Layoffs: 453 employees lose their jobs in Google India

Google had announced last month that it was reducing its staff worldwide roughly by 12,000.

Weeks after announcing that it will fire roughly 12,000 employees or six per cent of its workforce worldwide, Google has sacked 453 employees in India.

Sanjay Gupta, Country Head and Vice President of Google India, has conveyed this to impacted employees, Hindu Businessline reported.

"I was a part of Google India layoffs. At Google, my energies were focused on delivering digital marketing goals for multiple industries at the top of their food chain in India, as a strategic key account manager. I am looking for a new role and would appreciate your support," an employee, who was working as accounts manager before he was terminated, wrote on his Linkedin account.

A worker, who survived the layoff, expressed that it was difficult for them to see the employees getting fired. "It's really difficult to see them (colleagues) go through this," he said. "It is even more difficult; as you don't know how to talk to them, what to say."

Google parent Alphabet had announced in January that it was planning to cut roughly 12,000 jobs or 6 per cent workforce worldwide.

"We've decided to reduce our workforce by approximately 12,000 roles," Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said.

Pichai said that the cuts were in response to a changing "economic reality" and that the hires had been made during "periods of dramatic growth."

"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," Pichai said. "The roles we're eliminating reflect the outcome of that review."

"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," he added.

Pichai said that the layoffs "cut across" product areas, functions, levels and regions.

The layoffs come after similar job cuts at other leading tech companies including Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and Twitter.

On the other hand, About 250 employees of Google's Zurich office in Switzerland walked out to protest the company's decision to cut its workforce by six percent leading to thousands of workers losing their jobs.