Alphabet’s Verily to cut 15% of staff, axing more than 200 jobs

VERILY, Alphabet’s life sciences unit, is cutting 15 per cent of jobs as it eliminates some programmes and streamlines operations.

More than 200 jobs will be eliminated, Verily said after announcing the layoffs in a blog post on Wednesday (Jan 11). “We are making changes that refine our strategy, prioritise our product portfolio and simplify our operating model,” said Stephen Gillett, Verily’s chief executive officer, in the post. “We will advance fewer initiatives with greater resources.”

The company, owned by the same parent as Google, will also discontinue Verily Value Suite, a medical software programme, and some early-stage products, such as microneedles for drug delivery, Gillett said. Some employees leading the programmes will be reassigned to other teams, while others will be leaving Verily, he said.

With the layoffs, Alphabet joins a host of other tech giants that have drastically scaled back their workforces amid a faltering global economy and soaring inflation. Meta Platforms, Twitter and Amazon.com have all slashed their ranks, or begun the process of retrenchment. According to the human-resources consulting firm Challenger Gray & Christmas, by far the most job cuts in 2022 were in the tech sector — 97,171 for the year, up 649 per cent compared to the prior year. BLOOMBERG