Key Takeaways
- Google is laying off hundreds of employees across several teams as the tech giant cuts costs.
- Roles will be eliminated in Google’s Assistant team, the augmented reality hardware section of its devices and services product area team, and the central engineering team.
- The company said the cuts were part of “changes to become more efficient and work better, and to align their resources to their biggest product priorities.”
Shares of Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) shares dropped 0.9% in intraday trading Thursday following reports that Google would start the new year with hundreds of layoffs as the tech giant cuts costs.
Google said hundreds of roles will be eliminated, impacting several teams including the Assistant team that oversees Google’s voice-activated assistant, the augmented reality hardware section of its devices and services product area team, and Google’s central engineering team.
“We’re responsibly investing in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead. To best position us for these opportunities, 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. Some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organizational changes, which include some role eliminations globally. We’re continuing to support any impacted employees as they look for new roles here at Google and beyond,” a Google spokesperson told Investopedia.
The Alphabet Workers Union, a union representing Google employees, called the layoffs “needless,” adding that “the company cannot continue to fire our coworkers while making billions every quarter.”
Google’s last major layoff spell was at the start of 2023, when the company laid off approximately 12,000 workers, about 6% of its workforce.
Shares of Alphabet were 0.9% lower at $141 per share as of about 12:25 p.m. ET Thursday. They have gained more than 54% over the past year.