Alphabet surges 4.0% after layoffs announcement

Alphabet (GOOGL.US), the parent holding company of Google, announced that it will lay off 12,000 employees which equals approximately 6% of its workforce.

Narrative of an open letter published by CEO Sundar Pichai is similar to that of other big companies that reduced employment in recent months, noting that the company was "employing in a different economic reality" than the one it faces today. 

The news also means that four out of five BIG Techs have announced significant layoffs in the past few months. Apple is the only company from the big five that has not announced any job cuts so far.

Earlier this week, Microsoft announced 10,000 job cuts, affecting nearly 5% of its workforce, following Amazon's decision to cut 18,000 jobs, or 1.2% of its global workforce. Meta announced 11,000 layoffs in November, which translates to 13% of its workforce.

Other major companies also have announced significant layoffs in recent times. Software giant Salesforce, which confirmed job cuts of 10% of its workforce at the turn of the year, equivalent to 7,000 people.

It seems that the worsening macroeconomic environment has prompted companies from the tech sector to take a more cautious approach and focus more on core strengths, after years of trying to diversify revenue and investing in many side-projects.