Google Cuts Hundreds of Jobs in Assistant, Hardware, and Engineering Teams

By Maggie Last updated Jan 11, 2024

On Wednesday, Alphabet’s unit Google announced layoffs affecting multiple teams, including its voice, hardware (Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit), and augmented reality (AR) divisions. Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman also left the company during the restructuring.

Layoffs affect hundreds of jobs, including the core engineering team. Google confirmed that these organizational changes are designed to improve efficiency, improve efficiency and align resources with core products. The restructuring, which will begin in mid-2023, will continue to impact the international team.

Although the number of affected roles was not disclosed, the Google Assistant software team and other teams were affected. The company emphasized its commitment to optimizing operations and resource allocation to adapt to business changes and improve overall performance.

The restructuring is in line with the broader industry in artificial intelligence (AI) technology, with tech giants such as Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Google influenced by the success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Google has previously announced plans to integrate artificial intelligence into its virtual assistant to perform tasks such as travel planning and email management.

Layouts were announced in Alphabet in January 2023; This suggests it plans to lay off 12,000 people, or 6% of its workforce. international employees. As of September 2023, Alphabet has 182,381 employees worldwide. The latest changes reflect Google’s ongoing efforts to transform the business environment, increase productivity, and improve key products.

These versions make a big difference in the technology industry; There are major projects announced last year by major companies such as Google, Meta, and Amazon. Recently, Amazon, Twitch, Prime Video, MGM Studios, Xerox, and Unity Software have also announced layoffs.

Since July 2022, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has been leading the company to focus on and reduce costs, especially during the global economic crisis. In January 2023, unemployment affected 6% of the workforce (12,000 people), marking the company’s largest project. While Google executives focused on the emergence of artificial intelligence, they also renewed their efforts to reduce costs.

The Alphabet union, which represents more than 1,400 Alphabet employees, criticized the resignations as “unnecessary” and expressed concern that exit efforts were continuing even if the company’s financial results were good. The organization called for a reconsideration of the decision and questioned the necessity of working for the company’s profit while saying that Google employees are committed to delivering good products.