Dozens of workers in Google’s news division received word this week that they were losing their jobs as the company continues to downsize in a time of economic uncertainty, according to a report.
Between 40 and 45 employees at Google News were laid off, a spokesperson for the Alphabet Workers Union told CNBC.
The Alphabet-owned search engine has also slashed headcount at Verily, the health care analytics subsidiary, as well as Waymo, the robotaxi unit, according to the Information.
It is unclear how many people were fired from Verily and Waymo.
The job cuts, which came just before the company is set to release its third-quarter earnings results on Oct. 24, have raised questions among employees over whether additional layoffs could be in the offing.
The Post has sought comment from Google and the Alphabet Workers Union.
A spokesperson for Google told CNBC that the company still employs hundreds in its news division.
“We’re deeply committed to a vibrant information ecosystem, and news is a part of that long-term investment,” the spokesperson told CNBC.
“We’ve made some internal changes to streamline our organization. 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.”
Google News is the search engine’s news aggregator that mines stories from thousands of publishers.
Articles that are listed on Google News provide valuable referral traffic to news sources.
Rob Ruenes, a staff software engineer at Google, posted a message on his LinkedIn page lamenting the layoffs.
“These are some of the best and brightest people I’ve ever worked with, and frankly, I don’t expect the calculus behind this decision will ever make sense to me,” Ruenes wrote.
“We’re definitely worse off without them.”
Earlier this year, Google laid off some 12,000 employees — around 6% of its workforce — as the company sought to navigate an uncertain economic landscape.
The company’s revenue growth dropped from 32% in late 2021 to 7% in the second quarter of this year — when it announced the most recent earnings figures.
Microsoft recently laid off around 700 workers at LinkedIn while other tech firms such as Stack Overflow, Flexport, and Qualcomm also announced layoffs.