Google company Verily to lay off 15% of workforce

Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Verily Life Sciences said Wednesday it will begin the process of laying off 15% of its staff as part of a restructuring effort.

The company's CEO Stephen Gillett broke the news in an internal email to employees.

Cuts will affect about 240 people working for the company, which is owned by Google parent Alphabet Inc.

The organization was formerly a division of Google X up until 2015.

In September, Verily raised $1 billion in capital to expand its offering of data-driven, individually-tailored healthcare products.

It now becomes the first of Alphabet's subsidiaries known to carry out layoffs amid tough economic times on the horizon.

Earlier this month, Amazon became the latest tech giant to announce job cuts, confirming it will eliminate 18,000 positions.

Cloud-based software firm Salesforce said it will reduce its staff by 10%, representing some 7,000 jobs, the latest tech firms to do so citing economic downturn.

In November, Facebook parent Meta announced 11,000 layoffs.

Google has so-far avoided heading down a similar road with widespread cuts.

Verily is making the move as it looks to gain further financial independence from Alphabet, which led the round of financing in September.

The company's mission is "to bring together technology and life sciences to uncover new truths about health and disease."

"We cannot do everything and have had to make some difficult choices," Gillett wrote in the email, obtained by NBC.

The company's offices are closed Thursday and Friday with employees told to keep working from home. Further clarity on the cuts is expected Jan. 18.