Google started 2024 with a series of layoffs across its divisions, including those working on notable projects like Google Assistant – a voice assistant that helps users check the weather, set alarms or look up information.

Google’s decision is in part due to the company’s shift in focus to artificial intelligence (AI). The search giant plans to integrate its latest AI models more deeply into its products. The move continues to show how AI appears to be replacing humans in the very industry that created it.

10google layoffs 02 fmjh superjumbo.jpg
Google employees fired due to company change of direction. (Photo: NYT)

The layoffs also affect the hardware division, which makes Google Nest, Pixel, and Fitbit, as well as the augmented reality team. Google's core engineering team is also being affected. Google said the cuts are global.

Amazon also announced layoffs this week in its film and television division, Twitch. A wave of layoffs swept the tech industry and the global economy last year, with companies increasingly requiring employees to return to the office after working remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Google says it is helping find other positions for some of the laid-off employees.

A spokesperson for the union representing workers at Alphabet, Google’s parent company, said the layoffs, which affect more than 1,000 people, are the largest since January 2023. That underscores the pressure on companies from Big Tech to startups to cut costs after a massive hiring spree in 2020-2021.

A Google spokesman declined to comment on the union figures. In California, Google filed paperwork with regulators announcing plans to cut 703 jobs.

As of September 2023, Google employs 182,000 people worldwide .

(According to CNN, The Information)