Google’s Senior Vice President {Hardware}, Rick Osterloh, speaks throughout a launch occasion in San Francisco, October 4, 2017.
Stephen Lam | Reuters
Google is providing buyouts to staff in its “Platforms and Gadgets” unit forward of anticipated cuts.
That unit contains greater than 25,000 full-time staff who work on Android, Chrome, ChromeOS, Google Photographs, Google One, Pixel, Fitbit and Nest, in response to inside paperwork reviewed by CNBC. The voluntary exit enrollment applies to full-time staff within the U.S. It is unclear how lots of the unit’s full-time employees are primarily based within the U.S.
“This provides eligible P&D Googlers in my direct-reporting org the flexibility to voluntarily depart the corporate with a severance package deal,” wrote Rick Osterloh, senior vice chairman of Platforms and Gadgets, in a memo to staff Thursday that was seen by CNBC.
The buyouts are a sign of anticipated cuts inside Google because it continues prioritizing synthetic intelligence. In October, new CFO Anat Ashkenazi mentioned certainly one of her high priorities could be to drive extra price chopping as Google expands its spending on AI infrastructure in 2025.
“Any group can at all times push just a little additional and I will be taking a look at further alternatives,” she mentioned, referring to price chopping.
A Google spokesperson confirmed the buyout program to CNBC, saying it comes after the corporate mixed its Android and Pixel divisions final April.
“There’s super momentum on this workforce and with a lot vital work forward, we wish everybody to be deeply dedicated to our mission and targeted on constructing nice merchandise, with pace and effectivity,” the spokesperson mentioned in a press release.
The “voluntary exit plan” could also be a match for workers who’re struggling to satisfy the calls for of their jobs, the unit’s hybrid work surroundings or whose passions do not align with the division’s mission and aim, Osterloh mentioned. This system is the “proper subsequent step” for the unit because it goals to “function with extra effectivity and velocity,” Osterloh added.
Workers have till Feb. 20 to enroll within the exit program. Those that volunteer will discover out whether or not they’ve been accepted on March 25, a memo states.
‘Providing buyouts first is what we requested for’
Some staff praised Google’s determination to supply buyouts fairly than instantly shedding staff, in response to inside posts seen by CNBC.
“The P&D electronic mail portends layoffs, which sucks however providing buyouts first is what we requested for, is the suitable factor to do, and Rick deserves lots of credit score for delivering,” one worker mentioned in an inside put up that acquired lots of of upvotes.
Workers this week had been circulating an inside petition titled “job safety” forward of anticipated price cuts, CNBC reported Tuesday. One in all their asks was for the corporate to supply voluntary buyouts earlier than conducting layoffs.
Final week, Google mentioned it could be buying among the engineering workforce from HTC Vive, one of many high virtual-reality headset makers, to “speed up the event of the Android XR platform throughout the headset and glasses ecosystem.”
In August, Google introduced new AI options for Android gadgets and immediately put in them in its homegrown Pixel gadgets, a transfer that put its AI in entrance of customers earlier than Apple may introduce its Apple Intelligence AI suite of options to iPhone customers.
Although Platforms and System will not be the juggernaut moneymaker that Google’s search advertisements enterprise is, the division’s income rose to $10.66 billion within the third quarter, up almost 28% from $8.34 billion the 12 months prior. Google reported whole income of $88.27 billion that quarter.
Google, like different tech firms, faces the potential threat of rising {hardware} prices if President Donald Trump’s blanket tariffs go into impact. Trump is anticipated to disclose extra particulars on which particular tariffs can be positioned on imports from China, Canada, and Mexico within the coming days.
In January 2024, Google laid off some staff from its {hardware} and central engineering groups, in addition to employees in Google Assistant, its voice-activated software program product.
Tech information outlet 9to5Google first reported a few of particulars of the unit’s voluntary exit program.
