Google’s workforce adjustments continue, with the tech giant cutting approximately 200 jobs from its Global Business Organization this week, according to reporting by The Information.
This unit, crucial for the company’s sales and partnerships, is the latest area affected by Google’s ongoing efforts to streamline operations and reallocate resources, a trend echoed across the tech industry.
While Google characterized the move as one of several “making a small number of changes across our teams to drive greater collaboration and expand our ability to quickly and effectively serve our customers,” the cuts signal a continued focus on efficiency and strategic realignment.
This aligns with a broader pattern in Big Tech where companies are intensifying investments in areas like artificial intelligence and data center infrastructure, often leading to workforce adjustments in other departments.
These latest reductions follow more substantial layoffs at Google, including the elimination of 12,000 jobs, or about 6% of its global workforce, announced in January 2023. At that time, CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged the company had “hired for a different economic reality” during previous years of significant growth and needed to undertake a rigorous review to align roles with key priorities, including AI. The latest cuts suggest this realignment process is ongoing, impacting even core business functions as the company sharpens its focus.
Ongoing Adjustments After Major Cuts
Following the major 2023 workforce reduction, Google has continued to make targeted cuts. The company reduced staff in its recruitment division in September 2023 as hiring decelerated. More recently, in April, hundreds of employees were reportedly laid off in the platforms and devices unit (including Android and Pixel teams), and HR roles were also affected earlier in the year.
This pattern of continuous, smaller-scale adjustments suggests Google is actively reshaping its workforce to match evolving business needs and strategic priorities. The company’s stated goal is to operate more efficiently and remove layers, ensuring teams are set up for long-term success.
Big Tech Tightens Belts
Google’s actions are not happening in isolation. Other major technology firms have undertaken similar measures throughout 2024 and early 2025. Meta, for instance, laid off about 5% of its workforce, termed “non-regrettable attrition,” earlier this year, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg vowing to “raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster.” Meta also made targeted cuts within its financially strained Reality Labs division while simultaneously launching an accelerated hiring program for AI engineers.
Microsoft, too, has adjusted its approach. In April it rolled out stricter performance management policies, offering underperforming employees a choice between improvement plans or voluntary separation and instituting a two-year rehire ban for those exiting under these circumstances. The company later adopted the term “good attrition” to classify these performance-related departures, mirroring terminology used by Amazon and Meta. Intel also initiated a sweeping overhaul confirming job cuts in April amid financial pressure.
Shifting Priorities Towards AI
The consistent thread linking many of these adjustments across Big Tech is the massive investment required for artificial intelligence. Google’s focus on AI was cited as a factor even during the large January 2023 layoffs. As companies dedicate substantial capital to developing advanced AI models and the necessary infrastructure, resources are often shifted away from other areas.
While Google presents the latest cuts in its Global Business Organization as a move to enhance collaboration and customer service, it clearly fits the broader industry narrative. Streamlining established units, even those central to revenue generation like sales and partnerships, appears necessary to fund the intensive, ongoing race for leadership in artificial intelligence.
