Delhi, April 22: Google has paused construction of a massive campus in the Silicon Valley city of San Jose as it looks to manage costs. This comes after Google's parent company Alphabet early this year announced it would cut about 12,000 jobs globally, citing a challenging economic reality.

According to a report in CNBC, a location in San Jose had been prepared for Google's "Downtown West" campus, with construction originally slated to begin by the end of this year. However, the project has been paused and there has been no communication to contractors regarding when work might resume. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai’s Pay Jumps to USD 226 Million in 2022 Amid Cost-Cutting  .

An approved plan for the 80-acre (32 hectare) campus included office space, housing units, and public parks, the report said.

Alphabet’s budget cuts follow a major hiring spree during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic by internet companies scrambling to meet demand as people went online for work, school and entertainment. Google Planning Another Round of Layoffs? CEO Sundar Pichai Has This to Say on More Job Cuts At The Tech Giant.

Alphabet has reported lower revenue and profit than expected in the final three months of last year as harsh economic times cooled its ad business.

With the introduction of ChatGPT, a chatbot supported by Microsoft, Google's widely-used search engine is facing increased competition.

Google recently began letting people in the United States and Britain test its AI chatbot, known as Bard, as it continues on its gradual path to catch up with Microsoft-backed ChatGPT.

This comes after CEO Sundar Pichai recently spoke about the likelihood of a second round of layoffs for the tech giant. Pichai hinted about the layoffs during an interview with the Wall Street Journal. Google had in January announced its plan to hand over pink slips to over 12,000 employees globally. Nearly 450 Indian employees were also impacted by the layoffs. 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 22, 2023 10:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).