Google lays off employees, shifts some roles abroad amid cost cuts

(Reuters) – Alphabet-owned Google is laying off an unspecified number of employees, a company spokesperson said on Wednesday, marking the latest cuts at the technology giant as it cracks down on costs.

The Google spokesperson said the layoffs are not company-wide and that affected employees will be able to apply for internal roles, but did not specify the number of employees impacted nor the teams involved.

A small percentage of the impacted roles will move to hubs the company is investing in, including India, Chicago, Atlanta and Dublin.

The layoffs follow a slew of job cuts across Google, and the tech and media industry this year, adding to fears that layoffs may continue as companies grapple with economic uncertainty.

“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,” the spokesperson added.

Employees across several of Google’ teams in its real estate and finance departments have been affected, according to a Business Insider report on Wednesday. The finance teams affected include Google’s treasury, business services, and revenue cash operations, it added.

Google’s finance chief, Ruth Porat, sent an email to staff saying the restructuring includes expanding growth to Bangalore, Mexico City, and Dublin, according to the Business Insider report.

Google let go of hundreds of workers across multiple teams in January including its engineering, hardware and assistant teams as the company ramps up investment and builds its artificial intelligence offerings.

Company CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly told employees at the start of the year to expect more job cuts.

(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)