Or they felt that investors wanted them to have layoffs.
From talking to people in the know, the layoffs don't even seem to make sense. Why layoff all the developers in a project and keep the program managers, product managers, and engineering managers (and not even cancel the project)? Why kill the Python team and ask the Flutter team to take over their work? Why do projects seem to have more managers than individual contributors?
I don't think this is part of a coherent long term strategy. It's just a reflexive reaction to demands to from major investors to reduce costs. Nevermind that Google is still hiring for the positions that they are laying people off for.
This is because Google has grown to be one of the most bureaucratic companies in industry, and it is the bureaucrats who have the utmost power in such companies. Naturally, it is engineers who are let go and bureaucrats who stay during a layoff
From talking to people in the know, the layoffs don't even seem to make sense. Why layoff all the developers in a project and keep the program managers, product managers, and engineering managers (and not even cancel the project)? Why kill the Python team and ask the Flutter team to take over their work? Why do projects seem to have more managers than individual contributors?
I don't think this is part of a coherent long term strategy. It's just a reflexive reaction to demands to from major investors to reduce costs. Nevermind that Google is still hiring for the positions that they are laying people off for.