Google CEO Sundar Pichai has announced that the company will cut 10 per cent jobs in managerial roles, including directors and Vice Presidents. The company is reducing its workforce amid rising competition in AI from peers such as OpenAI.

According to Pichai, Google has made changes in the last couple of years to make the company efficient and simplify its structure, reported Business Insider.

Google will cut jobs in roles such as managers, directors, and vice presidents.

Some of the jobs in the 10 per cent figure were transitioned to individual contributor roles, and some were role eliminations, the report said citing a Google spokesperson.

In the last two years, Google has been on an efficiency driver. Earlier in September 2022, Pichai stated that he wants Google to be 20 per cent more efficient. In the following January, Google had cut 12,000 jobs.

The current layoff move aligns with its AI competitors, such as OpenAI, which is bringing new products that might affect the search business of Google.

In response to competition from OpenAI, Google has brought in generative AI features in its core business. It has launched several new AI features, including a new AI video generator to compete with OpenAI’s early testing and a new set of Gemini models, which includes a “reasoning” model that shows its thought process.

Additionally, in the Wednesday meeting, Pichai clarified the meaning of the word “Googleyness”, mentioning that the staff is required to update the modern Google.

In May 2024, Google cut 200 jobs from its “core team” and relocated some of the jobs overseas as a part of cost-cutting for the restructuring process, reported CNBC citing internal sources. Almost 50 jobs were cut from the engineering team in California. The core team develops the “technical foundation behind the company’s flagship products” with the user safety online and its global IT infrastructure.