Home Google lays off hundreds and moves some ‘core’ jobs to out of US

Google lays off hundreds and moves some ‘core’ jobs to out of US

TL:DR

  • Google's "Core" team saw over 200 layoffs in April, with some roles moved to India and Mexico.
  • The Core team oversees Google's flagship products, online safety, and IT infrastructure.
  • Layoffs follow a previous round; email cited intent to expand in global workforce locations.

Google’s “Core” team was subject to at least 200 layoffs late in April, with reorganization and restructuring that has moved some of those roles to India and Mexico.

According to information on Google’s website, the Core team is responsible for the technical foundation of Google’s flagship products, as well as users’ online safety. They also maintain Google’s global IT infrastructure and create internal tooling for other Google staff.

An email and other internal documents seen by CNBC show that at least 50 of the laid-off positions were engineering roles based in the company’s California offices and that many Core teams will rehire for roles in Mexico and India.

This comes just a month after a previous round of layoffs where hundreds of Google staff lost their jobs in a cost-cutting exercise.

What did the email say?

An email that Vice President of Google Developer Ecosystem Asim Husain sent to his team last week stated: “We intend to maintain our current global footprint while also expanding in high-growth global workforce locations so that we can operate closer to our partners and developer communities.”

Husain also said in a town hall that this was the biggest batch of redundancies expected to hit the Core team this year.

The comments from Husain about building a global workforce ring true with previous statements made by high-ups in the tech giant.

In mid-April, CFO Ruth Porat stated intentions to restructure, moving positions to Bangalore and Mexico City, with layoffs as part of that. In March, the senior vice president of Search Prabhakar Raghavan said that Google had plans to build teams in more key markets including India and Brazil.

The layoffs and restructuring seem set to continue despite a successful first quarter for Google’s parent company Alphabet, which reported a 13% spike in holdings, plus its first-ever dividend.

Featured image: generated with Ideogram

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Ali Rees
Tech journalist

Ali Rees is a freelance writer based in the UK. They have worked as a data and analytics consultant, a software tester, and a digital marketing and SEO specialist. They have been a keen gamer and tech enthusiast since their childhood in are currently the Gaming and Tech editor at Brig Newspaper. They also have a Substack where they review short video games. During the pandemic, Ali turned their hand to live streaming and is a fan of Twitch. When not writing, Ali enjoys playing video and board games, live music, and reading. They have two cats and both of…

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