Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is laying off workers at its Verily and Intrinsic divisions.
Richard Drew, STF / Associated PressGoogle parent Alphabet has cut hundreds of jobs across its Verily Life Sciences and Intrinsic divisions, as layoffs expand to hit another tech giant.
South San Francisco-based Verily will reduce its more-than-1,600-person workforce by 15%, or about 240 people, CEO Stephen Gillett wrote in a memo that was shared publicly Wednesday. The health care tech company will scrap some programs such as its Verily Value Suite software.
“Our path forward is driven by the need to make deliberate choices about where we can have the greatest impact in precision health and to put ourselves on a faster path to sustained commercial success. It’s about accelerating the things that are working best and that customers need the most,” Gillett wrote.
Robotics division Intrinsic, based in Mountain View, is laying off 40 employees.
“This decision was made in light of shifts in prioritization and our longer-term strategic direction. It will ensure Intrinsic can continue to allocate resources to our highest priority initiatives,” a spokesperson said. The company works on artificial intelligence software for manufacturing robots.
The layoffs are far less than some of Alphabet’s fellow tech giants. Meta cut 11,000 workers and Amazon’s layoffs swelled to 18,000 people , the biggest in tech during the pandemic. Salesforce, San Francisco’s largest private employer, is cutting around 8,000 jobs, including 752 in the city.
Experts say that while the tech layoffs show a downturn in the sector, the Bay Area continues to have low unemployment rates and overall positive job growth. There are no signs of a recession yet.
Verily operated a coronavirus testing program through contracts worth $55 million across 28 California counties in 2020, but San Francisco and Alameda County severed ties after only 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 slowed hiring since then.
Its Google division has not announced any layoffs, but multiple reports have said the company plans tougher performance reviews which could lead to staff departures.
Roland Li is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rolandlisf
