Google Lays Off Hundreds in Hardware, Assistant, Engineering

(Bloomberg) — Alphabet Inc.’s Google is laying off hundreds of people working on its digital assistant, hardware and engineering teams as part of a continued effort to lower costs and focus on artificial intelligence.

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The affected employees included those working on the voice-based Google Assistant and the augmented reality hardware team. The central engineering organization was also hit by cuts, the company said.

The reductions come as Google’s core internet search business feels the heat from the AI offerings of rivals Microsoft Corp. and ChatGPT-creator OpenAI. On calls with investors in recent months, Google executives pledged to scrutinize their operations to identify places where they can make cuts, and free up resources to invest in their biggest priorities.

“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 spokesperson for the Mountain View, California-based company said in a statement. “Some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organizational changes, which include some role eliminations globally.”

Alphabet shares were little changed on Thursday, closing at $142.08 in New York.

The cuts struck both rank-and-file employees and executives. Disclosures filed by Google with the state of California show that 630 workers in the state have been let go this week, including four vice presidents and 25 directors. Employees at those levels often earn millions of dollars per year in compensation, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The Alphabet Workers Union, which represents some Google employees, said more than 1,000 workers have been let go so far in total.

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