Google, the tech giant owned by Alphabet, has announced that it is laying off hundreds of employees from its digital assistant, hardware and engineering teams, as part of its efforts to reduce costs and focus on its core products.
The layoffs, which affect workers in the U.S. and other countries, are part of the organizational changes that have been taking place since the second half of 2023, according to a Google spokesperson.
The spokesperson said that the company is making these changes to become more efficient and work better, and to align its resources to its biggest product priorities.
“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,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement. “Some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organizational changes, which include some role eliminations globally.”
Among the affected workers are those working on the voice-based Google Assistant, which competes with Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri, and the augmented reality hardware team, which develops devices such as Google Glass and Pixel Buds.
Workers in the company’s central engineering organization, which oversees the development of various software and hardware products, are also hit by the cut.
The layoffs come amid a challenging economic environment for the tech industry, which has been hit by the global recession, the war in Ukraine, and the regulatory scrutiny.
Google’s share price has dropped by more than 20% in the past year, and the company has faced criticism for its handling of issues such as privacy, antitrust, and content moderation.
Google is not the only tech company that has resorted to layoffs in recent months.
Meta, formerly known as Facebook, had announced that it will cut 10,000 jobs by the end of 2023, as it shifts its focus to the metaverse.
Amazon, Microsoft, and Netflix have also announced job cuts in various divisions, citing the need to streamline their operations and adapt to the changing market demands.
