Google parent Alphabet has cut hundreds of jobs at its Verily Life Sciences and Intrinsic businesses as layoffs are extended to another tech giant.
South San Francisco-based company Verily will reduce its workforce of more than 1,600 employees by 15%, or about 240 employees, CEO Stephen Gillett wrote in a memo shared publicly on Wednesday. The health technology company will scrap some programs like its Verily Value Suite software.
“Our path forward is driven by the need to make conscious decisions about where we can have the greatest impact on precision health and put us on an accelerated path to sustained commercial success. It’s about accelerating the things that work best and that customers need most,” Gillett wrote.
Mountain View-based robotics division Intrinsic is laying off 40 employees.
“This decision was made in light of shifts in prioritization and our longer-term strategic direction. It will ensure that Intrinsic can continue to allocate resources to our highest priority initiatives,” a spokesman said. The company is working on artificial intelligence software for manufacturing robots.
The layoffs are far fewer than some of Alphabet’s other tech giants. Meta cut 11,000 employees and Amazon’s layoffs rose to 18,000 people, the largest in the tech space during the pandemic. Salesforce, San Francisco’s largest private employer, is cutting about 8,000 jobs, including 752 in the city.
Experts say that while tech layoffs show a downturn in the sector, the Bay Area continues to experience low unemployment rates and overall positive job growth. There are no signs of a recession yet.
Verily ran a coronavirus testing program through $55 million in contracts in 28 California counties in 2020, but San Francisco and Alameda County severed ties after just seven months over privacy and equity concerns.
Alphabet had 186,779 employees at the end of September 2022, after hiring a record 12,700 in the third quarter. The company has since slowed down hiring.
Google’s division hasn’t announced any layoffs, but according to several reports, the company is planning tighter performance reviews that could lead to staff departures.
Roland Li is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @rolandlisf