Google CEO Sundar Pichai Tells Employees to Expect More Job Cuts This Year: Report

Pichai said in the memo that the layoffs this year were focused on removing layers to simplify execution and drive velocity in some areas.

By Reuters | Updated: 18 January 2024 14:58 IST

Google CEO Sundar Pichai Tells Employees to Expect More Job Cuts This Year: Report

Photo Credit: Bloomberg

A Google representative confirmed to Reuters that an email was sent to all employees

Highlights

Google laid off several employees in its Voice Assistant units last week
Hardware teams responsible for Pixel, Nest and Fitbit were also impacted
Alphabet had announced plans to cut 12,000 jobs last year

Google CEO Sundar Pichai told employees to expect more job cuts at the Alphabet-owned company this year, The Verge reported on Wednesday, citing an internal memo.

Pichai said in the memo that the layoffs this year were focused on removing layers to simplify execution and drive velocity in some areas, according to the report.

The move adds to signs that job cuts will continue this year, as companies look to adopt artificial intelligence software and automation to lighten workloads.

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"These role eliminations are not at the scale of last year's reductions, and will not touch every team," Pichai informed all employees in the memo.

"We have ambitious goals, and will be investing in our big priorities this year."

A Google representative confirmed to Reuters that an email was sent to all employees, but refused to disclose further contents of the memo.

Google’s Mapping App Waze to See Layoffs Soon

Last week, Google said it would lay off several employees in its Voice Assistant units, hardware teams responsible for Pixel, Nest and Fitbit, advertising sales team, as well as in its augmented reality team.

The layoffs at Google Assistant, first reported by news platform Semafor, are a part of organizational changes that have been in place since the second half of 2023, which included layoffs at the company's mapping app Waze.

A few hundred roles are being eliminated in the company's Devices and Services team, with the majority in the 1P AR hardware team, the company said, confirming a report by tech media website 9to5Google, which first reported the reorganization.

In January 2023, Alphabet announced plans to cut 12,000 jobs, or 6 percent, of its global workforce. As of September 2023, the company had 1,82,381 employees globally.

Google I/O 2023 saw the search giant repeatedly tell us that it cares about AI, alongside the launch of its first foldable phone and Pixel-branded tablet. This year, the company is going to supercharge its apps, services, and Android operating system with AI technology. We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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