Google cuts hundreds of staff in ad sales team

The tech layoffs continue as Google becomes the next company after Amazon, Discord and Duolingo to reduce its headcount. The Alphebet-owned company said hundreds of staff in its ad sales team are impacted.  

In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, a Google spokesperson said every year Google goes through a rigorous process to structure its 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,” the statement reads.  

The spokesperson added a few hundred roles globally are being eliminated as part of the change and impacted employees will be able to apply for open roles on the team or elsewhere at Google.  

This comes after Google let go of more than 1,000 employees last week. The company laid off workers in several departments, including Google's hardware, central engineering teams, and Google Assistant.  

Despite Google not revealing the total number of staff cuts this year, it is estimated to go beyond 1,000. Multiple media reported Google senior vice president Philipp Schindler said this latest round of layoffs will initially affect its Large Customer Sales (LCS) unit, which sells ads to large enterprises, and the core team for ad sales growth will be the Google Customer Solutions team (GCS).   

Don't miss: Prime Video reportedly cuts staff in SG amidst regional strategy changes

Most recently, Amazon’s Prime Video reportedly cut staff in Singapore as part of its plans to lay off several hundred roles across the Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios organisation globally. 

This also came as part of its plans to change its content strategy in Southeast Asia from a model based on original productions to one focused on licensing, according to Variety. 

According to multiple media reports, Gaurav Gandhi, VP Asia Pacific, said in a staff memo that the company has decided to discontinue some programmes and initiatives and rebalance its international organisation to focus on the countries and regions driving the most growth for its service. 

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