Google CEO Sundar Pichai has informed employees about further job cuts across the company in 2023, continuing the massive layoffs witnessed last year.
In an internal memo to staff on Wednesday, Pichai stated that Google needs to make “tough choices” to create capacity for new investments in key priority areas this year. While the scale of layoffs may not match 2022’s reductions, more teams and roles will be impacted.
“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,” Pichai was quoted as saying.
The CEO described the layoffs as “removing layers to simplify execution and drive velocity in some areas.” The cuts are likely to hit various divisions, including advertising sales, hardware, and augmented reality units, though specifics remain unclear.
The announcement comes after hundreds of job cuts in the advertising sales division earlier this week. Last week as well, the company shed staff from divisions such as Voice Assistant, Pixel hardware, Nest, Fitbit, and its AR teams.
Pichai acknowledged that seeing colleagues and teams being impacted is “very difficult.” However, he maintains that Google needs to accelerate investments in “big priorities” this year, necessitating these painful decisions.
The unrelenting layoffs across major tech firms indicate the sector faces strong economic headwinds. With advertising revenues taking a hit, companies like Google and Meta have resorted to significant cost-cutting. How long the downturn persists remains to be seen.
