California: In a recent development, Google has declared a substantial workforce reduction, affecting more than 1,000 employees globally, spanning its digital assistant, hardware, and engineering teams. The Verge reported that the tech giant has officially acknowledged the elimination of “a few hundred roles globally” within its ad sales team.
According to a memo released by Google’s Senior Vice President, Philipp Schindler, the layoffs will predominantly impact the Large Customer Sales (LCS) unit. This unit is responsible for catering to large businesses and facilitating the sale of advertisements. The memo also disclosed that the Google Customer Solutions team (GCS), dealing with ad sales for smaller businesses, is set to become the focal point of the ad sales efforts.
Chris Pappas, a spokesperson for Google, informed The Verge that the annual restructuring of the ad sales team is a meticulous process. He emphasized, “We map customers to the right specialist teams and sales channels to meet their service needs. As part of this, a few hundred roles globally are being eliminated, and impacted employees will be able to apply for open roles or elsewhere at Google.”
Earlier this week, Google had announced the layoff of hundreds of employees, a move aligned with the company’s ongoing efforts to streamline expenses. The spokesperson clarified, “In the latter half of 2023, several of our teams changed to improve efficiency and better align resources with our top product priorities. Some teams are still implementing these organizational changes, which unfortunately involve job cuts worldwide.”
This significant workforce reduction suggests that job cuts may persist throughout the year, driven by the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence software and automation to alleviate workloads. A recent report by The Information has indicated that Google might make 30,000 job cuts in 2024, relying more on AI-powered tools for ad creation and performance optimization with minimal human intervention.
It’s not just Google; Amazon is also set to undergo significant workforce reductions in its streaming and studio operations. Employees at Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios in the Americas are expected to receive notifications this week. Business Insider reports that Amazon is encouraging managers to assign lower performance ratings to employees not complying with the Return to Office (RTO) policy, suggesting a broader strategy resembling a “quiet firing” plan.
