Google parent Alphabet is to cut about 12,000 jobs around the world – some 6% of its workforce.

It remains unclear whether any of the company’s 4,000 employees in Ireland will be affected.

In an email to staff, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said US employees who are affected have already been informed but the process will take longer in other countries due to local laws and practices.

"Full responsibility"

He said he takes “full responsibility for the decisions” that have led to the company needing to reduce its workforce.

“Over the past two years we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth,” he said.

“To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.”

He said the job losses will be felt across the company in different product areas, levels and regions.

Severance

US workers being laid off will be paid a severance package starting at 16 weeks' salary, plus two weeks for every additional year worked.

The company is also paying them 2022 bonuses and a minimum of 60 days’ pay.

Workers outside the US will be supported “in line with local practices”.

Alphabet is just the latest international tech company to announce job cuts.

Twitter, Facebook owner Meta, Amazon, Stripe and Microsoft have all cut thousands of jobs recently.