more layoffs needed to reach ‘ambitious goals’
Google CEO Sundar Pichai warned employees that more layoffs are needed this year in order to reach a “ambitious goals” — one day after the search giant slashed “several hundred” workers from its ad sales team.
In a Wednesday evening memo titled “2024 priorities and the year ahead,” Pichai told Google staffers, “We have ambitious goals and will be investing in our big priorities this year,” likely referring to the artificial intelligence race, according to CNBC.
Last month, Google introduced Gemini, its most advanced AI model yet that’s reportedly “capable of more specific reasoning.”
“The reality is that to create the capacity for this investment, we have to make tough choices,” Pichai wrote, warning that this means some teams will be “removing layers to simplify execution and drive velocity,” per the memo.
Pichai said the looming “role eliminations are not at the scale of last year’s reductions, and will not touch every team.” He added, however, that “to be upfront, some teams will continue to make resource allocation decisions,” according to CNBC.
“I know it’s very difficult to see colleagues and teams impacted,” Pichai added.
Pichai’s note came just a day after Google announced plans to cut hundreds of jobs — part of a larger restructuring effort that will affect the unit that sells ads to large businesses, the company’s chief business officer, Philipp Schindler, wrote in a memo shared Tuesday.
And last week, the Mountain View, Calif.-based firm laid off another 1,000 staffers across its Pixel, Fitbit and Nest units.
The job cuts marked a rough start to the year for Google’s workforce, whose headcount was reduced by more than 12,000 throughout 2023.
Gemini is a direct competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT — which has a multiyear, multibillion-dollar partnership with rival Microsoft.
In its effort to get ahead in the AI race, Google made part Gemini’s highly-nuanced technology is available via its AI assistant, Bard, upon its Dec. 6 launch.
Google-parent Alphabet has said it’s making three versions of Gemini — which was developed by the company’s DeepMind AI unit — each of which is designed to use a different amount of processing power.
The excitement around AI was attributed to Alphabet’s shares impressive 59% jump in 2023, marking a turnaround from their 39% decline in 2022.
Representatives for Google did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
