In a continuing trend from the economic challenges of 2023, major tech companies are still grappling with the aftermath, leading to strategic reorganizations and workforce reductions. Following layoffs at Twitch and Amazon, Google has now confirmed its plans to implement similar measures within its AI division.
The affected areas include the hardware division, digital assistant teams, and engineering teams. Google has disclosed that the job cuts will impact employees involved in the development of the voice-based Google Assistant and the augmented reality hardware team. The central engineering organization will also see a reduction in staff.
According to a statement from Google, “A few hundred roles are being eliminated in DSPA with the majority of impacts on the 1P AR Hardware team. While we are making changes to our 1P AR hardware team, Google continues to be deeply committed to other AR initiatives, such as AR experiences in our products, and product partnerships.”
Sources suggest that Google is facing increased competition from Microsoft and OpenAI in the artificial intelligence domain. The latter companies are aggressively promoting their AI services, such as ChatGPT and Co-Pilot, impacting Google’s core search business. Senior executives at Google are reportedly scrutinizing the business, identifying areas for cost reduction, and allocating resources to critical goals.
A Google spokesperson stated, “Throughout the second half of 2023, a number of our teams made changes to become more efficient and work better, and to align their resources to their biggest product priorities.” The spokesperson added that some teams are still undergoing organizational changes, including global role eliminations.
The recent layoffs follow the departure of Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman, along with other Fitbit executives, who resigned amid Google’s plans to reorganize the Devices & Services teams responsible for Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit hardware. As part of this reorganization, Google is adopting a functional organizational model, consolidating hardware engineering for Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit under one team and leadership.
These layoffs contribute to the overall atmosphere of job uncertainty that Google employees have been experiencing since January 2023, when a mass layoff affecting 6% of the global workforce was announced by Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. This year, the layoffs are being communicated by lower-level executives directly to teams, as the company continues its restructuring efforts.
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