Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs Cuts About Half of Toronto Workforce

(Bloomberg) -- Sidewalk Labs, an urban innovation unit at Alphabet Inc., has laid off about 20 people, according to people familiar with the matter.

The job cuts, which amount to approximately 13% of the company’s roughly 150 employees, are mostly in the company’s Toronto operation, where about a dozen workers remain, one of the people said.

New York-based Sidewalk recently shuttered its project to create a so-called city of the future on Toronto’s waterfront, citing the pandemic’s impact on real estate prices. The firm’s office in the Canadian city, which has been closed since the pandemic starts, will not reopen, one of the people said.

Sidewalk is shifting its focus to sustainable building, according to a representative for the firm.

“As excited as we are for the future, we are sad that this shift in focus means we will say goodbye to some of our incredibly talented team members,” Sidewalk said in a statement. “Many of our Toronto-based team will continue with Sidewalk Labs as we enter our next phase.”

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