Google layoffs hit over 100 design roles amid AI spending shift

Google layoffs have hit more than 100 workers in its design teams, marking the latest round of job cuts tied to the company’s shift toward AI and tighter spending.

Earlier this week, Google layoffs affected parts of the cloud division, including teams working on user experience research, and platform and service experience. Internal documents seen by CNBC show that some teams related to cloud were affected too. The groups affected study user behaviour through data metric collection and surveys to shape how products are designed and improved.

Some design teams in the cloud unit have been reduced by half, with many of the affected roles based in the United States. Employees who lost their jobs have until early December to find new positions inside Google. The company has not commented publicly on the layoffs, and the total number of people affected is still unclear. Business Insider has also reported on the issue.

A source familiar with the changes said the layoffs in user experience research were focused on using data to understand how people interact with products. Several employees have also posted on LinkedIn about losing their jobs or their teams being impacted. One person noted that they are on an O-1 visa, which gives them 60 days to secure a new role or leave the US.

The cuts reflect Google’s broader effort to shift resources toward AI infrastructure. Over the past year, the company has offered voluntary exit packages to many US-based teams and removed more than a third of its managers overseeing smaller groups. It has also started urging employees to use more AI tools in their day-to-day work.

The voluntary buyouts have affected teams in human resources, hardware, search, ads, marketing, finance, and commerce. The changes are part of a push by CEO Sundar Pichai to focus on efficiency rather than expanding headcount. In August, he told employees that Google would need “to be more efficient as we scale up so we don’t solve everything with headcount.”

That message has shaped Google’s restructuring strategy. Since then, the company has rolled out voluntary exit programmes and trimmed layers of management, especially in key business units like search and ads. The presumed goal is to keep operations lean and align teams with the company’s spending priorities in AI and infrastructure.

Google is not alone in making cuts. Other major tech companies have also been slimming down their workforces this year. Microsoft laid off around 9,000 employees in July in different departments and regions. Meta has also made staffing reductions as it adjusts its business to new AI priorities.

(Photo by Kelly Sikkema)

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