EMPLOYEES in Google’s Singapore office have been laid off as part of a global retrenchment exercise that impacted hundreds of workers across several divisions, sources close to the matter told The Business Times on Friday (Jan 12).

The sources were unable to determine how deep the cuts were locally. Details have been scant, the people said, and no companywide notice of the exercise has been sent by management.

Google and other big tech companies are under threat from rivals and upstarts developing products in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Google executives have sworn to free up resources to invest in the biggest priorities – such as generative AI – while preserving margins, The New York Times reported.