Google continues to "slim down": Cloud business reportedly facing widespread layoffs

Google is further "streamlining" to reduce costs, and the latest round of layoffs has affected the cloud business team. On Friday, May 31st, Eastern Time, media reports cited an internal document stating that employees from multiple Google Cloud teams received layoff notices. Although the total number of layoffs is unknown, some employees estimated that about 100 people from the "Go To Market" department in the Google Cloud Asia-Pacific region were affected. The aforementioned document indicates that cloud teams focusing on consulting, partner engineering, and sustainability were also impacted by the layoffs. The document also revealed that some recently hired employees were let go, including at least one employee who had not completed the onboarding process. Some affected employees have been offered job opportunities in other positions within Google. A Google spokesperson later stated in a release that the company will continue to develop its business, meet customer priorities, seize future significant opportunities, invest in areas crucial to its business, and ensure long-term success. In early last year, Google's parent company Alphabet announced plans to cut around 12,000 jobs, accounting for 6% of its workforce, mainly due to a downturn in the online advertising market. Despite a recent recovery in the digital advertising business, Alphabet is continuing with layoffs this year. In mid-April, Alphabet's Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat announced that the company's finance department would undergo restructuring, which involves layoffs. Google has recently been rumored to be laying off employees again. Earlier this month, an article from Wall Street CN mentioned that reports indicated Google had already laid off at least 200 employees from its "core" unit before announcing its financial results at the end of last month, and planned to transfer some positions to India and Mexico. According to information on Google's website, the "core" unit is responsible for building the technical foundation of the company's flagship products and ensuring user data security. The "core" team includes information technology, Python development teams, technical infrastructure, security infrastructure, application platforms, core developers, and various engineering roles. The article stated that the "core" team is crucial for Google's development tools, and Google is streamlining its development tools to incorporate more artificial intelligence (AI) features into products. The layoffs in the "core" team also include the governance and data protection group, which will be central to Google's regulatory challenges. Pankaj Rohatgi, Google's Vice President of Security Engineering, stated that to optimize business goals, the team is expanding work to other locations, leading to some roles being cut or planned for reduction. Last week, media reports cited an internal memo stating that Google's Global Affairs Chief and Chief Legal Officer Kent Walker informed a "small number" of employees engaged in global affairs-related work of their layoffs. Layoffs have also become a focal point of Google's financial reports this year. At the end of April, Alphabet announced that total revenue for the first quarter exceeded expectations, growing by 15% year-on-year, the fastest pace since early 2022. Among them, the cloud business, seen as a future growth engine, accelerated its growth, with cloud revenue increasing by 28.4% year-on-year Compared to the fourth quarter of last year, the growth rate accelerated to 25.7%. The financial report shows that as of the end of the first quarter, Alphabet's global workforce decreased by 5.1% year-on-year, or 9,800 people, to about 181,000. At that time, some analysts pointed out that perhaps the number of employees is the most important figure in this financial report. "Google (following Meta) has also embarked on a year of efficiency, with the number of employees decreasing by nearly 10,000, and the operating profit margin soaring from 25% to 32%."