Google is starting off 2024 with a reorienting layoff structure as it confirms departures from its core engineering and hardware businesses.
Similar to Microsoft’s massive first quarter layoff dump in 2023 where the company shuttered several jobs in its HoloLens and Surface hardware divisions to better realign its focus on AI over physical products, Google appears to be executing a similar plan according to the New York Times.
In an email obtained by the New York Times, Google regrettably has shuttered several jobs in its hardware division.
We’ve had to make some difficult decisions about ongoing employment of some Google employees, and we regret to inform you that your position is being eliminated.
Google
However, unlike Microsoft, Google’s layoff number remains much lower than the headline grabbing ‘10,000 in three months’ revelation.
While Rick Osterloh remains in place as Google’s head hardware guy, the company has said goodbye to Fitbit cofounders Eric Friedman and James Park along with other executives from the fitness tracking business. Last Summer, Microsoft’s chief Surface executive and co-founder Panos Panay left the company for an opportunity to head up Amazon’s next gen hardware business, and it looks like Google is experiencing its own hardware talent drain.
A few hundred roles are being eliminated in the Devices and Services Product Area (DSPA), with the majority of impacts on the first-party AR Hardware team. While we are making changes to our first-party AR hardware team, Google continues to be deeply committed to other AR initiatives, such as AR experiences in our products, and product partnerships.
Google
For fans of the Made by Google line of products, the company’s latest statement might be reason for concern as the DSPA division also puts out devices such as the latest Pixel tablet, Pixel Pro 8, Pixel Watch, Pixel Buds, and Nest line up.
Not only will the company’s recent layoffs impact its mainstream consumer electronics, but it looks like Google is also re-evaluating its position in augmented reality. Similarly, Microsoft took a step back from its overly ambitious Mixed Reality efforts by reducing its HoloLens teams down to a skeleton crew working primarily on militarizing the AR headset and shuttering all future development of platform support in its flagship Windows OS.
Presumably, Google will follow Microsoft down the path of leaning on its manufacturing partners such as Samsung, Lenovo, Meta and others to produce the hardware for any of its future AR efforts while stepping back from its own first party designs in Google Glasses and HoloLens.
On the other side of this reorg coin lays the future focus of Google, which is a concerted effort to prioritize AI, Machine Learning and pre-generative models over straightforward hardware offerings.
When speaking to the New York Times about the layoffs and business prioritization to AI, a Google spokesperson replied, “We’re responsibly investing in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead. Some teams are continuing to make organizational changes, which include some role eliminations globally.”
Once again, Google isn’t exclusive in its decision to slow the breaks on its hardware ambitions while reevaluating its investments in AI. In the first quarter of 2023, Microsoft released several hundred employees across its various business vectors including the HoloLens and Surface team while also condensing its product lineup in favor of developing and marketing more of its Copilot features and offerings.
Google is also slimming down its Google Assistant features list to focus on “quality and reliability” going forward as it evolves its digital assistant with AI.
As we continue to make Google Assistant more helpful, we’re prioritizing the experiences you love and investing in the underlying technology to make them even better — which means that some underutilized features will no longer be supported.
Duke Dukellis, Vice President, Google Assistant.
Despite being a few months late to the AI race, Google seems to be on par with strategies and structures to help it compete with Microsoft, OpenAI and others, but where does that leave its often shaky hardware development, in 2024 and beyond?
