The UK arm of Google cut almost 400 jobs during its latest financial year as its turnover neared the £3bn mark, it has been revealed.
The London-headquartered division reduced its headcount from 7,422 to 7,029 in 2024, new accounts filed with Companies House show.
The results also reveal that Google UK’s turnover increased in the 12 months from £2.81bn to £2.89bn while its pre-tax profit also rose from £373.8m to £403.3m.
Google said a higher demand for its services, a rise in employment and other costs impacted the service fee it receives.
Google’s £5bn UK investment pledge
The results come after Google pledged last month to invest £5bn into the British economy as it opens its first owned and operated data centre in the UK.
The tech giant said the investment, which comprises capital spending and research and development over the next two years, will bolster its AI-powered projects in science and healthcare, creating more than 8,000 jobs.
The new data centre in Waltham Cross, just north of London, was first announced by Google in January last year with the project set to cost nearly £800m.
Google has been battling to gain a foothold in the UK’s cloud market, and has so far lagged behind the likes of Microsoft and Amazon, which are each thought to control as much as a 40 per cent market share, according to a study by the UK’s competition regulator.
Giant faces £25bn UK lawsuit
In July, the UK government has signed a sweeping partnership with Google Cloud to modernise public services, replace outdated tech systems, and upskill 100,000 civil servants in digital and AI tools by 2030.
The deal will see Google Cloud provide technical support to help departments, such as the NHS and local councils, ditch ageing systems and adopt secure, cloud-based technologies.
At the same time, the tech giant will launch a parallel training programme to help civil servants better understand and use emerging technologies, including generative AI.
Earlier this year, City AM reported that Google is facing a £25bn legal claim in the UK.
A new lawsuit accused the tech giant of abusing its dominant position in the online search advertising market, driving up prices for UK advertisers over more than a decade.
The claim, filed with the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) and led by Roger Kaye KC, a former deputy High Court judge, alleged that Google’s longstanding agreements with phone manufacturers and network operators – making Google search their default engine – have limited competition, resulting in “excessive and unfair prices” for search advertising.
The case seeks damages on behalf of an estimated 500,000 to 1.5m UK advertisers who purchased search ads from Google between January 2011 and the present.
Kaye said the case aims to restore a “fair and competitive landscape” and challenge the firm’s monopolising behaviour.