April 14, 2025 – Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., has reportedly laid off hundreds of employees in its Platforms and Devices division, as per a source familiar with the matter disclosed to The Information last Friday.
The layoffs, which encompassed applications like the Android platform, Pixel smartphones, and the Chrome browser, occurred after Google extended offers to employees in this division in January.
A Google spokesperson responded to the media, stating, “Since merging the Platforms and Devices teams last year, we’ve been focused on becoming more agile and operating more efficiently. This has involved some position reductions, in addition to the voluntary separation program we offered in January.”
Currently, numerous major tech firms are reallocating resources towards data centers and AI development while curbing investments in other business domains.
Reuters reported that Meta cut around 5% of its “lowest-performing” employees in January, while accelerating the recruitment of machine learning engineers. Microsoft also trimmed 650 positions in its Xbox division last September. Amazon has implemented layoffs across various departments, and Apple slashed approximately 100 positions in its digital services team last year.
Bloomberg reported in February that Google had laid off staff in its cloud division, emphasizing that the cuts only affected a limited number of teams.
In January 2023, Alphabet announced plans to lay off 12,000 employees, accounting for roughly 6% of its global workforce.
