Close Menu
Technology Mag

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    What's Hot

    Texas governor says his emails with Elon Musk are too ‘intimate or embarrassing’ to release

    July 14, 2025

    How AI can make us better decision-makers, with Cassie Kozyrkov

    July 14, 2025

    Microsoft will halt new Office features for Windows 10 in 2026

    July 14, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Subscribe
    Technology Mag
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    • Home
    • News
    • Business
    • Games
    • Gear
    • Reviews
    • Science
    • Security
    • Trending
    • Press Release
    Technology Mag
    Home » Google spent billions of dollars to lay people off
    News

    Google spent billions of dollars to lay people off

    News RoomBy News RoomJanuary 30, 20243 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp Email

    Google spent $2.1 billion on severance and other expenses as it laid off more than 12,000 employees over the course of 2023. And the layoff charges keep coming: in just the one month of 2024 so far, the company has already spent $700 million on employee severance charges as part of layoffs targeting another 1,000-plus roles. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, revealed the figure alongside its fourth-quarter earnings release on Tuesday.

    Despite the cuts, Google ended 2023 with growth across most of its core business lines. Google posted $86 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2023, a 13 percent increase year over year. The search giant’s core digital ads and cloud computing businesses also showed steady growth, which CEO Sundar Pichai credited to Google’s investments in generative AI.

    Closing down offices cost Google, too

    Google’s primary revenue generator, its search engine business, generated $48 billion, a nearly 13 percent jump year over year. The company’s subscription services and devices segment generated $10.7 billion, thanks primarily to subscriptions to YouTube Premium and Music, YouTube TV, and Google One, according to Pichai. YouTube’s advertising revenue was $9.2 billion, a 15 percent spike from last year.

    On a call with investors, Pichai referred to 2024 as Alphabet’s “Gemini era,” referring to the company’s AI language model that it expects to work across all of Google’s core products. “Gemini is the first realization of the vision we had when we formed Google DeepMind, bringing together our two world-class research teams,” Pichai said. Coming around the bend is Gemini Ultra, an update of the original model which the company is still working on. “Gemini Ultra is coming soon. The team is already working on the next version and bringing it to our products, starting with Search.”

    Google is currently the third-largest cloud provider in the world, trailing behind Microsoft’s Azure and AWS. But the cloud division picked up steam last year. The company reported $9.19 billion in revenue for Google Cloud, a considerable boost of 25.6 percent year over year.

    Although layoffs cost Google a pretty penny, so did the real estate cutbacks due to said layoffs (including in locations like the pricey Bay Area). Shutting down physical office space cost Google a total of $1.8 billion for the entirety of 2023.

    And Google’s continued investments in AI, or its “Gemini era,” means that even more layoffs are to follow in 2024 as the company makes cuts in other divisions to compensate.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleYouTube TV listened to sports fans, and it’s fixing multiview’s biggest problem
    Next Article Replika’s new AI therapy app tries to bring you to a zen island

    Related Posts

    Texas governor says his emails with Elon Musk are too ‘intimate or embarrassing’ to release

    July 14, 2025

    How AI can make us better decision-makers, with Cassie Kozyrkov

    July 14, 2025

    Microsoft will halt new Office features for Windows 10 in 2026

    July 14, 2025

    Where are the iPhone’s WebKit-less browsers?

    July 14, 2025

    Google exec: ‘We’re going to be combining ChromeOS and Android’

    July 14, 2025

    Foldables are in and suddenly really thin

    July 13, 2025
    Our Picks

    How AI can make us better decision-makers, with Cassie Kozyrkov

    July 14, 2025

    Microsoft will halt new Office features for Windows 10 in 2026

    July 14, 2025

    The Garmin Forerunner 970 Celebrates Your Race Finish With You

    July 14, 2025

    Where are the iPhone’s WebKit-less browsers?

    July 14, 2025
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • Vimeo
    Don't Miss
    Security

    CBP Wants New Tech to Search for Hidden Data on Seized Phones

    By News RoomJuly 14, 2025

    United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is asking tech companies to pitch digital forensics…

    Google exec: ‘We’re going to be combining ChromeOS and Android’

    July 14, 2025

    Conspiracy Theories About the Texas Floods Lead to Death Threats

    July 14, 2025

    LG’s Lightweight Gram Pro 16 Laptop Still Needs Some Work

    July 14, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of use
    • Advertise
    • Contact
    © 2025 Technology Mag. All Rights Reserved.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.