Google has laid off more than 100 staff from its design-related teams. The layoffs, as reported by CNBC, are primarily restricted to the firm’s cloud division, affecting the ‘quantitative user experience research’ and ‘platform and service experience’ groups.
These teams are known for researching users, analyzing data, and conducting surveys to enhance products and improve user experience. Internal documents obtained by journalists reveal that some of these teams have been downsized.
The majority of the jobs that have been trimmed are US-based. Employees who have lost their jobs have until early December to transition into a different job at Google.
The redeployment period is intended to provide employees with the opportunity to remain, but insiders indicate opportunities are dwindling as other units are also dealing with reductions in force. The tech giant has not yet released an official statement on these reductions.
The redundancies are part of a broader cost-cutting strategy connected to Google’s advancement, including its entry into artificial intelligence. The search giant is reallocating its expenditure away from research-focused design teams and towards AI infrastructure, tools, and models.
Since the beginning of the year, Google has presented voluntary redundancy packages to several departments, including HR, hardware, search, ads, marketing, finance, and commerce. It has also eliminated over a third of its managers handling small teams.
During an internal meeting last August, CEO Sundar Pichai stated that ‘Google needed to be more efficient as we scale up, so we don’t solve everything with headcount.’ That sentiment is part of the broader effort to keep the company lean while investing heavily in AI.
Employees are also being encouraged to incorporate AI tools more frequently into their work. That change indicates that Google is placing its bets on automation to perform tasks that previously needed huge human groups.
The layoffs follow a trend in the entire tech industry. Microsoft eliminated around 9,000 employees in July from various countries and departments. Meta has also implemented several significant rounds of job reductions since 2023.
For these companies, reducing expenses and staff is for making room for significant investments in AI. Design, support, and middle-management positions are among the most exposed as the industry transitions.
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The recent layoffs aim to streamline the workforce for an AI-first era. Teams that were once deemed essential for product design feedback are now being replaced by machine learning and automation.
The message to employees could not have been more straightforward: unless you reskill in AI or related fields, you have no job security. Staying sharp in this growing AI market competition, Google is forced to make difficult decisions to survive among its competitors and keep costs low.