Google fires around 200 employees from Global Business Unit, says report

India Today

08-05-2025

Google has reportedly fired around 200 more employees, this time from its global business unit. The division is responsible for handling sales and partnerships at the Alphabet-owned global search engine major. The layoffs are said to be part of 'small changes' that Google is reportedly making to improve collaboration and customer service. Put together, this is now the third instance of layoffs at Google in quick succession this year.advertisementJust last month, the Mountain View-based company fired hundreds of employees from the division responsible for more marquee consumer-facing products, including Android, Pixel, and the Chrome browser. At the time, the layoffs were attributed to the company trying to move to become more nimble per a new strategy that would seemingly aid in making its platforms and devices unit operationally more effective. Some engineering roles at Google's Hyderabad and Bengaluru offices were also reassigned as part of the shakeup, reports have indicated. In February 2025, some employees [number is unspecified] from its cloud and HR divisions were also let go.The fresh round of layoffs (first reported by The Information) is meant 'to drive greater collaboration and expand our ability to quickly and effectively serve our customers,' Google was quoted by news agency Reuters as saying in a statement.advertisement
All this might seem like new – and brutal – but Google has been going through some of these internal changes and restructuring for a while now. Big job cuts started in January 2023, when Google-parent Alphabet announced that it would slash 12,000 jobs, which meant six percent of its global workforce.Big tech layoffs are a growing trend in the industry, with companies now increasing focus – and investment – in areas like artificial intelligence (AI) and data centres that would fuel it. Resources meant for other departments are being redirected in some or the way to streamline operations and efficiency.Google is not alone. Facebook-parent Meta fired around five percent of its 'lowest performers' in January to make way for more engineering roles, particularly those who specialised in machine learning. Microsoft cut 650 jobs in its Xbox division in September while Amazon laid off several employees in communication and other business units. Apple, too, is said to have cut 100 jobs in its digital services group last year.