The tech firm said the cuts were not company-wide and that affected employees will be able to apply for internal roles, but it has not confirmed how many people have been affected or the teams involved
Google has confirmed further job cuts as part of a company-wide reorganisation aimed at slashing costs.
The tech giant has acknowledged the reductions but hasn’t disclosed the exact number of roles affected or the specific teams involved. The company has indicated that while the job cuts are not across the board, those impacted will have the chance to seek other internal positions.
A portion of the roles being cut will be relocated to various global “hubs” that Google is investing in, including Dublin and India, as well as Chicago and Atlanta in the US. A spokesperson for Google said: “As we’ve said, we’re responsibly investing in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead.”
“To best position us for these opportunities, throughout the second half of 2023 and into 2024, a number of our teams made changes to become more efficient and work better, remove layers and align their resources to their biggest product priorities. Through this, we’re simplifying our structures to give employees more opportunity to work on our most innovative and important advances and our biggest company priorities, while reducing bureaucracy and layers.”
This move is part of a growing trend of layoffs within the tech industry. Earlier this year, Google announced it was eliminating hundreds of jobs, following an announcement in January 2023 about plans to cut 12,000 jobs. Earlier this month, reports surfaced that Apple had axed approximately 600 employees, allegedly connected to its now-scrapped car project.
Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Snapchat, and TikTok have all announced job cuts over the past year. Separately, Google has confirmed the sacking of 28 staff members who participated in demonstrations against the company’s collaboration with the Israeli government.
The controversy stems from Google’s involvement in providing cloud services to Israeli government agencies under a project dubbed Project Nimbus. This Tuesday saw a group of employees donning “Googlers against genocide” T-shirts, staging sit-ins, and displaying banners within the company’s premises.
Addressing the situation, a Google spokesperson said: “These protests were part of a longstanding campaign by a group of organisations and people who largely don’t work at Google. A small number of employee protesters entered and disrupted a few of our locations. Physically impeding other employees’ work and preventing them from accessing our facilities is a clear violation of our policies, and completely unacceptable behaviour.”
“After refusing multiple requests to leave the premises, law enforcement was engaged to remove them to ensure office safety. We have so far concluded individual investigations that resulted in the termination of employment for 28 employees, and will continue to investigate and take action as needed.”
In a follow-up statement regarding Nimbus and its contract with the Israeli government, a Google spokesperson clarified that the project: “is not directed at highly sensitive, classified, or military workloads relevant to weapons or intelligence services”.