Google has terminated numerous employees within its hardware, voice assistance, and engineering departments in an effort to reduce expenses.

The company stated that the cuts were necessary as Google shifts its focus to responsibly investing in its top priorities and the significant opportunities that lie ahead.

“According to a statement, certain teams are currently implementing organizational modifications that involve eliminating certain roles on a global scale.”

Earlier, Google announced that it would be reducing its workforce by a few hundred positions, primarily affecting its team working on augmented reality hardware.

The cuts are a result of promises made by Google and its parent company Alphabet’s executives to decrease expenses. Approximately one year ago, Google announced plans to terminate 12,000 employees, which equates to about 6% of its total workforce.

The Alphabet Workers Union, formerly known as Twitter, expressed their disappointment with the recent job cuts, referring to them as unnecessary redundancies.

The union stated that they are dedicated to creating excellent products for users and will not tolerate the company firing their colleagues while making huge profits. They will persist in their efforts to ensure job security for all.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has also reduced its workforce in addition to Google. Within the last year, they have eliminated over 20,000 positions in order to appease stakeholders. In 2023, Meta’s stock saw a significant increase of approximately 178%.

In December, Spotify announced that it would be reducing its global workforce by 17%. This was the third time the music streaming service has made cuts in 2023 in order to decrease expenses and enhance profitability.

Earlier this week, Amazon terminated the employment of several workers in its Prime Video and studios divisions. It also plans to let go of approximately 500 employees who are involved with its livestreaming service, Twitch.

During the pandemic, Amazon experienced a significant increase in hiring, but has since made the decision to reduce its workforce by cutting thousands of jobs. In March, the company revealed its plan to lay off 9,000 employees, in addition to the 18,000 positions that were previously announced for elimination in January 2023.

Google and Microsoft are currently in a competitive battle to establish dominance in the field of artificial intelligence.

Microsoft has enhanced its artificial intelligence options in order to compete with Google. In September, Microsoft unveiled a Copilot function that integrates artificial intelligence into various products, including the Bing search engine, Edge browser, and Windows for business clients.

Source: wral.com