Alphabet, Google’s parent company has announced it’s cutting 12,000 jobs worldwide, the latest company in the series of layoffs that have characterized the tech industry over the past one year.

The cuts were announced by CEO Sundar Pichai in a memo to employees, which was later published on the company’s blog.

“I have some difficult news to share. We’ve decided to reduce our workforce by approximately 12,000 roles,” he said, adding that affected employees in the US have been informed.

The tech industry is grappling with economic headwinds that have forced many companies to cut workforce. Microsoft announced days ago it’s laying off about 10,000 workers, joining others like Meta, Twitter and Amazon, forced to reduce headcount.

The 12,000 employees account for 6% of Alphabet’s global workforce. Pichai said the change, which cuts across many areas of the company, was orchestrated by the decisions earlier made based on the dramatic growth of the past two years. 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 said. “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 said employees in the US will receive the following support: payment during the full notification period (minimum 60 days); severance package starting at 16 weeks’ salary plus two weeks for every additional year at Google, and at least 16 weeks of GSU vesting. He said they’ll be paid 2022 bonuses and remaining vacation time, and will be offered 6 months of healthcare, job placement services, and immigration support for those affected.

“Outside the US, we’ll support employees in line with local practices,” he added.

The American tech sector is facing a different reality from when many companies, spurred by thee pandemic-induced economic growth, made the decision to expand their headcounts. Global economic downturn, compounded by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, has severely dented the industry’s economic outlook.

Among the many challenges currently facing the sector is rising interest rates as countries tighten economic policies to battle inflation over the past year. The result has been consequential to the industry’s growth as tech shares take pounding, forcing advertisers to cut back on online ad spending.

As CNBC noted, the gloomy macroeconomic climate has in turn piled pressure on those companies, forcing them to cut their workforces.

Update: This is how Apple has avoided job losses unlike other big tech: “As layoffs sweep across the tech industry, Apple has so far managed to avoid workforce cuts. But how? There are many factors, The Wall Street Journal writes, but some of them are simple and straightforward. Apple didn’t hire at the same clip as its rivals, and it “tends to run lean,” with fewer employee perks than elsewhere in Silicon Valley. The iPhone maker hasn’t emerged from this difficult period unscathed, however. Next month it’s expected to report a decline in quarterly sales for the first time in more than three years, WSJ reports.”

This is very strange: the Nigerian stock exchange is not reacting to the drama between the governor of Nigeria’s central bank and the law enforcement agencies.  This clearly shows that Nigeria is not run on data, and investment in our public market is not based on near-real time market information. Do you know that by now, the stock exchange would have collapsed in the US if the Fed Chairman (America’s central bank governor) is under a high-voltage searchlight of law enforcements, accusing him of financing terrorism, corruption, etc.

But here in Nigeria, markets did not blink, parrying everything as political hacks against the high priest of Nigeria’s economy. The problem is that when people do not care about the high priest, it means the temple has lost relevance.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should be concerned that people do not even care that  the governor has joined a tales-by-moonlight game: catch the governor if you can as he runs around the circles in US, Nigeria and beyond. This is not how to run a country!

(Read full details here)

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday met with the embattled governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, as the interest of concerned parties in the banking sector heightens over the fate of the nation’s topmost banker.

The duo met at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, in what is believed to be their first meeting this year, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.

Mr Emefiele arrived the villa at about 14:30 GMT and had a closed-door meeting for about 25 minutes with Mr Buhari. However, reports said the apex bank governor declined questions and comments from state house correspondents after the meeting.

Mr Emefiele joined a delegation of the Arab Bank for Economic Development led by its Director General, Sidi Tah, to the state house. The apex bank chief was reportedly received by Mr Buhari, who welcomed him back to the country.

“The Central Bank Governor, you are welcome back. I am grateful you are well received,” Punch newspaper quoted Mr Buhari as saying.

In recent weeks, Mr Emefiele has been in the eye of the storm amid moves by Nigeria’s secret police to arrest him over several allegations of professional misconducts.

Comment on Feed

Comment 1: “He that is down needs fear no fall”.
The stock market has largely underperformed in the last 8 years of the current leadership. Only a few individual stocks have done well. I think the market has factored so many negatives into the current price ranges already. Also, last I checked many FDIs had left the market… Current players are majorly local investors. So, in my opinion, only a major shock (like COVID) could cause the kind of collapse you expected.

Comment 2: Oh so powerful…. “When the people do not care about the high priest, it means the temple has lost relevance”. Oh how we need good leadership now more than ever before.

Comment 3: Good commentary. The dynamics of stock market is not as easy as you postulate. It is better you study what stock market is. And it is better to tell ourselves that the economy in Africa is not economy in American. Understanding of these things will moderate our criticisms and assumptions.
Emefiele has done extremely well.

Comment 4: “Do you know that by now, the stock exchange would have collapsed in the US if the Fed Chairman (America’s central bank governor) is under a high-voltage searchlight of law enforcements….” I’m not sure about that. Perhaps trading would be temporarily halted on the various exchanges pending investigations. The system is much bigger than any one person.

My Response: “Perhaps trading would be temporarily halted on the various exchanges pending investigations. ” – you arrived at the same conclusion as I did. If you announce that the FBI is looking to arrest the Fed Chair, the US bond, TB, stocks, etc market will be rattled and exchanges will suspend trading to avoid a collapse. Where you decide NOT to suspend, the selloff will accelerate because the reason you “suspend” is to avoid panic selling. Contrast Nigeria, there was no need to “suspend” because no one even noticed! Read it again,  I think your conclusion is the same as mine.