Google is laying off several employees and shifting some roles to other nations according to a spokesperson, to cut costs. At the company, the employees will be able to apply for other roles and some of the impacted roles will move to hubs in India, Dublin, Atlanta, and Chicago. The spokesperson did not exactly mention the number of layoffs or the positions impacted but said the layoffs are not companywide.
Throughout the second half of 2023 and into 2024, many of our team members made changes to become more efficient and work better, remove layers, and align their resources to their biggest product priorities, says the spokesperson. In January, it was reported that Google CEO Sundar Pichai warned employees to expect more job cuts this year, saying that the company has ambitious goals and needs to make difficult choices to create the capacity to invest in those goals.
It was reported on the 5th of April that Apple was laying off 614 employees in the first major job cuts that the company has made since the pandemic. It was not exactly mentioned which projects the impacted employees were working on, but the layoffs came about a month after reports that Apple canceled its electric car project.
On the 3rd of April, Amazon Web Services (AWS) said it was eliminating hundreds of roles in two of its organizations as it focused on other areas. Those job cuts will impact many roles in the company’s Sales, Marketing, and Global Services organization and a few hundred in its Physical Stores Technology team. Nordstrom’s CEO Erik Nordstrom and President Pete Nordstrom have informed the retailer’s board that they’re highly interested in taking the company private. As a result, the board has formed a special committee of independent and disinterested directors that will evaluate any proposals from those executives and other parties.
According to the company, The Board of Directors of Nordstrom, Inc. is committed to improving shareholder value and regularly evaluates a wide range of strategic, financial, and operational alternatives as the Company continues to execute its strategic plan.
It added that there is no guarantee that any proposed transaction will be completed and that it doesn’t plan to expose further developments regarding this matter unless it is necessary. It was reported in March that Nordstrom’s founding family was mounting another effort to take the retailer private and was in discussions with banks regarding the deal.
The Nordstrom founding family has expressed its wish to go private and retain control of the chain to allow the company to focus on long-term growth without the constant scrutiny of public markets. In the company’s present earnings report, the retailer said that its premium Nordstrom banner saw net sales dip 3% year over year, while its off-priced banner Nordstrom Rack saw net sales rise by 14.6%. Digital sales across these banners were reduced by 1.7%.
We will focus our Nordstrom banner efforts on digital-led growth supported by our stores, says CEO Erik and one thing we’re excited about is the launch of our digital marketplace on Nordstrom.com which is hoping to start in April. As we do this, we’re also creating a more personalized digital experience that makes it convenient for our customers to navigate our growing assortment.
