Heaptalk, Jakarta — Alphabet’s Google is reportedly holding its second round of layoffs this year by trimming unspecified employees to diminish expenses. The giant tech’s job-cutting decision has impacted its staff in multiple units, including Google’s real estate and finance division.
In the finance department, Google will let go of its team in treasury, business services, and revenue cash operations. As the company wrote in an email to the staff, the laid-off workforce will have the opportunity to seek internal roles. Also, a small portion of the impacted roles will be relocated to key hubs where the company is increasing its investment, spanning India, Chicago, Atlanta, and Dublin.
As SilliconAngle reported, Google also claimed it spent about US$1.8 billion on obligations relating to its real estate reductions in 2023, as remote work diminished the need for physical space. The company marketed 1.4 million square feet of office space for sublease in the Silicon Valley area and held a significant new project in San Jose.
“Throughout the second half of 2023 and into 2024, a number of our teams performed changes to become more efficient and perform better, removing layers and aligning their resources with their biggest product priorities.” Google’s spokesperson said, cited in Reuters.
In January 2024, Google terminated hundreds of workforces working on the hardware, voice-assistance, engineering, and hardware teams responsible for products like the Pixel phone, Fitbit watches, and Nest as part of cost-cutting measures.
The company explained that this restructuring will help improve the Google Assistant business line as the technology company is exploring integrating artificial intelligence (AI) technology into its products. Google will also restructure the company’s advertising sales department, which has around 30,000 employees, as AI’s role in this area continues to increase. The company claims to have discussed with its Google Ads employees across departments.
While another new wave of layoffs occurred in multiple Google units, its video-streaming business line, YouTube, also joined the cut wave by planning to cut about 100 workforces a week after. These moves come as the platform grapples with increasing competition, evolving user behaviors, and the imperative to foster more agile and streamlined operations.
