Google parent Alphabet to lay off 12,000 employees

Tech giant Google's parent company Alphabet will cut 12,000 jobs, in the latest staff redundancies to hit the tech industry.

In an internal mail, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said that he took "full responsibility" for the cuts.

The cuts will affect 6 per cent of Alphabet's total manpower worldwide, in teams including recruitment and engineering.

This comes days after Microsoft announced 10,000 job cuts and weeks after Amazon announced 18,000 jobs would be lost.

Thanking the sacked staffs Mr Pichai wrote: "While this transition won't be easy, we're going to support employees as they look for their next opportunity. Until then, please take good care of yourselves as you absorb this difficult news. As part of that, if you are just starting your work day, please feel free to work from home today."

According to a recent filing with Companies House, Google has more than 5,500 staff in the United Kingdom. But it is unclear how many of these will be affected by the cuts.

Alphabet boss announced severance packages for US employees, who will receive at least 16 weeks of salary, their 2022 bonus, paid vacations and six months of health coverage.

Wall Street welcomed the cuts - Alphabet shares rose by 3.5 per cent in electronic trading before the stock market opened.