Google CEO Sundar Pichai warns employees of more layoffs; big techs cut 7,500 jobs in January 2024

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has warned of more layoffs in the company.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai, after a recent string of layoffs, has warned his employees for more job cuts in the coming months in an effort to “simplify execution” in the Alphabet-owned company, reported The Verge.

Sundar Pichai said in a memo that the layoffs this year will focus on “removing layers” from several departments to drive velocity in the company, the report added. “These role eliminations are not at the scale of last year’s reductions, and will not touch every team,” he said.

This development in Google comes just a few days after the Alphabet-owned company cut hundreds of jobs across its Voice Assistant and hardware departments. Google Nest, Pixel, Fitbit, ad sales team, and augmented reality team were the worst hit in these layoffs.

In January 2023, Alphabet announced plans to cut 12,000 jobs, or 6%, of its global workforce. As of September 2023, the company had 182,381 employees globally. This was the biggest layoff in the history of Google, but was “essential” for the company, Pichai said earlier.

Google has laid of these employees as a cost-cutting measure amid the massive restructuring in the company’s employee structure. The big tech firm also ended up firing Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman during this restructuring.

Big tech firms lay off 7500 employees

The new year kicked off with hopes of an economic revival in the United States and Europe, bit global big tech firms have started 2024 with a string of layoffs as they continue to make investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and employ cost cutting measures.

Global big tech firms like Google and Amazon have laid of hundreds of employees in the first two weeks of January 2024, and have announced that they will continue to cut more jobs due to advancements in AI in the next few months.

Overall, tech firms have let go more than 7,500 employees so far in January, according to tracking website Layoffs.fyi. This includes job cuts in Google, Amazon-backed Twitch and Microsoft-backed HumaneAI.

Amazon.com laid off several hundred employees in its streaming and studio operations last week. Hundreds of jobs were also cut in its Twitch live-streaming platform and Audible audiobook unit, according to media reports.

This comes as both Amazon and Google are investing billions into AI development to streamline jobs and structuring within the company, competing directly with Microsoft in the artificial intelligence race.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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