Google cuts hundreds of jobs, including engineering teams
OAN’s Abril Elfi
5:00 PM – Thursday, January 11, 2024
Google has laid off hundreds of employees working on its hardware, engineering, and voice-assistant teams due to cost-cutting measures.
The company released a statement saying that the cuts are due to “responsibly investing in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead.”
“Some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organizational changes, which include some role eliminations globally,” the statement read.
Although the majority of the effects were felt by the company’s augmented reality hardware division, Google had previously announced that it was cutting a few hundred positions across the engineering, hardware, and Assistant teams.
The layoffs come after Alphabet, the parent company of Google, and its executives promised to cut expenses. Google announced a year ago that it would lay off 12,000 workers, or roughly 6% of its total workforce.
Google announced that it would deprecate 17 “underutilized” features of Google Assistant, such as playing audiobooks, sending emails, and initiating voice-activated meditation sessions with Calm, on the same day that news of the cutbacks broke.
The Alphabet Workers Union called the job cuts “another round of needless layoffs” in a post on X.
“Our members and teammates work hard every day to build great products for our users, and the company cannot continue to fire our coworkers while making billions every quarter,” the union wrote. “We won’t stop fighting until our jobs are safe!”
In the initial stages of the coronavirus pandemic, Google saw record growth. However, as this growth has slowed over the past year, the company has had to modify its business projections.
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In light of these job cuts, what are the concerns raised by the Alphabet Workers Union regarding worker rights and income inequality, and how does this reflect on Google’s ethical responsibilities
Ic, Google, like many other companies, faced challenges and uncertainty. However, as the situation stabilized and the company adapted to remote work, it seemed like things were starting to improve. Unfortunately, recent news of Google’s layoffs has brought back a sense of unease and concern.
Google has reportedly laid off hundreds of employees working on its hardware, engineering, and voice-assistant teams. The company stated that these cuts are part of its efforts to responsibly invest in its biggest priorities and the significant opportunities that lie ahead. While the majority of the impact was felt in Google’s augmented reality hardware division, the layoffs also affected other departments, including engineering and the Assistant teams.
This is not the first time Google has implemented layoffs in an effort to cut costs. Last year, the company announced that it would lay off 12,000 workers, amounting to approximately 6% of its total workforce. The recent layoffs seem to be in line with Alphabet’s commitment to reducing expenses.
Interestingly, Google’s announcement of the layoffs came on the same day it announced the deprecation of 17 “underutilized” features of Google Assistant. These features included tasks such as playing audiobooks and sending emails. While this may be seen as a strategic move to streamline the company’s offerings, it adds another layer of concern for employees and users alike.
The Alphabet Workers Union, an organized group advocating for workers’ rights within Alphabet, condemned these job cuts. In a post on social media, they referred to the layoffs as “another round of needless layoffs” and expressed solidarity with their affected colleagues. The union emphasized the hard work of its members in building great products for users and questioned the company’s decision to lay off employees while still generating significant profits.
It is important to note that this news comes in the midst of ongoing debates about worker rights and income inequality. As Google continues to thrive and generate billions in profits, the question of whether it is ethically responsible to lay off employees becomes even more critical. The Alphabet Workers Union has made it clear that they will not stop fighting until the jobs of their members are secure.
While the full extent and long-term implications of these layoffs are yet to be seen, they serve as a reminder of the ever-changing and uncertain nature of the job market, even in tech giants like Google. As employees and users watch closely, it remains to be seen how Google will navigate these challenges and ensure the well-being of its workforce while pursuing its goals and opportunities in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
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