Staff at Alphabet’s Google are facing more possible layoffs, as the search engine giant continues cost cutting actions during its AI infrastructure drive.

CNBC reported it has seen a memo issued Tuesday by HR chief Fiona Cicconi, in which the firm told staffers in its “People Operations” (aka Human Resources) and cloud organisations this week that it plans to cut employees as part of internal reorganisations.

It is not clear at the time of writing how many staff are being axed, but CNBC noted that Google is offering a voluntary exit program (aka ‘buyouts’) to US-based, full-time employees in People Operations starting in early March.

Google layoffs

As part of the HR ‘buyouts’, HR staff who are level 4 and level 5 may receive a severance of 14 weeks of salary and one additional week for every full year of service, the memo reportedly says. Those are considered mid- to senior-level employees.

But the HR department is not the only Google unit seeing workforce reductions.

Earlier this week Bloomberg had reported that Google had also axed staff in its cloud division, although those layoffs reportedly affected fewer than 100 people.

CNBC also reported that Google made cuts to several teams within its cloud unit, which impacted the unit’s sales operations, customer experience, internal deal and go-to-market teams. This is according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because they are not permitted to speak publicly.

Some of those moves include moving roles to other countries such as India and Mexico, CNBC reported, citing people familiar with the matter as well as internal correspondence.

CNBC got confirmation of the layoffs, after Google said reorganisations are part of the normal course of business.

“Our teams have continued to make changes to operate more efficiently, remove layers, and ensure they are set up for long term success,” Google spokesperson Brandon Asberry said in a statement. “This work is ongoing as we continue to invest in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead.”

Cost cutting

These layoffs come after Alphabet earlier this month had disappointed investors when it revealed in its Q4 and year-end financials that cloud growth was stalling, coupled with a big capital-spending plan to accelerate its AI-investment strategy.

Google’s finance chief Anat Ashkenazi has reportedly stated that one of her top priorities would be to drive more cost-cutting as Google expands its spending on AI infrastructure in 2025.

Meanwhile last month in January Google executives reportedly said they would offer ‘buyouts’ to US-based employees in the company’s “Platforms and Devices” unit ahead of expected cuts. That unit houses more than 25,000 full-time employees who work on Android, Chrome, ChromeOS, Google Photos, Google One, Pixel, Fitbit and Nest.

The company said it is supporting all affected employees, in line with local requirements, including time to explore and apply to different roles at Google.

Previous layoffs

Google senior management have been questioned by staff during all-hands meeting last year, about cost cutting, layoffs and “morale” issues at the firm.

In May 2024 Google had laid off at least 200 employees from its “Core” organisation, which included key teams and engineering talent, with some of the roles being outsourced to Mexico and India.

It should be remembered Google had been cutting thousands of jobs since early 2023.

In January 2023 for example Alphabet had announced that it would cut 12,000 jobs worldwide, or roughly 6 percent of its workforce.

In June 2023 it also emerged that Google was axing staff in its highly popular mapping service Waze, which it had acquired for $1.3 billion back in 2013.

In September 2023 Google cut hundreds of jobs in its global recruiting team as part of a broader pullback in hiring over the next several quarters.

In January 2024 CEO Sundar Pichai warned staff to expect more job losses as the firm “will be investing in our big priorities this year.”