This is the amount of money Google used to fire 12,000 workers

This is the amount of money Google used to fire 12,000 workers

This information was made public by Alphabet, the parent company of Google, in its Q4 financial release.

The internet giant Google is expected to fire off almost 12,000 workers and spend $2.1 billion on severance and associated costs in 2023, in a financially surprising move, according to a report by The Verge.

The corporation has already paid $700 million in severance costs for over 1,000 further layoffs this year, and this pattern is expected to continue throughout 2024. This information was made public by Alphabet, the parent company of Google, in its Q4 financial release.

Surprisingly, Google had growth in its core business segments throughout 2023 even though there were a lot of layoffs. Revenue in the fourth quarter of 2023 was $86 billion, up 13% from the previous year. A significant source of income, search engines increased by around 13% on a yearly basis, bringing in $48 billion. $10.7 billion came from subscription services and gadgets including Google One, YouTube TV, YouTube Premium & Music, and YouTube Premium.

Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, credited the company's efforts in generative AI for this success. Pichai alluded to 2024 as the "Gemini era" at Alphabet, a time when an AI language model called Gemini is anticipated to be integrated into all Google products. First on the list of updates for Gemini Ultra is the addition of a search feature.

Even though it is still the third-largest cloud provider in the world, Google achieved notoriety in 2023 when its income from Google Cloud grew by 25.6% annually to $9.19 billion. Success did not come without a price, however, as in 2023 there were $1.8 billion worth of office space closures due to unemployment and real estate restrictions, particularly in the pricey Bay Area.

In the future, Google's dedication to the "Gemini era" predicts further layoffs in 2024 as the business reallocates funds to develop its artificial intelligence projects. Google is committed to continuing its progress in the rapidly changing world of technology, even in the face of financial challenges.