Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, has advised the company’s staff to brace for more job cuts as the tech giant continues to implement more cost-cutting measures across its operations.
This comes after YouTube, Google’s video-sharing platform, was reported to have sacked 100 workers across several divisions, including engineering, services, and voice-activated product Google Assistant.
According to a report by The Verge, Pichai warned that more layoffs are expected this year in a memo to the staff sent to the company’s staff on Wednesday.
“We have ambitious goals and will be investing in our big priorities this year. The reality is that to create the capacity for this investment, we have to make tough choices,” he said.
He said the role eliminations are not at the scale of last year’s reductions, and will not touch every team. “But I know it’s very difficult to see colleagues and teams impacted.”
He added that the layoffs were about removing layers to simplify execution and drive velocity in some areas.
“Many of these changes are already announced, though to be upfront, some teams will continue to make specific resource allocation decisions throughout the year where needed, and some roles may be impacted,” he said.
Several layoffs have been announced by global tech companies which reflects continued layoffs from 2023. However, the number of positions being eliminated seems to have reduced compared to last year. In its first mass layoffs announced in January 2023, Google axed 12,000 jobs.
The company blamed the economic headwinds for the decision while stating that its past hirings did not prepare it for the current economic reality.
Amazon also announced layoffs impacting hundreds of staff. The firm slashed its workforce by over 18,000. Aside from the economic downturn, Amazon acknowledged that it had added workers too quickly in warehouses as consumers shifted to online ordering.
Microsoft also laid off 11,000 workers, representing 5 percent of its workforce.
While the tech companies are now embarking on another round of head cuts in adjustment to the realities of the economy, there may be fewer laid-off tech workers this year, especially from those companies that had implemented mass layoffs last year.
Google also laid off hundreds of staff working on its digital assistant, hardware, and engineering teams
