Alphabet's Self-Driving Unit Waymo Lays Off 8% Of Its Workforce

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New Delhi: Alphabet's self-driving unit Waymo has sacked more than 200 employees in its second round of layoffs. The company fired 8 percent, or 209 employees, of its total workforce. A Waymo spokesperson told TechCrunch that the layoffs, mostly in engineering roles, are part of a "broader organisational restructure that follows a fiscally disciplined approach".

Alphabet, Google's parent company, recently laid off 12,000 workers and even 100 robots that cleaned the cafeterias at its headquarters. Waymo recently announced plans to start testing fully driverless vehicles in Los Angeles. The self-driving unit earlier planned to start its driver-less rides pilot programme in San Francisco. ()

The company received a permit for its driver-less pilot programme from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which allows autonomous vehicle (AV) companies to take passengers in test AVs without a driver. ()

Waymo had received approval from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to charge for autonomous rides. The company recently received investment from its parent company.

The Google spinoff had said that its driverless vehicles were only available to employees but would soon grow to include members of the company`s "Trusted Tester" programme.

For unversed, in light of the recent layoffs and challenging macroeconomic environment, it looks that CEO Sundar Pichai will receive a significant pay reduction. Pichai revealed that all positions beyond the "senior vice president" level will see a large decrease in their annual bonus during a recent town hall meeting with Google employees.