Another massive company in California is now laying off at least 100 employees from several teams to prioritize artificial intelligence.
Alphabet — Google, is laying off employees from several teams within its cloud unit, including in its sales and engineering departments.
The latest downsizing comes as Google cuts jobs across the company to prioritize artificial intelligence, reports CNBC.
Cloud is among Google’s fastest-growing businesses, quadrupling operating income in the most recent quarter, per the outlet.
The company notified employees last week of the cloud cuts, with roles being eliminated in sales, consulting, “go-to-market” strategy, operations and engineering, according to internal correspondence viewed by CNBC.
At least 100 positions were cut, said people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because they weren’t authorized to speak about the layoffs.
Insider previously reported some details of the layoffs.
A Google spokesperson told CNBC the cuts are incremental across teams to better align its go-to-market organization.
“As we’ve shared before, we continue to evolve our business to meet our customers’ priorities and the significant opportunity ahead,” the spokesperson said.
“We maintain our commitment to investing in areas that are critical to our business and ensure our long-term success.”
Some of those who lost their jobs had worked on the company’s annual Google Cloud Next that took place in mid-April, said people familiar with the situation.
Google has been conducting ongoing layoffs since early 2023.
Employees have since complained about demands that they work on tighter deadlines with fewer resources and diminished opportunities for internal advancement even as the company records record profit.
Last month, Google cut at least 200 employees from its “Core” organization, which included key teams and engineering talent.
CEO Sundar Pichai told employees that the company would have fewer layoffs in the second half of 2024.
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Other Economy News Today
Applications for unemployment benefits now surge to new highs, a sign that the white-hot labor market is starting to cool off.
First-time applications for unemployment benefits rose last week to 231,000, the highest level since August, per CNN.
Thursday’s data also showed that the number of continuing claims, or applications from people who have filed for unemployment for at least one week, was 1.78 million.
That’s an increase of 17,000 from the prior week, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The latest numbers come less than a week after the monthly jobs report showed the US economy added just 175,000 positions in April, less than economists expected and a steep drop-off from prior months.
US employers have now added an average of 245,500 jobs per month, versus 2023’s 251,000-per-month average.
Still, hiring remains strong. Although the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9% last month, it’s the 27th consecutive month that the jobless rate has held under 4%, matching a streak last seen in the late 1960s.
Weekly jobless claims data tends to be volatile but, while one week’s worth of data “does not a trend make,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at Fwdbonds.
“We can no longer be sure that calm seas lie ahead for the US economy if today’s weekly jobless claims are any indication.”
“Company layoffs are picking up, hinting at caution on the part of companies as they weigh the outlook for the second half of the year,” he wrote in a note Thursday.
The Federal Reserve has been battling inflation by raising its key lending rate in the hopes of slowing the economy.
While the labor market has so far resisted those efforts, remaining white hot for the past 18 months despite 11 rate hikes from the central bank, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last week that demand has “cooled from its extremely high level of a couple of years ago.”
Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Economics said in a note Thursday: “We’d need to see at least a month of elevated readings to convince us that the trend really has turned.”
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Also Read: A Giant Company Now Announces Unexpected Layoffs in Virginia
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