parent Meta has said it would fire 11,000 employees globally.

Also read: Layoffs in 2023: LinkedIn, Twilio among latest firms to cut jobs amid economic downturn

Meanwhile, about 250 Google employees in Zurich walked out Wednesday to protest the company’s decision last month to cut about 6% of its global workforce.