Google fires Python team in US, to go for 'cheaper labour'

Google has fired the Python team in the United States in the latest job cuts in the tech giant.

Media reports said that Google, led by Sundar Pichai, has laid off staff across key teams like Flutter, Dart, and Python. Google is also said to have slashed staff from its real estate and finance departments.

Google finance chief Ruth Porat has informed employees in an email that the restructuring includes expanding growth to Bengaluru, Mexico City and Dublin.

Python is a major code used in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Google has not axed its Python team but replaced the existing team with another group based in Munich.

Cheaper options

A few employees on Hacker News and Reddit claimed that the entire Python team had been fired. Some suggest that Google was looking for a cheaper option outside the US.

"We’re responsibly investing in our company's biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead," said Google spokesperson Alex Garcia-Kummert.

"To best position us for these opportunities, throughout the second half of 2023 and into 2024, a number of our teams made changes to become more efficient and work better, remove layers, and align their resources to their biggest product priorities,” he added.

More opportunity

“Through this, we're simplifying our structures to give employees more opportunity to work on our most innovative and important advances and our biggest company priorities while reducing bureaucracy and layers," he said.

Google said it would support all affected employees, in line with local requirements, by providing them with time to search for different roles at Google or elsewhere.

The tech giant has also laid off hundreds of positions in different teams, including engineering and hardware, in January.