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What Alphabet’s Layoffs, Current Headcount, and Unemployment Claims Tell Us About the Erstwhile Tech Layoff Tsunami

by Wolf Richter Wolf Street

Tech & social media companies went nuts during the pandemic hiring-bubble, then sobered up. Now it’s already over.

In terms of actual workforce reduction, let’s look at Alphabet for a moment. In its earnings report on Tuesday evening, Alphabet disclosed that the “substantial majority of the employees affected by the reduction of our workforce” – the 12,000 layoffs announced in January – “are no longer included in our headcount as of June 30, 2023.”

As of June 30, Alphabet’s headcount, at 181,798 full-time employees, was down by 8,436 from the peak as of December 31, just before the announcement. Yet, year-over-year, compared to June 30, 2022, the headcount was still up by 7,784 employees.