Hundreds of Google Assistant software, Devices and Services workers laid off

Google is in the news again. This time it has announced yet another round of layoffs that is happening and this time it is all about those working on the voice-activated Google Assistant software and other departments. The number of lay offs is quite large and runs into hundreds. 

Apart from hundreds of people being laid off who were working on its voice-activated Google Assistant software, parent company Alphabet also eliminated a similar number of roles in the company’s Devices and Services team. The Google layoffs at Google Assistant, first reported by news platform Semafor, are a part of organizational changes that have been in place since the second-half of 2023, which included layoffs at the company’s mapping app Waze, Reuters reported.

A few hundred roles are being eliminated in the company’s Devices and Services team, with the majority in the 1P AR hardware team, the company said.

As part of the move, the co-founders of Google-owned Fitbit, James Park and Eric Friedman, as well as other Fitbit leaders, are leaving Google, a 9to5Google report revealed.

“Throughout second-half of 2023, a number of our teams made changes to become more efficient and work better, and to align their resources to their biggest product priorities. Some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organizational changes, which include some role eliminations globally”, a spokesperson told Reuters in a statement. ​

The spokesperson did not specify the number of roles being impacted. It is not immediately clear how many people are part of the Google Assistant software and Devices and Services teams.

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