At the end of 2024, Alphabet had 183,323 full-time employees. Up until 2015, these figures were reported as Google employees. The alphabet was created through a corporate restructuring of Google in October 2015 and became the parent company of Google as well as several of its former subsidiaries, including Calico, X, CapitalG and Sidewalk Labs. Google’s popularity Google is one of the most famous internet companies in the world, and in May 2024, the most visited multi-platform website in the United States, with over 278 million U.S. unique visitors during that month alone. The California-based multinational internet company has been delivering digital products and services since its creation in 1996. Due to the popularity of its search engine, the verb “to google” has entered the everyday language and the Oxford Dictionary. In addition to that, the company has also crafted itself as one of the most desirable employers, largely due to the many perks it offers in its offices worldwide. Some of the most appealing aspects of working for Google according to its employees include readily available foods and drinks, good working conditions, and ample communal spaces for relaxing, as well as many health benefits and generous salaries. Google offices and employees As of February 2022, Google and Alphabet had more than 70 offices in over 200 cities throughout 50 around the globe, including Germany, Czechia, Finland, Canada, Mexico, Turkey, and New Zealand. The company’s headquarters, also known as “the Googleplex,” are located in Mountain View, California, while other office locations in American states include New York, Georgia, Texas, Washington D.C., and Massachusetts. As Alphabet, the company employs a total over 182 thousand full-time staff, in addition to many other temporary and internship positions. Per the most recent diversity report published in July 2021, most Google employees were male and only 34 percent were female – a figure that has barely changed since the company started reporting on the diversity of its employees in 2016. Furthermore, as of 2021, women occupied only 28.1 percent of leadership positions and 24.6 percent of tech positions. Although Google has regularly stated that the company is committed to promoting ethnic diversity among its personnel, some 54.4 percent of its U.S. employees are White and only 3.3 percent of employees are Black.

Google UK Limited's average headcount for the fiscal period that ended December 31, 2022, was 7,005 employees. This was an increase compared to the previous reporting period ending December 31, 2021, where 5,701 individuals were reported to have had worked for the company in the UK.

As of January 2024, the majority of Google employees worldwide, almost 66 percent, were male. The distribution of male and female employees at Google hasn’t seen a big change over the recent years. In 2014 the share of female employees at Google was 30.6 percent. In 2021 this number has increased by only 3 percent. Considering that the total number of Google employees increased greatly between the years 2007 and 2020, the female quota among the employees had seen rather a small increase. Google as a company Google is a diverse internet company that provides a wide range of digital products and services. In 2022, the company’s global revenue was over 279 billion U.S. dollars. Most of its revenue, around 305 billion U.S. dollars, was from advertising. Among its services, the most popular ones are YouTube and Google Play. Male and female employees at tech companies Google is not the only tech company with a lower number of female employees. This pattern can be seen in other big tech companies too. In 2019, in a ranking of 20 leading tech companies worldwide, only 23andMe had more than a 50 percent share of female employees. The majority of tech companies in the ranking have far more male than female employees.

In 2023, Amazon.com was the top-ranked internet company based on number of employees. The e-commerce giant reported a workforce of more than 1.52 million employees. Amazon has consistently topped the ranking as the online company with the biggest workforce, but the global COVID-19 pandemic has widened the gap as e-commerce has boomed since. During the same period, Meta (formerly Facebook Inc.) had a total of 67,317 full-time employees. Additionally, Google's parent company Alphabet had 183,323 full-time workers in 2024.

As of 2024, 7.5 percent of U.S. Google employees were of Hispanic or Latinx ethnicity. The biggest share of Google employees were white. Currently, more than four in ten Google employees were white, down from more than six in ten in 2014.

In 2024, 4.3 percent of U.S. Google leadership employees were of Latinx ethnicity. The majority of leadership employees, about six in ten, were white. Asian Google employees accounted for the second-largest group of employees in leadership positions.

In 2024, the share of female Google employees worldwide in leadership positions amounted to 32.8 percent. The majority of leadership employees were men. Overall, about two thirds of Google employees worldwide were male.

