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As Alphabet declared its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, all eyes were on the company's cloud division, Google Cloud, since - even while up to now costs have outweighed sales - it has been the biggest revenue growth driver for the company over the past several years. It appears that Google Cloud is still suffering from optimizing cloud spend trends and is not able to gain from genAI spend trends as Azure has." The explosive growth in the demand for generative AI has been a big revenue driver for public clouds. [Extracted from the article]

Though technology companies announced massive layoffs last year, 2023 is looking much worse, as tech giants including Amazon, Facebook parent company Meta, Microsoft, Google, IBM, SAP, and Salesforce - as well as many smaller tech companies - announce sweeping jobs cuts. Feb. 10: Yahoo to lay off 20% of its staff as it cuts advertising tech business Yahoo said it will lay off about 20% of its staff, or apporximately 1,600 workers, by the end of year, according to media reports confirmed by the company. While high-profile tech companies such as Amazon and Microsoft have already announced significant job cuts this year, the silver lining for technology pros is that many of the layoffs involve non-technical staff. [Extracted from the article]

News Microsoft has confirmed its is laying off staffworking on Hololens, Surface, and Xbox products, asreports surface that it will cut its industrial metaverseunit Facing macroeconomic uncertainty and slowing growth,Microsoft has confirmed that it is laying off employeesworking on its HoloLens, Surface laptop and Xbox products,as reports surface that it will be cutting 100 employeesworking for its industrial metaverse unit -- essentiallyclosing down that team. Cuts to HoloLens, Surface, and Xbox jobs were confirmed byMicrosoft Friday in the wake of a report from Bloomberg.The move to cut the industrial metaverse team, created inOctober, was first reported by The Information. [Extracted from the article]

The article offers information on the findings of a survey conducted by market-research firm Karlin Associates on the performance of computers manufactured and designed by Apple Inc. Responses were received from 5,129 users, who gave feedback on 7,167 Apple computers that were used by them at home and work. Most of these machines were less than three years old. On a satisfaction scale of 1 to 10, the respondents rated more than half of the computers at 10; and 85 percent earned a 9 or a 10. Owners of Macintosh Pros, Intel processor-based iMacs, and iMac G4s expressed the highest levels of satisfaction. It is stated that from a sample of 6,924 machines, 26 percent experienced technical problems for short durations.

According to an email sent by CEO Stephen Gillett to all its employees, the downsizing is part of the company's One Verily program, which aims to reduce redundancy and simplify operational aspects within the company. Tech layoffs in 2023: A timeline: So far in 2023, technology companies have laid off more employees than in any other month since the pandemic started. Jan. 11 - Informatica to lay off 7% of its workforce to cut costs Enterprise data management firm Informatica announced plans to lay off 7% of its total workforce through the first quarter of 2023, the company said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. [Extracted from the article]

In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),the company disclosed that its restructuring plan calls forcharges between $1.4 billion and $2.1 billion, with up to $1billion of those costs being shouldered by the company in thefourth quarter of 2023. Tech layoffs in 2023: A timeline: So far in 2023, technology companies have laid off more employees than in any other month since the pandemic started. Jan. 11 - Informatica to lay off 7% of its workforce to cut costs Enterprise data management firm Informatica announced plans tolay off 7% of its total workforce through the first quarter of2023, the company said in a filing with the US Securities andExchange Commission. [Extracted from the article]

News Analysis While the Biden administration's ban on exports ofcertain chip technology to China is targeted at China'smilitary and industrial use, enterprises across the worldwill find their supply chains disrupted. CIOs need to reassess their supply chains While most enterprises may not be directly dealing withChinese entities impacted by the ban, the wide scope ofthe ban means they will need to thoroughly assess theirentire technology supply chain for any possiblelinkages. [Extracted from the article]

Forty-five percent of those involved in the Return Ticketprogram have already converted to full-time employees atExpedia Group "because of their strong performance in theprogram." Feature Expedia Group recently graduated its first group froma 16-week internship program aimed at reacquainting them tothe technology workforce after having been away for two ormore years. [Extracted from the article]

Microsoft's Gaming revenue outlook is also facing challenges, with Xbox content and services revenue decreasing by 3% during the quarter. Azure and other cloud services saw revenue grow by 35%, driving the overall 22% increase in Microsoft's server products and cloud services revenue. [Extracted from the article]

As companies cometo grips with a more hybrid and remote workforce, theiroffice footprint is changing drastically Offices are getting smaller -- or at least companies thatown or lease office space are now using less of it,according to the 2022 Office Space Report compiled byworkplace management software maker Robin Powered. News Analysis Just 11% of businesses use all of the office spacethey own or lease, and nearly 45% use half their availablespace or less, according to a new study. [Extracted from the article]

With work-life "integration", say goodbye to the 9-5 workday: Instead of forcing employees to choose between work and a personal life, companies are pushing work-life integration, effectively blurring the lines between the two. Now, as many employees choose towork remotely, organizations need to focus more on outcomes(deliverables, milestones, new customers) and let employees figure outthe where and when. Technology, Bahrami agreed, will be key to work-life integration,especially in a time when employees are more apt to spend less time atone company or perform work as gig or contract workers. [Extracted from the article]

Discusses credibility-related issues faced by some market research firms in the U.S. as of October 2003. Reaction of information technology professionals to a Microsoft-funded report released by Forrester Research Inc.; Effort of Forrester to change its ethics and disclosure policies; Statement issued by Steve Swasey, director of corporate public relations at PeopleSoft Inc. INSET: CIOs Hold Market Research Firms to a High Standard.

Discusses whether information technology companies should hire research groups and analysts to get market data needed to make sure a product or service is successful. Help from research groups; Importance of a research group for a startup; Less expensive alternative for research groups and analysts. INSET: HOW MUCH WILL IT COST ME?.