Google to axe 12,000 jobs; CEO Sundar Pichai says 'sorry'
New York, Jan 20: Google will lay off 12,000 jobs across the globe, its CEO Sundar Pichai announced on Friday, becoming the latest tech giant to retrench staff en mass amid the global economic downturn.
In an email to employees, the Indian-origin CEO said:"I have some difficult news to share. We've decided to reduce our workforce by approximately 12,000 roles."
Pichai said the layoffs at Google were carried out after a "rigorous review" of its operations.
The jobs being eliminated "cut across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels and regions", he said.
"Over the past two years we've seen periods of dramatic growth. To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today," Pichai said in his mail, which was also posted on the company's news blog.
Earlier this week, Microsoft announced 10,000 job cuts, or nearly 5 per cent of its workforce.
Amazon is also cutting 18,000 jobs and Facebook parent Meta is trimming 11,000 positions.
"We've already sent a separate email to employees in the US who are affected. In other countries, this process will take longer due to local laws and practices," he said.
"I'm deeply sorry for that. The fact that these changes will impact the lives of Googlers weighs heavily on me, and I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us here," he added.
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Karnataka School Edu Dept prohibits children from being made to dance to obscene songs
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka School Education Department has issued a circular strictly prohibiting children from being made to dance to obscene songs in educational and cultural programmes.
It stated that such dances would negatively impact students' mental health and moral values. It will create indiscipline and harm the sanctity of education.
"All the Deputy Directors (Administration) of the state's School Education Department have been asked to take strict measures to prevent children or students from dancing to obscene songs in all government, aided and unaided schools in the state," the office of the commissioner of the School Education Department said in a recent circular.
"If it is found that children are being made to dance to obscene songs, appropriate action will be taken against the headmaster or management of such school," it added.
The department also listed certain measures in this regard, which include: strictly prohibiting children from being made to dance to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes; selecting songs that are inspiring, positive, instilling national pride in children and reflecting the greatness, dignity, values, culture, and morality of the state.
Stating that the school headmaster and management are responsible for selecting songs and dances for cultural programmes, it said, they should also ensure that students wear decent clothes in dance or cultural programmes.
