Google Cuts 200 Staff as Focus Shifts to AI and Data Centres

Google cuts 200 staff in its global business unit, as first reported by The Information. This is the latest move in a string of reductions by the search giant and other tech industry leaders as priorities shift towards artificial intelligence and data centre investment.

Google job cuts highlight shift in business priorities

The recent Google job cuts, impacting the sales and partnerships team globally, underscore how Big Tech is reallocating resources. Teams responsible for partnerships and global business operations are feeling the changes as the company improves internal collaboration and aims to serve customers more effectively, according to a statement given to Reuters.

This move follows another round of layoffs last month in Google’s platforms and devices unit. That team manages key products like the Android operating system, Pixel phones, and the Chrome browser. The company is clearly undergoing a significant adjustment in its workforce, focusing more resources on future technologies like AI.

Ongoing staff reductions at Google and across Big Tech

Staff cuts are not new at Google. Early in 2023, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, announced that it would cut 12,000 jobs, or around 6% of its total global workforce. As of the end of December 2024, the company’s headcount was 183,323, based on filings in February this year.

Google job cuts are part of a wider trend among technology giants:

• Meta (formerly Facebook) laid off around 5% of its “lowest performers” at the start of this year while simultaneously hiring more machine learning experts.
• Microsoft trimmed 650 staff from its Xbox division last September.
• Amazon reduced headcount across several departments, including communications.
• Apple eliminated roughly 100 roles in its digital services wing during 2023.

Why are Google cuts targeting business and sales teams?

Tech organisations like Google are placing bigger bets on artificial intelligence and building up data centre capacity. This changing strategy means scaling down in other roles, especially in units linked to sales, partnerships and hardware.

A Google spokesperson summarised the changes as “a small number of changes across teams to drive greater collaboration and expand our ability to quickly and effectively serve our customers.”

With priorities changing quickly across the sector, Google job cuts and similar moves at peer companies are likely to continue as competition for AI leadership intensifies.

Source

Reuters – Google cuts about 200 staff in global business unit, The Information reports

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