Google conducted another round of layoffs on Wednesday, informing its recruiters that hundreds of them would lose their jobs by the end of the day, according to three sources familiar with the situation.
This year has already seen significant layoffs within Google’s recruiting group, which once employed over 3,000 individuals.
These cuts signal that Google and its parent company, Alphabet, will continue to tighten their belts despite doubling down on investments in artificial intelligence.
The impacted recruiters and related staff members were invited to a last-minute global all-hands meeting to receive the news directly from Brian Ong, the vice president of recruiting. Ong gave employees the option to complete their work remotely or leave the office for the day.
Courtenay Mencini, a spokesperson for Google, explained, “ We have made the difficult decision to downsize our recruiting team” due to decreased demand for their services.
She added, “As we’ve mentioned, we continue to prioritize hiring top engineering and technical talent while reducing the overall pace of our hiring.” Reports of the layoffs were previously covered by Semafor.
These cuts are not believed to be part of widespread layoffs, but other divisions within the company may also choose to reduce positions.
Over the past year, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has actively sought to cut costs and improve productivity. In January, the company announced its first significant layoffs, eliminating 12,000 jobs (6% of its workforce). As of June 30, Google employs 181,798 individuals.
Mr. Pichai faced criticism from both current and former employees for the timing of the latest layoffs, which were announced overnight, accompanied by the immediate revocation of employees’ corporate access. The cuts also added to existing concerns about the success of A.I. rivals like OpenAI and its partner Microsoft, and the potential impact on Google’s business.
Since the previous round of layoffs, Google has been focusing on developing and deploying its own A.I. technologies to compete with rivals. Most of its products have been updated to incorporate A.I., and the company has introduced the chatbot Bard. However, the development and maintenance costs of this new type of A.I. are significant, leading Google to explore methods for offsetting its investments.
Alphabet’s president and chief investment officer, Ruth Porat, emphasized the company’s commitment to “re-engineering our cost base” in order to prioritize the right investments and achieve the best returns.
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