The closure of Waymo's self-driving car facility in Austin, Texas, this month eliminated jobs for about 100 contractors, some of whom described surprise at the sudden decision.

Waymo, the self-driving car subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet, confirmed with CNBC earlier this month that it was closing the Austin facility but downplayed the move, saying it would affect fewer than 10 full-time employees.

CNBC has now learned that the closure affected many more people, including contract workers from firms Adecco and Genesis10, according to conversations with nine people who worked for Waymo in Austin and elsewhere. Five of these people estimated around 100 workers, or more, were affected. A Waymo spokesperson said the number was "significantly less" than 100 without offering a precise number, citing confidentiality agreements with the contracting agencies.

Some described the firing as a surprise, and two said that managers described it as a financial decision, although Waymo denies any cost-cutting measures, pointing to investments elsewhere. These people requested anonymity because they signed agreements that forbid them from talking about their time at the company.

A Waymo spokesperson described the move as a facility closure, not a layoff or downsizing. In a statement, the company said, "Waymo is growing our investment and teams in both the Detroit and Phoenix areas, and we want to bring our operations teams together in these locations to best support our riders and our ride-hailing service. As a result we've decided to relocate all Austin positions to Detroit and Phoenix and some of our employees have already confirmed they'll relocate. We are also working closely with our staffing partners to ensure temporary workers are offered transition pay and relocation assistance."

In the months leading up to the firings, the company has faced challenges to the business and delays to the technology. CEO John Krafcik said in 2017 that Waymo wouldn't need to wait until 2020 ⁠— when analysts expected self-driving cars to go fully autonomous ⁠— but that it would give riders fully autonomous rides within "months." However, CNBC reported in August that Waymo still largely relies on human safety drivers, and the company only started offering fully autonomous rides there recently. In September, Morgan Stanley cut its valuation on Waymo by 40% from $175 billion to $105 billion, concluding that the industry is moving toward commercialization more slowly than expected.