Google eliminates hundreds of jobs across hardware, engineering teams

SAN FRANCISCO: Google on Thursday confirmed it has cut several hundred jobs across hardware, core engineering and Google Assistant teams.

The layoffs will impact employees in Google’s hardware and central engineering teams, as well as workers across Google Assistant, reports CNBC.

Other parts of the company were also affected in the latest layoffs. The layoffs come as the company pushes for efficiency and focuses on its “biggest product priorities”.

“To best position us for these opportunities, 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 organisational changes, which include some role eliminations globally,” the company added.

“Google also made significant cuts to diversity, equity and inclusion programmes last year,” said the report.

The Alphabet Workers’ Union expressed disappointment at the latest layoffs.

“Google began another round of needless layoffs. Our members and teammates work hard every day to build great products for our users, and the company cannot continue to fire our coworkers while making billions every quarter. We won’t stop fighting until our jobs are safe,” the union posted on X.

Earlier reports said that Google was laying off hundreds of hardware employees, especially in the augmented reality (AR) division as Fitbit co-founders James Park, Eric Friedman and other Fitbit leaders quit the company.

Google had acquired wearable company Fitbit for $2.1 billion in 2019.

The Devices & Services teams are responsible for Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit devices.

Last January, Google cut its workforce by 12,000 people, or around 6 per cent of its full-time employees.

The tech giant also made other job cuts to its recruiting and news divisions later in the year.