Google laid off hundreds of workers across hardware, augmented reality, and Assistant divisions, along with other tech giants like Amazon and Meta, to reduce expenses while emphasizing artificial intelligence.
According to sources familiar with the cuts, the Silicon Valley company cut jobs in its core engineering division and teams working on the Google Assistant and the hardware division. Several hundred employees in the company's core engineering organization lost access and were notified that their roles were eliminated.
Cost-Cutting Initiatives
"We're responsibly investing in our company's biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead," a Google spokesperson said. Following cuts throughout the second half of 2023, "some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organizational changes, which include some role eliminations globally."
Google announced eliminating several hundred positions in engineering, hardware, and Assistant teams, significantly impacting the augmented reality hardware division, a technology blending the real world with a digital overlay, to align with Google and Alphabet executives' commitment to cost reduction.
Deprecation of 17 "Underutilized" Google Assistant Features
On the same day the job cuts were reported, Google announced the deprecation of 17 "underutilized" features of Google Assistant, including playing audiobooks, sending emails, or starting a meditation session with Calm using voice commands.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the Alphabet Workers Union called the job cuts "another round of needless layoffs." The union expressed concern that while their members work hard to create products, the company is letting go of colleagues despite making substantial quarterly profits. The union vowed to continue fighting until job security is ensured. Google saw significant growth at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic but had to revise its business predictions due to a slowdown in that expansion over the past year.
Other Techs Cutting Costs
Meta, Instagram, and WhatsApp
Other tech companies, such as Meta, Instagram, and WhatsApp, face job-cut challenges and have slashed over 20,000 jobs.
Spotify
In December, Spotify marked its third round of layoffs in 2023 by announcing a 17% global workforce reduction to enhance profitability.
Amazon's Prime Video, MGM Studio Unit, and Twitch's Reduction
Amazon has been cutting jobs after a pandemic-related hiring surge. In March, 9,000 employees were laid off, in addition to the 18,000 employees they said would be laid off in January 2023. Hundreds of Prime Video, MGM Studios units, and Twitch employees were laid off earlier this week.
Google and Microsoft are in strong competition to dominate the field of artificial intelligence. Microsoft, a major player in office software, has intensified its AI offerings to compete with Google. In September, Microsoft introduced Copilot, an AI feature integrated into products such as Bing, Edge browser, and Windows for its corporate customers.
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