Google has terminated around 200 roles within its global business organisation, with the affected staff primarily drawn from sales and partnership teams.
Big Tech is trimming fat in legacy departments to finance its next big innovation. And for Google, it’s data infrastructure and artificial intelligence.
This latest layoff, which hasn’t yet been officially detailed in Google’s newsroom, was confirmed by The Information, per an insider familiar with the decision.
The report reveals the cuts are part of a deeper recalibration. In a terse response to Reuters, the company admitted to making “a small number of changes across teams to drive greater collaboration and expand our ability to quickly and effectively serve our customers.”
That statement does little to mask the truth, Google is reordering its internal machinery, and not everyone will make it through.
This case follows another major downsizing just last month in Google’s platforms and devices unit—the home of Android, Pixel, and Chrome. Hundreds of jobs vanished there too.
Let’s not forget Alphabet’s more drastic move back in January 2023, when it slashed 12,000 jobs, representing 6% of its global headcount. At that point, the company had just over 183,000 employees.
Now, we see that the era of sweeping expansion is over. What’s emerging in its place is a leaner, sharper corporate structure, purpose-built for AI arms races and data wars.
The layoff trend isn’t unique to Google. Meta recently let go of 5% of its lowest-rated employees, describing the decision as part of a renewed focus on machine learning talent.
Microsoft has shed 650 roles in its Xbox division. Amazon has quietly trimmed staff across multiple teams, including its communications unit. Apple also culled about 100 roles in its digital services arm last year. There’s a pattern here, cut low-performing units, double down on AI.
Voluntary exit packages have also been rolled out at Google, showing internal pressure to reduce headcount without too much noise. The message ito employees is to adapt to the AI era or consider the door.
Google’s recent decisions show us a company that is no longer hedging its bets. Its focus is tightening around artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure. Everything else, no matter how established, is now up for review.
The competitive heat in the AI space is unrelenting. Companies that once competed on smartphone hardware or browser speed are now vying for leadership in large-scale models and scalable computing power. For tech workers, this means a change in the policies of survival.
