Google has offered employees on its Platforms and Devices team a “voluntary exit program.” This would affect the Android and Pixel teams as well as a myriad of others within the company.
The move comes less than a year after Google merged these teams, but the search giant hasn’t announced any layoffs yet. Instead, this appears to be done in response to a recent petition making the rounds at Google, pushing CEO Sundar Pichai to offer some kind of severance package buyout before bringing the hammer down.
Platforms and Devices doesn’t just touch Android and Pixel, as it’ll also hit those working on Chrome, ChromeOS (for Chromebooks), Photos, Fitbit and Nest. Google is also targeting those on its One subscription service. Android’s team encompasses Auto, TV, Wear OS (smartwatches), and XR, its mixed reality (virtual and augmented) teams.
Those who take the offer will be given a severance package, but no details were given in the reports. It appears that this exit offer is to ensure that the team is “committed” to the direction the company will be heading in. In a statement, Google said:
“There’s tremendous momentum on this team and with so much important work ahead, we want everyone to be deeply committed to our mission and focused on building great products, with speed and efficiency.”
Google continues its layoffs in 2025 after 100s affected in 2024
During the merger last year, Google laid off hundreds of people, as it switched to a “functional organizational model”. The hardware team is now managed by one person, rather than individual leaders per sector.
On top of this, Google made massive cuts last year to teams across the board, with hundreds of people affected, including those involved with sustainability, cloud, and YouTube.
At first, the news reads like the company is canning its Pixel and Android projects. The company is known for scrapping products and projects at a rapid pace, with the website “Killed by Google” tracking 296 different products the company has ended.