Google's parent company Alphabet to lay off 12,000 globally

 Job losses have an impact on teams across the company, including recruiting, some corporate functions, and some engineering and product teams.

Alphabet Inc, Google's parent company, said Friday that it is cutting 12,000 jobs, or 6% of its workforce, in the latest round of layoffs to rock the technology industry.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai stated in a staff memo obtained by Reuters that the company has rapidly increased headcount in recent years "for a different economic reality than the one we face today." "I accept complete responsibility for the decisions that brought us here," he said.

The layoffs come just days after rival Microsoft Corp announced 10,000 layoffs. The job losses at Alphabet affect teams across the company, including recruiting, some corporate functions, and some engineering and product teams.

The layoffs are global in scope and have an immediate impact on US employees.

According to the memo, Alphabet has already emailed affected employees, but the process will take longer in other countries due to local employment laws and practises.

The announcement comes at a time of economic uncertainty as well as technological promise, with Google and Microsoft investing in generative artificial intelligence, a burgeoning area of software.

"I am optimistic about the enormous opportunity ahead of us because of the strength of our mission, the value of our products and services, and our early investments in AI," Pichai said in the note.