Google is reducing costs by eliminating hundreds of voice assistance and engineering positions

Google is reducing costs by eliminating hundreds of voice assistance and engineering positions
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As part of cost-cutting efforts, Google fired hundreds of workers from its engineering, hardware, and voice assistance divisions.

About “responsibly making investments in our company’s largest priorities and the significant possibilities ahead,” Google announced the layoffs in a statement.

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Amazon also announced eliminating hundreds of jobs from its MGM Studios and Prime Video divisions.

Both Microsoft and Google are making more investments in artificial intelligence; the latter recently unveiled the Copilot feature, which integrates AI into Windows for business users, the Edge browser, and the search engine Bing.

Microsoft “is taking a clear leadership in the AI arms race,” based on a recent research note from Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, despite both tech giants concentrating on AI investments.

The layoffs come after Alphabet, the parent company of Google, and its executives promised to cut expenses. Google announced a year ago that it would lay off 12,000 workers, or about 6% of its total workforce.

“Some teams have continued to make these kinds of organizational adjustments, which include certain position eliminations globally,” said the statement.

A few hundred jobs would be eliminated, according to a statement made by Google earlier, primarily affecting its augmented reality hardware team.

“Needless layoffs”

The job cuts described as “another round of needless layoffs” by the Alphabet Workers Union in a post on X, the former name of Twitter.

“Our members along with teammates work hard each day to build great products to our users, and the company is unable to keep firing our coworkers while generating billions every quarter,” the labor organization stated. “We won’t stop battling until our jobs are safe!”

Google is not the only tech company making cost reductions. To reassure investors, Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has cut over 20,000 jobs in the last year. In 2023, Meta’s stock price increased by roughly 178%.

To reduce expenses and boost profitability, Spotify announced in December that it was laying off 17% of its global workforce. This would be the music streaming service’s third round of layoffs by 2023.

Job cuts at Amazon

Amazon made hundreds of layoffs in its studios and Prime Video divisions earlier this week. Approximately 500 workers who are employed by its live-streaming platform Twitch will also be let go.

Amazon has cut thousands of jobs following a spike in hiring during the pandemic. Amazon stated in March that it would be laying off 9,000 workers in addition to the 18,000 workers it had previously stated would be let go in January 2023.

Last month, Amazon announced that, in keeping with its September announcement, Prime Video subscribers would begin to see advertisements on films and TV series on January 29.

There is a $2.99 monthly fee for Prime members who wish to continue watching their movies and TV shows without commercials.

In an email to staff members, Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, stated that the company is increasing investment in areas that will have the biggest impact while decreasing investment in others.

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