(KERO) — Alphabet, the parent company of Google announced Friday it is cutting about 12 thousand jobs.
The company grew its workforce by more than 50 thousand employees during the pandemic as demand for its digital services boomed. But in recent quarters, business has slowed for the company.
"We hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today," said Alphabet's CEO Sundar Pichai, in an email to all employees.
The layoffs will affect roles across product areas and regions. Affected U.S employees will remain on the company's payroll for 60 days and receive at least 16 weeks of severance pay.
Google is not the only tech company letting employees go. Microsoft is laying off ten thousand workers according to a security filing on Wednesday.
The company says it's cutting costs in response to looming recession fears and changing customer priorities.
In a memo to staffers Wednesday Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, said the job cuts represent less than five percent of the company’s total workforce and that the layoffs will be complete by the end of March.