April 11 (Reuters) - Alphabet's Google laid

off hundreds of employees in its platforms and devices unit, The

Information reported on Friday, citing a person with direct

knowledge of the situation.

The cuts in the division, which houses the Android platform,

Pixel phones and the Chrome browser among other applications,

follow Google's January buyout offers to employees in the unit,

the report said.

"Since combining the platforms and devices teams last year,

we've focused on becoming more nimble and operating more

effectively and this included making some job reductions in

addition to the voluntary exit program that we offered in

January," a Google spokesperson told The Information.

Google did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for

comment.

Big Tech players have been redirecting spending towards data

centers and AI development, while scaling back investments in

other areas of their business.

Facebook-parent Meta laid off about 5% of its "

lowest performers

" in January while pushing ahead with the expedited

hiring of machine learning engineers.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) also

trimmed

650 jobs in its Xbox unit in September. Amazon ( AMZN )

laid off employees in several units, including communications,

while Apple ( AAPL ) eliminated about 100 roles in its digital

services group last year, according to media reports.

Bloomberg in February reported that Google had laid off

employees in its cloud division, adding that the round of cuts

impacted only a few teams.

In January 2023, Alphabet had announced plans to cut 12,000

jobs, or 6% of its global workforce.