YouTube lays off 100 employees amid wider job cuts at parent Google

01/23/2024 / By Olivia Cook

Search engine giant Google has confirmed another round of layoffs – this time 100 employees on its video platform YouTube.

Multiple media outlets reported on Jan. 17 that the tech giant told employees at YouTube’s operations and creator management teams of the job cuts via an internal memo. Their positions were reportedly being eliminated “to trim costs and bureaucracy as it embraces artificial intelligence (AI).” The teams provide support for YouTube content creators.

YouTube Chief Business Officer (CBO) Mary Ellen Coe, the author of the internal memo, wrote that Google has decided to eliminate some roles in the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region. “[We] say goodbye to some of our teammates who are or may be impacted and be notified by the end of today,” the memo stated. (Related: Global TECH LAYOFFS in 2023 already surpassed last year’s total; more job cuts still to come.)

A separate report by The Hill also touched on job cuts at Google’s advertising sales department. In a leaked memo first revealed by Business Insider, Google CBO Philipp Schindler confirmed that hundreds of jobs across the globe would be eliminated or “put at risk” due to a shift in the operations of Google’s sales team.

“Sadly though, we will have to say goodbye to many highly talented and amazing sales colleagues,” Schindler wrote. He added that he asked designated leaders to communicate the layoffs to affected employees in one-on-one sessions. Moreover, employees impacted by the cuts can apply for other open positions across the tech giant’s other departments.

Meanwhile, Google spokesperson Chris Pappas told Business Insider: “Every year we go through a rigorous process to structure our team to provide the best service to our Ads customers. 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 on the team or elsewhere at Google.”

Fitbit execs leave Google amid layoffs

As of writing, YouTube’s operations and content management team and Google’s advertising sales team aren’t the only ones affected by the cuts. Other impacted departments include the augmented reality and central engineering team within the hardware division, digital services and products, Google Assistant and knowledge and information product teams.

Google’s devices unit – which houses the Next, Pixel and Fitbit divisions – wasn’t exempt from the layoffs. Amid the ongoing layoffs, several executives from the fitness tracker company Google acquired in 2021 also left.

A person familiar with the matter told Business Insider that FitBit founders James Park and Eric Friedman announced their departure on Jan. 17. The founders weren’t alone as several others followed suit – including Jonathan Oakes (vice president for product), Mark Silverio (vice president for business strategy), Mark Martinez (hardware engineering director) and Tim Johnson (senior director). According to the outlet, it is unclear if the departures were voluntary.

“It’s the biggest blow to us so far; many long-time Fitbit people were affected,” said one employee who spoke on condition of anonymity. Another employee described Google’s acquisition of Fitbit: “We’re like the bone marrow. Once they’ve sucked everything out, these bones are of no use to anyone.”

A third employee attested to the second staffer’s remark. “We can tell that Google doesn’t care for Fitbit users. Google plans to launch a new Pixel Watch model later this year,” the employee said.

Andrea Holing, another spokesperson for Google, commented: “On the Fitbit side, we remain very committed to serving our Fitbit users well – innovating in the health space with personal AI and building on the momentum with Pixel Watch, the redesigned Fitbit app, Fitbit Premium service and the Fitbit tracker line. This work will continue to be a key part of our new [organizational] model.”

Visit EvilGoogle.news for more stories about layoffs at the search engine giant.

Watch Gregory Mannarino warn of waves of corporate layoffs amid the world economy’s rapid decline below.

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