Key Points
- Google has laid off over 100 employees in design and user experience roles.
- The cuts are part of a broader strategy to reduce costs and focus on AI. The layoffs primarily affected teams within Google’s cloud unit.
- This is the latest in a series of smaller, targeted job cuts at the company this year.
- The move reflects an industry-wide trend among tech giants to trim staff to invest more in AI.
Google has laid off more than 100 employees in design-related roles, the latest in a series of cuts as the tech giant shifts its spending and focus toward artificial intelligence. The layoffs, which hit several teams within the company’s cloud unit, are part of a broader push to become more efficient and double down on AI.
The affected employees worked in areas that use data and research to understand how people use Google’s products. Their work helps inform product design and development.
According to internal documents, Google has cut some of these design teams in half, and many of the eliminated jobs were based in the U.S. Some of the laid-off employees have been given a few months to find a new position within the company.
This is the latest round of a slow-motion series of job cuts at Google this year. Instead of one big layoff, the company has been offering voluntary exit packages and eliminating roles in various departments, including HR, hardware, search, and ads. The goal is to streamline operations and free up resources for the massive investments needed to compete in the AI race.
The cuts align with a message Google CEO Sundar Pichai delivered to employees earlier this year, stating the company needed “to be more efficient as we scale up so we don’t solve everything with headcount.” Other tech giants, such as Microsoft and Meta, have also been making similar cuts as they pivot toward AI.
