Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is cutting 12,000 jobs from the workforce worldwide. The layoffs, which account for around 6% of employees, were announced on Friday and will begin immediately. 

Alphabet CEO, Sundar Pichai—an MBA graduate from the Wharton School—shared the news in a staff memo highlighting the difficult economic environment and the company’s rapid headcount expansion in recent years. Pichai took full responsibility for the decision. 

"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," he said.  

"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," he added.  

Key affected areas of the business will include various corporate functions, as well as recruiting, engineering, and product teams. 

The announcement follows similar moves from other leading firms in tech. Amazon recently revealed plans to layoff 18,000 employees while Microsoft will also cut 10,000 jobs. 

Financial firms including BlackRock and Goldman Sachs have announced similar headcount reductions. 

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