Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat.
Adam Gallica | CNBC
letter Treasurer Ruth Porat said in a memo Wednesday. Google The company is restructuring its financial organization, a move that will include layoffs and relocations as it directs resources to support investments in artificial intelligence.
“The tech industry is in the midst of a huge platform shift brought about by Al,” Porat wrote in a memo to finance employees obtained by CNBC. “As a company, this means we have the opportunity to make products for billions of users.” More useful products and faster solutions for our customers, but it also means we collectively have to make tough decisions about how and where we work to align with our purpose.
As advertising growth slows, Google has made a broader effort to realign its staff and resources to accommodate further investment in new technologies such as artificial intelligence. Chief Executive Sundar Pichai told employees in January that more layoffs were likely in 2024, but he did not specify which teams would be affected.
Porat noted that the restructuring will affect finance teams domestically and internationally, including in Asia Pacific and Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Porat also wrote that the company will establish “hubs” for more centralized operations in places such as Bangalore, Mexico City, Dublin, Chicago and Atlanta. She noted that the company plans to maintain a significant presence in the Bay Area.
“Over the past year, we have discussed creating vibrant and culturally strong Fin’oogler centers around the world,” Porat wrote. “This strategy will help us become a more efficient organization and enable us to Able to operate 24 hours a day while respecting Fin’ooglers’ working hours.”
Fin’oogler is the company’s name for employees in Google’s finance department.
Porat concluded his letter by saying, “We are sad to say goodbye to some talented teammates and friends we care about, and we know this change is difficult.”
“As we say, we are investing responsibly in the company’s most important priorities and the big opportunities ahead,” a Google spokesperson told CNBC in an email. “To make us better positioned to seize these opportunities, we are investing from In the second half of 2023 and into 2024, many of our teams made changes to become more efficient, work better, eliminate layers, and realign resources to our most important product priorities.