Concern for Irish jobs as Google confirms 12,000 people are to be laid-off globally

Google's CEO has confirmed the the company will lay-off 12,000 staff in an email sent to employees on Friday. 

Only earlier this year, Google was granted planning permission to increase its Dublin campus to accommodate 1,700 staff. 

According to Silicon Republic, Google employed around 8,000 people in Dublin in February 2022, where it has its EMEA headquarters. 

However, in today's email, Sundar Pichai said he had "some difficult news to share" as the company plans to shed 6 per cent of its global workforce. 

"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.

"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," Mr Pichai said.

He noted that over the past two years, Google has 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 explained.

"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. 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," the CEO said. 

"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," he said. 

"While this transition won’t be easy, we’re going to support employees as they look for their next opportunity," Mr Pichai said.