Alphabet’s Google trimmed an unspecified number of employees from its workforce, a move it stated is part of a wider restructuring intended to simplify operations and increase efficiency.

In a statement seen by Mobile World Live, a Google spokesperson explained the layoffs were intended to “remove layers” so it can maximise its resources to work on its “most innovative and important advances”, though the technology giant did not disclose the departments or numbers of jobs affected.

The restructuring was described by the company as a normal course of business to ensure its workforce allocates its energy to work on priorities, and impacted staff will be able to apply for other internal roles while receiving a severance package.

Reuters noted the cuts are not company-wide and that a small percentage of impacted jobs will move to locations Google are currently investing in, including its operations in India and Ireland. The outlet added some employees across Google’s finance and real estate arms have already been affected by these changes.

The news first came to light due to leaked internal memo seen by Business Insider, in which Google CFO Ruth Porat told staff the cuts were part of a restructuring strategy to better align its ecosystem with AI-related changes in the technology sector.

Porat reportedly noted in the memo the restructuring will involve an expansion to Mexico and the Indian city of Bangalore.

Google axed hundreds of staff in January in a drive to prioritise its spending on AI innovations, and at the time CEO Sundar Pichai warned of more staff cuts this year.