'Removing layers': Sundar Pichai hints at more layoffs at Google in 2024

Google CEO Sundar Pichai's remarks followed a day after the tech giant handed pink slips to around 1,000 employees in the advertising sales team in the first layoff wave of 2024

A day after laying off around 1,000 employees, Google chief executive officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai, on Wednesday, hinted towards more job cuts in the year ahead, The Verge reported.

Terming it as part of a larger restructuring plan, Pichai, in an internal memo to Google employees, said, "We have ambitious goals and will be investing in our big priorities this year…the reality is that to create the capacity for this investment, we have to make tough choices."

Referring to the "tough decisions", Pichai further said in the memo, "These role eliminations are not at the scale of last year's reductions and will not touch every team." His remark referenced Google's 2023 layoffs when the tech giant fired about 12,000 employees, the biggest layoff in the company's history in a single year.

According to the report, Pichai said the layoffs this year were about "removing layers to simplify execution and drive velocity in some areas."

Google lays off 1,000 employees in advertising sales team

Pichai's communication followed a day after Google handed pink slips to around 1,000 employees in the advertising sales team in the first layoff wave of 2024. 

The company said the eligible employees would receive severance pay. It also offered that the impacted employees may re-apply for open positions in other departments. However, it clarified that those unable to secure a position at the company would be required to exit by April.

The developments followed about a week after Google had announced that it would lay off hundreds of people working on its voice-activated Google Assistant software and the company's Devices and Services team.

Apart from Google, Jeff Bezos' Amazon also announced last week that it would fire several hundred employees in its streaming and studio operations.

Neither company has specified the exact number of job role cuts they are planning in 2024.