Google conducted another round of layoffs on Wednesday, telling its recruiters that by the end of the day hundreds of them would be losing their jobs, three people with knowledge of the layoffs said.

Google’s recruiting group, which at one point had more than 3,000 employees, has already been hit hard by layoffs this year.

The cuts are an indication that Google and its parent company, Alphabet, will continue the belt-tightening that began at the Silicon Valley company this year, even as it doubles down on investments in artificial intelligence.

The recruiters and related staff members had previously been “invited to a last minute global all hands meeting with the agenda to share hard news,” according to a post on an internal Google messaging board viewed by The New York Times. Brian Ong, the vice president of recruiting, told employees that he had wanted them to hear the news from him and that they could finish work from home or head home if they were in the office, a person said.