Google has continued its long-running mission to streamline its operations with further cuts to Chrome, Android, and Pixel teams on Thursday (10 April).
“Hundreds” of employees have been laid off from the devices unit, which works across Android software, Pixel smartphones, and the Chrome browser, according to a report from The Information.
The cuts follow a voluntary buyout in January where Google offered workers in the Android and Pixel teams a “guaranteed severance” if they were willing to step away from their jobs. Voluntary buyouts are often a precursor to mass layoffs if not enough people opt to leave.
Android and Chrome were merged into the Pixel division last year, and the combined group numbered over 20,000 members of staff before the buyout offer. It is this merger that Google cited as the reason for the layoffs.
“Since combining the Platforms and Devices teams last year, we’ve focused on becoming more nimble and operating more effectively, and this included making some job reductions in addition to the voluntary exit program that we offered in January,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement.
The tech giant will continue to hire in the US and globally, according to the spokesperson, but cost-cutting through layoffs has started to become an annual habit of Google’s. Around 6% of staff were cut in 2023, with more redundancies at the start of 2024.
A new wave of layoffs took down managerial roles at the beginning of 2025, with 10% of manager and VP-level positions being cut. Here, some positions were reportedly transitioned into non-management roles, though most were simply eliminated.
The layoffs are part of a long-term strategy announced in 2022 to make the company 20% more efficient. CEO Sundar Pichai previously attributed the need for cuts to the changing economic climate and the amount of hiring that took place during the pandemic.
