Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, just shared some tough news with the team – there are going to be more job cuts at Google this year(2024).
Pichai explained that the goal is to simplify how things are done and make the company more efficient by removing some layers in certain areas. This move is in line with the trend where companies are increasingly using artificial intelligence and automation to make workflows smoother and reduce the load on their workforce.
Unlike the big job cuts we saw last year, Pichai made it clear that this time it won’t be as widespread, and not every team will be affected. In a memo to the employees, he reassured everyone that the company’s big goals are still in place, and they’ll be putting their investments into key priorities throughout the year.
While the memo was sent out to all employees, the details of the cuts were not disclosed by the Google representative. This news follows recent layoffs in different Google units, including Voice Assistant, as well as hardware teams working on Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit. The advertising sales and augmented reality teams were also affected.
This announcement reminds us of Alphabet’s decision back in January 2023 when they shared plans to cut 12,000 jobs, which was about 6% of the total global workforce. As of September 2023, Google had a workforce of 182,381 people worldwide. This latest move shows that Google is staying on track with its strategy to adapt to the changing tech landscape and keep a more streamlined structure in response to emerging industry trends.
