Google LLC and Microsoft Corp. are scaling back their hiring efforts, according to two reports published on Wednesday.

A number of other major tech firms, among them Apple Inc., are also expected to limit the scope of their recruiting activities in the coming quarters.

Google informed employees in an internal memo obtained by The Information on Wednesday that it will pause most hiring activities for two weeks. The hiring freeze won’t affect job offers that have already been sent. “We’ll use this time to review our headcount needs and align on a new set of prioritized Staffing Requests for the next three months,” the internal memo stated.

The move follows a quarter in which Google reportedly onboarded about 10,000 new workers. Earlier this month, Google and Alphabet Inc. Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai told employees in a memo that “we’ll be slowing the pace of hiring for the rest of the year, while still supporting our most important opportunities.”

Pichai hinted that Google also plans to implement changes in other areas. “In some cases, that means consolidating where investments overlap and streamlining processes,” the executive stated. “In other cases, that means pausing development and re-deploying resources to higher priority areas.”

Microsoft, which competes with Google in the cloud computing market, is also believed to have slowed hiring initiatives. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that the company is “eliminating many open jobs” across multiple business units. The affected business units are said to include Microsoft’s Azure public cloud division and its cybersecurity software group.

Bloomberg reported that the hiring cuts are expected to continue for the foreseeable future. But like Google, Microsoft plans to honor job offers that it issued prior to the implementation of the move. Additionally, the company will reportedly continue hiring for certain critical jobs.

Microsoft earlier this year scaled back recruiting initiatives across the business units that are responsible for Windows and the Office productivity suite. “As Microsoft gets ready for the new fiscal year, it is making sure the right resources are aligned to the right opportunity,” Microsoft said in a statement at the time. “Microsoft will continue to grow headcount in the year ahead and it will add additional focus to where those resources go.”

Apple is also among the major tech firms that were this week reported to have slowed their hiring efforts. According to a Monday report, the iPhone maker plans to limit hiring across multiple business units next year. However, the move is not expected to be implemented as a copmanywide policy, meaning that other business units will continue to operate as they currently do. 

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