In what has become a shocking trend that implies the firing race between the bluechip giants, Google has now come to add more weight behind the job uncertainty by announcing that it will lay off 12,000 employees globally. The announcement has come days after Microsoft took a similar turn of firing 10,000 employees within this March. 

Besides the companies surpass each other in axing out the employees, they are running hard in the race to complete the announced lay off at the earliest and the pervasive situation frightens the aspirants who are mulling getting hired by these global giants. In line with Amazon, Meta, Twitter and Microsoft, Google has now drawn a global attention over its announcement to reduce its workforce. The trend is getting from bad to worse with the experts citing the prevailing unemployability crisis in some of the world's largest blue-chip companies. 

Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai announced that it had decided to reduce its workforce by around 12,000 roles. Google has put out the email communication sent by Pichai to employees on Friday, January 20. In his memo, Pichai wrote, "Googlers, I have some difficult news to share. We've decided to reduce our workforce by approximately 12,000 roles. 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." 

He further said, "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. Over the past two years, we've seen periods of dramatic growth. To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today." 

"I am confident about the huge opportunity in front of us thanks to the strength of our mission, the value of our products and services, and our early investments in AI (Artificial Intelligence). To fully capture it, we'll need to make tough choices. So, we've undertaken a rigorous review across product areas and functions to ensure that our people and roles are aligned with our highest priorities as a company. The roles we're eliminating reflect the outcome of that review. They cut across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels, and regions", Pichai added. 

He stated, "To the Googlers who are leaving us: Thank you for working so hard to help people and businesses everywhere. Your contributions have been invaluable and we are grateful for them. While this transition won't be easy, we're going to support employees as they look for their next opportunity." "As an almost 25-year-old company, we're bound to go through difficult economic cycles. These are important moments to sharpen our focus, reengineer our cost base, and direct our talent and capital to our highest priorities", he wrote. 

"Thanks to those early investments, Google's products are better than ever. And we're getting ready to share some entirely new experiences for users, developers, and businesses, too. We have a substantial opportunity in front of us with AI across our products and are prepared to approach it boldly and responsibly. All this work is a continuation of the 'healthy disregard for the impossible' that's been core to our culture from the beginning. When I look around Google today, I see that same spirit and energy driving our efforts. That's why I remain optimistic about our ability to deliver on our mission, even on our toughest days. Today is certainly one of them", Pichai added. 

He notified to the employees that Google will be organizing a town hall on Monday during which the employees can putforth their questions. Notably, this is the largest lay off in Google's 25-year-old history. On Wednesday, Amazon began a fresh wave of job cuts affecting more than 18,000 people and during the same day, Microsoft has announced plans to lay off 10,000 employees by the end of March. 

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who is an Indian-American executive like Sundar Pichai, on Wednesday - January 18 said that the company will be making changes that will result in the reduction of overall workforce by 10,000 jobs through the end of FY23 Q3 (third quarter). Nadella further said that some employees will be notified on Wednesday and the entire 10,000 layoffs should be completed by the end of March. 

In a blog post, Nadella said, "It is important to note that while we are eliminating roles in some areas, we will continue to hire in key strategic areas. We know this is a challenging time for each person impacted. The senior leadership team and I are committed that as we go through this process, we will do so in the most thoughtful and transparent way possible." 

Microsoft currently has more than 2,20,000 employees and this round of layoffs affects around five per cent of its workforce. "We will treat our people with dignity and respect, and act transparently. These decisions are difficult, but necessary. They are especially difficult because they impact people and people's lives - our colleagues and friends. The US-benefit-eligible employees will receive a variety of benefits, including above-market severance pay, continuing healthcare coverage for six months, continued vesting of stock awards for six months, career transition services, and 60 days' notice prior to termination, regardless of whether such notice is legally required", he added.