How many employees does Microsoft have? The American technology company Microsoft employs approximately 228,000 people in full-time positions worldwide. Around 60 percent of Microsoft’s employees are located in the company’s home country the United States. The employees are spread out over four business units: operations (manufacturing, distribution, product support, and consulting services), research and development, sales and marketing, and general and administration. Product portfolio and business segmentsMicrosoft sells a wide range of consumer and enterprise software, hardware, and services. The technology company had a revenue standing at around 245 billion U.S. dollars in fiscal year 2024, most of which came from the commercial licensing of its software and operating systems. For example, Microsoft Windows is a dominating presence in the desktop operating systems market, with a market share of around 73 percent. Microsoft U.S. tech giant Microsoft is one of the biggest technology companies in the United States next to Apple, Facebook, Google, Amazon, and IBM. Microsoft’s market capitalization has consistently grown to over three trillion U.S. dollars over the period from 2014 to 2024. Today Microsoft is one of the most valuable brands worldwide with a brand value close to 3.4 trillion U.S. dollars, with only Apple having a higher brand value. The fiscal year end of the company is June, 30th.

In 2024, the number of IKEA co-workers worldwide amounted to 216,000. This is an increase of around 65,000 staff members compared to 2013. IKEA IKEA is an internationally known home furnishing retailer. It has grown rapidly since it was founded in 1943. Today it is the world's largest furniture retailer, recognized for its Scandinavian style. The majority of IKEA's furniture is flat-pack, ready to be assembled by the consumer. This approach allows for a reduction in costs and packaging. One of the key competitive advantages IKEA has is its extensive knowledge about the customers. The company understands the purchasing factors that influence customers to buy and implements the best practices to induce that decision. Low prices are the cornerstone of the IKEA business idea and the company always tries to do things as efficiently and cost-effective as possible. To drive costs down all the time, the company must find new and innovative ways to do that and to incorporate them in its business model. The business’ innovations include new materials that contribute more to a sustainable environment and are less costly or using the newest ways of packaging, handling and transporting materials. Brand value and store visits According to Millward Brown Optimor's "Brandz Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2023", IKEA was not only the most valuable furniture retailer brand in the world, it was also the seventh most valuable retailer in the world, valued at almost 22 billion U.S. dollars. The furniture business operates more than 450 stores and is present in the major world markets. Additionally, there were about 900 million customers visits to IKEA stores in the fiscal year of 2024, compared to 860 million in 2023.

In 2023, Nokia had approximately 86,900 employees situated in around 130 locations throughout the world.Returning to Profitability The Finnish company has transitioned from producing cellular devices to network equipment, a shift that is accompanied by ongoing cost-saving initiatives. One of Nokia’s cost-cutting strategies is layoffs, including 350 jobs in its home country of Finland, out of the 6000 employees based there. The company hopes to save 700 million euros in annual costs over 2019 and 2020. In total Nokia currently spends more than six billion euros annually on salaries and wages. Smartphone manufacturer moves to 5G Nokia has undergone several directional changes throughout the last few decades. Once a successful phone manufacturer in the early 2000s, the company struggled with increasingly overwhelming competition from Apple and Samsung. One reason for Nokia’s declining share within the mobile phone market was remaining committed to their own mobile operating system Symbian (OS) for too long before switching to Google’s Android OS. After an unsuccessful partnership with Microsoft in 2013 - Nokia sold its mobile and devices segment to Microsoft the following year - the company turned its focus to network infrastructure. In recent years, Nokia has invested a lot into the research and development of 5G cellular network

In the most recently reported fiscal year, Google's revenue amounted to 348.16 billion U.S. dollars. Google's revenue is largely made up by advertising revenue, which amounted to 264.59 billion U.S. dollars in 2024. As of October 2024, parent company Alphabet ranked first among worldwide internet companies, with a market capitalization of 2,02 billion U.S. dollars. Google’s revenue Founded in 1998, Google is a multinational internet service corporation headquartered in California, United States. Initially conceptualized as a web search engine based on a PageRank algorithm, Google now offers a multitude of desktop, mobile and online products. Google Search remains the company’s core web-based product along with advertising services, communication and publishing tools, development and statistical tools as well as map-related products. Google is also the producer of the mobile operating system Android, Chrome OS, Google TV as well as desktop and mobile applications such as the internet browser Google Chrome or mobile web applications based on pre-existing Google products. Recently, Google has also been developing selected pieces of hardware which ranges from the Nexus series of mobile devices to smart home devices and driverless cars. Due to its immense scale, Google also offers a crisis response service covering disasters, turmoil and emergencies, as well as an open source missing person finder in times of disaster. Despite the vast scope of Google products, the company still collects the majority of its revenue through online advertising on Google Site and Google network websites. Other revenues are generated via product licensing and most recently, digital content and mobile apps via the Google Play Store, a distribution platform for digital content. As of September 2020, some of the highest-grossing Android apps worldwide included mobile games such as Candy Crush Saga, Pokemon Go, and Coin Master.

