Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet, said in an internal memo that the parent company’s subsidiary Google is restructuring its finance organization to pursue artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives. The reorganization will include layoffs and relocations, according to the memo obtained and originally reported by CNBC.
Porat’s memo, sent to Google’s finance team, indicated the restructuring would impact finance teams around the world, creating “hubs” for more centralized finance operations. This shift to hubs may be due to a transition from more expensive locations to more cost-effective regions, including Bangalore, Mexico City, Chicago, Atlanta, and Dublin.
“The tech sector is in the midst of a tremendous platform shift with Al,” Porat wrote. “As a company, this means we have the opportunity to make more helpful products for billions of users and provide faster solutions to our customers, but it also means we collectively have to make tough decisions, including how and where we work to align with our highest priority areas,” she said.
The layoffs come amid larger-scale corporate streamlining in 2024. According to layoffs.fyi, Google has announced at least four distinct rounds of layoffs, which have impacted advertising and sales, support staff connected to its pioneering tech lab known as ‘X,’ and announced the layoff of around a thousand employees who were a part of its engineering and Google Assistant teams. The wider technology industry has experienced a wave of layoffs as well this year.
Last year, Porat announced she would be stepping down from the top finance chief role at Alphabet to eventually assume a dual role of chief investment officer and president, which became effective September 1. She is remaining in the CFO role until the company selects her predecessor.
