Google Lays Off Several Data Scientists Amid Voice Assistant Unit Restructuring

Google GOOGL GOOG has reportedly made a round of layoffs among its voice assistant team, affecting several data scientists.

employees working as independent contributors on Google’s Assistant were notified on Monday about their roles being eliminated, Insider reported. The total number of affected employees remains undisclosed, but internal documents suggest that as many as 20 independent contributors were laid off.

Some of the affected employees were transferred from the Bard team to the Assistant team last Friday. They were subsequently invited to a meeting regarding their role hours later. Notably, one of the affected employees is currently on maternity leave, while another is battling cancer.

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Affected staff have been given a 60-day period to find a new role within the company or face termination.

A spokesperson for Google stated, “In order to optimize our team structures around our highest priorities, we’ve reorganized our team to best support our strategic business objectives.”

Earlier this year, Google commenced a restructuring plan involving the layoff of 12,000 employees and strategic cuts across different divisions, including Google News and its health division Verily.

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