LONDON (AP) — Google is laying off 12,000 workers, becoming the latest tech company to trim staff after rapid expansions during the COVID-19 pandemic have worn off.

The Silicon Valley giant’s CEO Sundar Pichai shared the news Friday in an email to staff that was also posted on the company’s news blog.

He said that the company has hired for “periods of dramatic growth” over the past two years but that was a “different economic reality than the one we face today.”