The tech industry had a rough start to 2024. Technology companies worldwide saw a significant reduction in their workforce in the first quarter of 2024, with over 57 thousand employees being laid off. By the second quarter, layoffs impacted more than 43 thousand tech employees. In the final quarter of the year around 12 thousand employees were laid off. Layoffs impacting all global tech giants Layoffs in the global market escalated dramatically in the first quarter of 2023, when the sector saw a staggering record high of 167.6 thousand employees losing their jobs. Major tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, Meta, and IBM all contributed to this figure during this quarter. Amazon, in particular, conducted the most rounds of layoffs with the highest number of employees laid off among global tech giants. Industries most affected include the consumer, hardware, food, and healthcare sectors. Notable companies that have laid off a significant number of staff include Flink, Booking.com, Uber, PayPal, LinkedIn, and Peloton, among others. Overhiring led the trend, but will AI keep it going? Layoffs in the technology sector started following an overhiring spree during the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, companies expanded their workforce to meet increased demand for digital services during lockdowns. However, as lockdowns ended, economic uncertainties persisted and companies reevaluated their strategies, layoffs became inevitable, resulting in a record number of 263 thousand laid off employees in the global tech sector by trhe end of 2022. Moreover, it is still unclear how advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) will impact layoff trends in the tech sector. AI-driven automation can replace manual tasks leading to workforce redundancies. Whether through chatbots handling customer inquiries or predictive algorithms optimizing supply chains, the pursuit of efficiency and cost savings may result in more tech industry layoffs in the future.

As of January 2024, several major technology companies, including Google, Amazon, Meta, and Apple, have implemented return-to-office mandates requiring employees to be in the office at least three days per week. Interestingly, Zoom, a company that played a significant role in facilitating work-from-home activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, has announced a return-to-office mandate of its own requiring employees to work from the office twice per week. In contrast, X (formerly Twitter) adopted an office-only policy for their employees since Elon Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, requiring all X employees to work from the office the entire work week.

As of January 2024, the tech startup with the most layoffs was Amazon, with over 27 thousand layoffs, across five separate rounds of layoffs. It was followed by Meta and Google with around 21 thousand and 12 thousand job cuts announced respectively.

Layoffs in in the technology industry

Overall, layoffs across all industries began in 2020 due to the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, with tech layoffs increasing in 2022. In the first quarter of 2023 alone, more than 167 thousand employees had been fired worldwide, a record number of job cuts in a single quarter and more than all of the layoffs announced in 2022 combined, marking a harsh start to of 2023 for the tech sector. From retail to finance and education, all sectors are suffering from this widespread downsizing. However, retail tech startups were hit the most, with almost 29 thousand layoffs announced as of September 2023. Most job losses happened in the United States, where tech giants like Amazon, Meta, and Google are based.

Reasons behind increasing tech layoffs

Layoffs in the technology sector started with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when entire cities were in lockdown and mobility was restricted. Although restrictions loosened up in 2021, events such as the Russia-Ukraine war, the downturn in Chinese production, and rising inflation had a significant impact on the tech industry and continue to represent major concerns for tech companies. As a consequence, companies across the world have yet to overcome all economic challenges, examples of which are rising material and labor costs, as well as decreasing profit margins. To address such difficulties, tech companies have appointed business plans. For instance, in the United States, tech firms planned to focus more on consumer retention, automating software, and cutting operating expenses.

In 2022, Netflix was the most effective company, generating close to 2.47 million U.S. dollars of revenue per employee. Apple ranked in second place with an annual revenue of more than 2.40 million U.S. dollars per employee.

