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Google reportedly pulls engineers off laptop and tablet dev

Along with employees being told to seek other jobs in other divisions within Google and Alphabet, there are rumors that tablet and laptop projects have been canceled.

Charles Singletary Jr

March 14, 2019 7:45 AM

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Constantly evolving and shifting is key to maintaining a powerful business and Google seems to be making a pretty significant change to its business. Reports suggest that the company is moving employees out of its laptop and tablet hardware divisions, impacting dozens of employees outside of manufacturing roles.

Business Insider reported the shift, stating that Google employees working on laptops and tablets have been asked to seek out new jobs elsewhere within the company as part of "roadmap cutbacks." Among those affected are hardware engineers, technical program managers, and the program managers' support. The report even suggests that related projects have been canceled, which signals a cutback on the mobile computing solutions for the company.

The Pixelbook laptop and Pixel Slate tablet are the most notable releases out of the Create division, which is the team being impacted by these "roadmap cutbacks." There have been rumors of the Pixelbook 2 being in development as far back as October 2018, but it is entirely possible that this is one of the rumored projects canceled. Google's Chromebooks have impacted the market in a big way on the less expensive end, but the higher tier laptops haven't made a big splash as Google hoped. The Pixel Slate, which is a direct competitor with Microsoft's Surface Pro and the Apple iPad Pro, is also facing an incredibly tough uphill battle.

Sources told Business Insider that there has been a lot of pressure to turn Google's hardware division into a "real business" since a unification of efforts nearly three years ago. With this shift away from hardware development, it doesn't seem like the company has seen the type of performance or success needed to continue investing valuable employees. The roadmap, therefore, is changing and Google is reassessing its plans. Stay tuned to Shacknews for additional gaming and tech updates.

Charles Singletary Jr

News Editor

Charles Singletary Jr keeps the updates flowing as the News Editor, breaking stories while investigating the biggest topics in gaming and technology. He's pretty active on Twitter, so feel free to reach out to him @The_CSJR. Got a hot tip? Email him at Charles.Singletary@Shacknews.com.