Google is cutting hundreds of employees from its devices unit, affecting departments across Chrome, Android, and Pixel.

First reported by The Information, the cuts follow a round of voluntary buyouts offered by Google to workers across its teams in Android software and Pixel smartphone units, promising guaranteed severance if they leave their jobs.

Before the voluntary buyout was offered, the Pixel division had absorbed Android and Chrome in a merger, with 20,000 members of staff.

“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.

The tech conglomerate will not pause its hiring efforts globally, the spokesperson added.

Layoffs are nothing new at Google. Both 2024 and 2023 saw layoffs from the company, with 6% of the tech giant’s staff cut in 2023.

Managerial roles were just recently under fire at Google, as 10% of manager- and VP-level roles were cut  in late 2024. Many were eliminated altogether, while some were converted into non-management roles.

The continued rounds of layoffs at Google are part of the long-time strategy announced in 2022 by CEO Sundar Pichai to make the tech giant 20% more efficient. Pichai cited the shifting economic landscape and the hiring bump seen in Covid as key motivators for the productivity push.

Recommended reading

• 2024 Tech Layoffs May Exceed 200,000
• Tech Layoffs Show No Signs of Stopping
• Big Tech Layoffs | What You Need to Know

Tech layoffs appear to show no signs of stopping or slowing. 2025 has already seen 11,299 layoffs as of February, with more piling on top.

In 2024, 280,991 lost their jobs in the global tech sector, as CEOs continue to site the Covid hiring bump, rising costs, and turbulent economic conditions as reasons to cut workers.

Like Google, many companies that have cut workers have not stopped their hiring efforts, showing that many companies are also shifting priorities towards newer technologies like AI.