With a market capitalization of 3.12 trillion U.S. dollars as of May 2024, Microsoft was the world’s largest company that year. Rounding out the top five were some of the world’s most recognizable brands: Apple, NVIDIA, Google’s parent company Alphabet, and Amazon. Saudi Aramco led the ranking of the world's most profitable companies in 2023, with a pre-tax income of nearly 250 billion U.S. dollars. How are market value and market capitalization determined? Market value and market capitalization are two terms frequently used – and confused - when discussing the profitability and viability of companies. Strictly speaking, market capitalization (or market cap) is the worth of a company based on the total value of all their shares; an important metric when determining the comparative value of companies for trading opportunities. Accordingly, many stock exchanges such as the New York or London Stock Exchange release market capitalization data on their listed companies. On the other hand, market value technically refers to what a company is worth in a much broader context. It is determined by multiple factors, including profitability, corporate debt, and the market environment as a whole. In this sense it aims to estimate the overall value of a company, with share price only being one element. Market value is therefore useful for determining whether a company’s shares are over- or undervalued, and in arriving at a price if the company is to be sold. Such valuations are generally made on a case-by-case basis though, and not regularly reported. For this reason, market capitalization is often reported as market value. What are the top companies in the world? The answer to this question depends on the metric used. Although the largest company by market capitalization, Microsoft's global revenue did not manage to crack the top 20 companies. Rather, American multinational retailer Walmart was ranked as the largest company in the world by revenue. Walmart also had the highest number of employees in the world.

In the third quarter of 2024, Google's revenue amounted to over 96.05 billion U.S. dollars, up from the 85.5 billion U.S. dollars registered in the same quarter a year prior. The company amounted to an annual revenue of 348.16 billion U.S. dollars throughout 2024, its highest value to date, with most of its earnings being powered by advertising through Google sites and its network. Google advertising The foundations of Google's earnings are its advertising revenues, generated through its Google Ads platform, which enables advertisers to display ads, product listings, and service offerings across its extensive network (properties, partner sites, and apps) to web users via programs like AdSense or AdSearch. In 2024, Google accounted for most of its parent company Alphabet's annual revenues with 234.2 billion U.S. dollars in Google website ad revenues alone. Other sources of revenue Google's multitude of income sources also includes digital content products and apps sold through the digital content distribution platform Google Play, as well as hardware including Chromecast devices and smartphones. Geographically, the biggest single country share of Alphabet’s revenue comes from the United States, and close to 30 percent of revenues originate from the EMEA region.

Android maintained its position as the leading mobile operating system worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2024 with a market share of about 72.04 percent. Android's closest rival, Apple's iOS, had a market share of approximately 27.49 percent during the same period. The leading mobile operating systems Both unveiled in 2007, Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS have evolved through incremental updates introducing new features and capabilities. The latest version of iOS, iOS 18, was released in September 2024, while the most recent Android iteration, Android 15, was made available in September 2023. A key difference between the two systems concerns hardware - iOS is only available on Apple devices, whereas Android ships with devices from a range of manufacturers such as Samsung, Google and OnePlus. In addition, Apple has had far greater success in bringing its users up to date. As of February 2024, 66 percent of iOS users had iOS 17 installed, while in the same month only 13 percent of Android users ran the latest version. The rise of the smartphone From around 2010, the touchscreen smartphone revolution had a major impact on sales of basic feature phones, as the sales of smartphones increased from 139 million units in 2008 to 1.39 billion units in 2023. In 2020, smartphone sales decreased to 1.38 billion units due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Apple, Samsung, and lately also Xiaomi, were the big winners in this shift towards smartphones, with BlackBerry and Nokia among those unable to capitalize.

Advertising remained the main revenue-generating segment for Google in 2024. During the examined year, 77.8 percent of Google’s revenue came from advertising on Google properties and YouTube. The Google Cloud revenue segment generated 10.8 percent of the company's revenues, up from 4.3 percent in 2018.

In 2023, Google's ad revenue amounted to 264.59 billion U.S. dollars. The company generates advertising revenue through its Google Ads platform, which enables advertisers to display ads, product listings and service offerings across Google’s extensive ad network (properties, partner sites, and apps) to web users. Google advertising Advertising accounts for the majority of Google’s revenue, which amounted to a total of 305.63 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. The majority of Google's advertising revenue comes from search advertising. Google market share These revenue figures come as no surprise, as Google accounts for the majority of the online and mobile search market worldwide. As of September 2023, Google was responsible for more than 84 percent of global desktop search traffic. The company holds a market share of more than 80 percent in a wide range of digital markets, having little to no domestic competition in many of them. China, Russia, and to a certain extent, Japan, are some of the few notable exceptions, where local products are more preferred.