Representatives impact Google has recently terminated hundreds of staff from its specialist platforms and devices division. This ruling draws attention to a major privatization process that continues to reshape the tech giant. TechCrunch previously reported the layoffs, as first reported by The Information, according to a person with direct knowledge of the cuts. Overall, this decision marks a growing trend among technology giants. To do that, they’re slashing expenses and reallocating resources to prioritize data centers and building out artificial intelligence.
Our platforms and devices unit, which has a number of key products, These products range from the Android mobile operating system, Pixel smartphones, and the Chrome web browser. Earlier this year, Google had issued buyouts to employees on this unit. This influx was accompanied by intentional changes to grow daily operations and productivity. These layoffs come on top of the 12,000 jobs that Google announced in January 2023 that will be lost as Google trims its global workforce. This cut represented about 20% of the firm’s overall workforce.
The recent round of cuts is an indication of what’s to come. Other big tech is reeling as well, suffering their own rounds of bloodletting. In early September, Microsoft laid off 650 employees from its gaming division. Amazon has laid off employees from other units, including comms. Last year Apple eliminated around 100 positions within its digital services division. In January, Facebook-parent Meta cut about 5% of its worst-performing staff. At the same time, the company is aggressively hiring machine learning engineers to expand the team’s capabilities.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters about the layoffs. But thankfully, a spokesperson for the company was able to give us some background on this major change to the platforms and devices teams.
“Since combining the platforms and devices teams last year, we’ve focused on becoming more nimble and operating more effectively and this included making some job reductions in addition to the voluntary exit program that we offered in January,” – A Google spokesperson.
Previous reports claimed that Google’s cloud division experienced layoffs back in February, but only impacted a few teams. The reductions in the platforms and devices unit are just one piece of a larger plan to restructure. This approach is about increasing productivity and ensuring a greater return on investment.
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