A view of the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, on April 16, 2024.
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Google told staffers in its “People Operations” and cloud organizations this week that it plans to cut employees as a part of internal reorganizations, CNBC has learned.
The company will offer a voluntary exit program to U.S.-based, full-time employees in People Operations, Google’s human relations division, starting in early March, according to a memo issued by HR chief Fiona Cicconi on Tuesday that was viewed by CNBC.
The latest cuts come after finance chief Anat Ashkenazi said one of her top priorities would be to drive more cost-cutting as Google expands its spending on AI infrastructure in 2025. After the company reported revenue that missed expectations for the fourth quarter earlier this month, Ashkenazi said that the company had strong demand for AI products and that it “exited the year with more demand than we had available capacity.”
As part of the People Operations buyouts, employees who are level 4 and level 5 may receive a severance of 14 weeks of salary and one additional week for every full year of service, the memo states. Those are considered mid- to senior-level employees.
Separately, the company also made cuts to several teams within its cloud unit, mostly impacting operations support staff, according to sources and separate internal memos. Some of those moves include moving roles to other countries.
The company confirmed the changes to CNBC, saying reorganizations are part of the normal course of business.
“Our teams have continued to make changes to operate more efficiently, remove layers, and ensure they are set up for long term success,” said Google spokesperson Brandon Asberry in a statement. “This work is ongoing as we continue to invest in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead.”
Last month, Google executives announced they would offer buyouts to U.S. based employees in its “Platforms and Devices” unit ahead of expected cuts. That unit houses more than 25,000 full-time employees who work on Android, Chrome, ChromeOS, Google Photos, Google One, Pixel, Fitbit and Nest.
The company said it is supporting all impacted employees, in line with local requirements, including time to explore and apply to different roles at Google.
Cloud Cuts
The Alphabet-owned company’s cloud layoffs impacted the unit’s sales operations, customer experience, internal deal and go-to-market teams, according to sources who asked not to be named because they are not permitted to speak publicly.
Cloud is one of the company’s high-growth business units and benefits from AI products. For the fourth quarter, the cloud unit’s revenue increased 30% from the year prior. Alphabet has been drawing profit from the cloud business as it tries to keep up with market leaders Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.
Some impacted employees’ roles are being relocated to India and Mexico City, according to sources and internal correspondence viewed by CNBC.
The company confirmed that the changes include consolidating or opening roles in other parts of the U.S and overseas. The largest employee presence for the cloud unit is still in the U.S., and that’s not changing, the company added.
The number of layoffs is unclear, but the company said it is small in quantity and that the organization continues to hire for critical sales and engineering roles.
Bloomberg first reported the cuts to Google’s cloud division on Wednesday.
A file photo of Hiroki Totoki, Sony Group Corporation executive, delivering a keynote address at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, on January 6, 2025.
Artur Widak | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Sony Group shares rose about 2% Wednesday in volatile trading after the Japanese conglomerate announced a 250 billion yen ($1.7 billion) share buyback and operating income beat estimates.
Operating income for the last three months of the financial year came in at 203.6 billion yen, beating mean analyst estimates of 192.2 billion yen, though it was down 11% from the same period last year.
In the earnings report, the Japanese-based electronics, entertainment and finance company announced a stock buyback of shares worth 250 billion yen.
Sony also provided details on a partial spinoff of its financial unit. The company plans to distribute slightly more than 80% of the shares of common stock of the spinoff to shareholders of Sony Group through dividends.
The financial unit will list its financial operation this year and will be classified as a discontinued operation in Sony’s accounting from the current quarter, the company added.
However, Sony’s outlook for the current financial year ending in March was lackluster.
The company forecasted its operating profit to rise a slight 0.3% to 1.28 trillion yen, after flagging a 100 billion yen hit from U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war.
Yet, Sony clarified that the estimated tariff impact did not reflect the trade deal made between the U.S. and China on May 12 and that the actual impact could vary significantly.
A Samsung Group flag flutters in front of the company’s Seocho building in Seoul.
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Samsung Electronics on Wednesday announced that it would acquire all shares of German-based FläktGroup, a leading heating and cooling solutions provider, for 1.5 billion euros ($1.68 billion) from European investment firm Triton.
Samsung said the acquisition would help it expand in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning business as the market experiences rapid growth.
“Our commitment is to continue investing in and developing the high-growth HVAC business as a key future growth engine,” said TM Roh, Acting Head of the Device eXperience (DX) Division at Samsung Electronics.
The acquisition of FläktGroup stands to bolster Samsung’s position in the HVAC market against rivals such as LG Electronics.
FläktGroup supplies heating, HVAC solutions to a wide range of buildings and facilities, notably data centers which require a high degree of stable cooling. Samsung said it anticipates sustained growth in data center demand due to the proliferation of generative AI, robotics, autonomous driving and other technologies.
FläktGroup has more 60 major customers, including leading pharmaceutical companies, biotech and food and beverage firms, and gigafactories, according to Samsung’s statement.
Samsung said in March that its HVAC solutions had achieved double-digit annual revenue growth over the past five years, and that the company aimed to boost revenue by more than 30% in 2025.