As part of the cuts, Google will reorganize its AR divisions, Pixel, Nest, Fitbit and its core engineering team, while fitness band co-founders James Park, Eric Friedman and other executives are leaving the company. It is reported that the tech giant will now have only one team responsible for hardware development.

Google acquired Fitbit for $2.1 billion in November 2019. Subsequently, the company secretly withdrew the division’s products from more than a dozen countries.

Google’s augmented reality efforts have also been called into question after the departure of VR chief Clay Bavor and software chief Mark Lukowski last February. The company reportedly abandoned Project Iris augmented reality glasses many months ago. Steven Lake, co-founder of augmented reality glasses company North, which Google acquired in 2020, also left Google last June, according to his LinkedIn page.

“We have had to make some difficult decisions regarding the current employment of some Google employees, and we regret to inform you that your position is being reduced,” the company told some employees in letters.

Last year, Google laid off about 12,000 people. Parent company Alphabet had 182,381 employees as of September 30, 2023, so cutting 1,000 jobs would represent about 0.5% of the tech giant’s total workforce.

Source: Engadget, The Verge 1, 2