Google lays off several employees in Assistant, hardware, engineering teams

Alphabet Inc.’s Google is undergoing substantial layoffs, affecting hundreds of employees across various teams, including the digital assistant, hardware, and engineering units. The restructuring effort is part of Google’s ongoing cost-cutting initiative, as the tech giant faces increased competition in the artificial intelligence (AI) space from rivals like Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT.

The impacted workforce includes employees working on the voice-based Google Assistant and those associated with the augmented reality hardware team. Google’s central engineering organization is also experiencing workforce reductions. The move is in line with Google executives’ commitment to reviewing operations, identifying areas for efficiency, and reallocating resources to focus on key priorities.

In response to the competitive landscape, 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.” This ongoing organizational restructuring includes role eliminations on a global scale.

The layoffs follow a series of cuts initiated by Alphabet in January 2023, where the parent company announced plans to cut 12,000 jobs, amounting to over 6% of its global workforce. While the initial wave of cuts was anticipated, this year’s reductions have been communicated by lower-level leaders, raising concerns among Google employees.

The restructuring is not limited to the digital assistant team, as other divisions, including hardware responsible for Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit, are also affected. The augmented reality team is witnessing a majority of roles being cut, while the central engineering team is facing significant impacts.

The Alphabet Workers Union, representing Google employees, criticized the job cuts in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter): “Our members and teammates work hard every day to build great products for our users, and the company cannot continue to fire our coworkers while making billions every quarter. We won’t stop fighting until our jobs are safe!”

In a related move, Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman are leaving Google as part of the cost-cutting measures. Google’s acquisition of Fitbit in 2019 for $2.1 billion took two years to gain regulatory approval and was completed in 2021. Subsequently, Google began integrating Fitbit products into its offerings and encouraged Fitbit users to switch to Google accounts.

The layoffs and departures are occurring amidst industry-wide shifts, with companies like Microsoft and Google focusing on the growing adoption of generative AI technology, exemplified by the success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

The reorganization reflects Google’s commitment to staying competitive and agile in the rapidly evolving tech landscape, emphasizing efficiency and strategic alignment with its core product priorities. The company assures affected employees the opportunity to apply for open positions elsewhere within Google, indicating a commitment to retaining talent even amid organizational changes.