Google is getting an early jump on spring cleaning, with reports about layoffs and statements from the company popping up like crazy since last night. Now confirmed by Google, the company is indeed reorganizing multiple divisions, including the Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit teams. This reorganization process is resulting in hundreds losing their jobs.
Before this process, each division had its own distinct teams for things like hardware design, engineering, software, etc. Moving forward, it’s reported that Google will have a single team for things like hardware engineering across multiple divisions. In doing so, there will now be a single leader for said facet of products across all Google hardware. It sounds like quite the undertaking on Google’s part, one that is unfortunately resulting in turmoil for employees.
Earlier this morning, Google announced it was cutting many features from Google Assistant. Maybe not so coincidentally, one report from this week has that team’s headcount losses in the hundreds. It’s also reported that as part of the Fitbit restructuring, Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman, as well as other Fitbit leaders, are leaving Google.
In the grand scheme, Alphabet last reported that it employed over 180,000 people worldwide. That huge number can make this round of layoffs seem rather insignificant, but to the people it affects, we know for a fact that it can be anything but.
// 9to5Google | The Verge | Semafor