Google Shuffles Finance Team for AI Shift, Slashes Jobs in Finance and Real Estate Divisions

Google LLC is restructuring its finance unit, and this was confirmed by Alphabet’s chief finance officer, Ruth Porat, on Wednesday, April 17, through a memo sent to finance employees. Unfortunately, this move will also include layoffs and relocations of some staff to offices abroad.

The reorganization of the finance team is large-scale as it involves growth expansion plans to major cities such as Dublin, Bangalore, and Mexico City. In this latest round of job cuts, Google will also axe roles in its real estate division.

Aim of the Job Cuts and Restructuring

It was mentioned that the shake-up, layoffs, and relocations are being carried out to cut costs. Moreover, CNBC reported that Google made these decisions for its artificial intelligence push. The tech firm is reportedly pushing its resources to favor investments in AI. Likewise, the latest job terminations follow a more comprehensive effort of the company to revamp its resources and workforce to make room for further investment in new technologies, including AI, as growth in advertising slows down.

“The tech sector is in the midst of a tremendous platform shift with Al,” Alphabet’s CFO stated in the memo obtained by CNBC. “As a company, this means we have the opportunity to make more helpful products for billions of users and provide faster solutions to our customers, but it also means we collectively have to make tough decisions, including how and where we work to align with our highest priority areas.”

Job Relocations and Finance Hubs Worldwide

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the job cuts, which mainly affect staff in real estate and finance departments, will also see some employees relocated to hubs in Mexico, India, and Ireland, where Google is expanding its operations. The finance teams with the most cuts are treasury, revenue and cash operations, and business services units.

Google said terminated employees can still apply for other open positions across the company’s departments. The tech firm did not state a specific number of layoffs. Currently, the Employment Development Department said the company has not yet filed WARN notices with the California authorities.

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