Google Lays Off 200 'Core' Employees; Eyes Shifting Some Roles To India, Mexico

The reorganization at Google has led to the layoffs of at least 200 of its "Core" employees, with the company planning to fill similar roles in India and Mexico, CNBC reported.

This marks the latest in a series of cost-cutting measures by Alphabet-owned tech giant after it reportedly laid off an unspecified number of employees in April.

Google's Core employees include those who work in the primary products of company, particularly in the technical aspect, as well as those responsible for online safety of users, according to the website of Google. These are primarily the Python developer team, security foundation, technical infrastructures and other engineering roles.

Internal documents viewed by CNBC show that at least 50 employees were laid off were from the engineering department in Google's offices in California, and corresponding roles will be sourced from India and Mexico.

In an email sent to the team, VP of Google Developer Ecosystem Asim Husain, announced about the layoffs.

"We intend to maintain our current global footprint while also expanding in high-growth global workforce locations so that we can operate closer to our partners and developer communities," wrote Husain in the email.

Aside from this, he also spoke at a town hall and personally informed employees that the layoffs was the biggest by far for his team in the current year, CNBC said.

The current layoff of its workers is not a first since the company has already started cutting jobs in 2023. Last year, it already announced its intention to eliminate 12,000 positions, which accounts to 6% of the company's total workforce, as a result of a slip in the online ad market.

Recently though, digital advertising has slowly bounced back. Still, Google continued with its initial plan to layoff workers.

Earlier this month, The Verge reported that the company is combining its Android and hardware teams, which Google CEO Sundar Pichai called as "Platforms and Devices." The creation of the new team was part of the company's internal reorganization, and it will be headed by Rick Osterloh.

According to Osterloh, there was only one reason for the huge change in Google, and that is AI. He said that by combining teams, the company will be able to move faster in integrating AI across its diverse products.

Last month, chief financial officer Ruth Porat announced a restructuring in the finance department, including layoffs and moving positions to Bangalore and Mexico City. The company's search head, Prabhakar Raghavan, told employees at an all-hands meeting in March that Google plans to build teams closer to users in key markets, including India and Brazil, where labor is cheaper than in the U.S.

Last week, Alphabet reported a 15% jump in first-quarter revenue from a year earlier and announced its first-ever dividend and a $70 billion buyback.