Google has 2nd round of layoffs in 2 months

Google laid off a “small number” of workers in its Google News division, becoming the latest Bay Area tech giant to cut staff.

The company’s layoffs affected dozens of employees, according to CNBC, which first reported the news. It was the second time in two months that Google downsized, after laying off recruiters in September. Parent company Alphabet’s Waymo self-driving division also had recent layoffs.

Google also laid off around 12,000 people, or 6% of its workforce, in January.

“We’re deeply committed to a vibrant information ecosystem, and news is a part of that longterm investment. We’ve made some internal changes to streamline our organization,” Jenn Crider, a Google spokesperson, said in a statement.

Scores of tech companies have cut jobs after hiring aggressively during the pandemic. Meta, Amazon’s Twitch division, Cisco and Microsoft’s LinkedIn all recently conducted layoffs as well.

Google News, which aggregates and organizes news articles and is a crucial traffic source for publishers, has hundreds of people on staff. The company said the cuts were not part of a larger wave of layoffs.

“A small number of employees were impacted, we’re supporting everyone with a transition period, outplacement services, and severance as they look for new opportunities at Google and beyond,” said Crider.

Many news organizations have had layoffs this year as advertising money has shrunk and readership has fallen.

San Francisco and San Mateo County lost 10,000 jobs in September, though the unemployment rate fell as a result of fewer people looking for work.