Google announces job cuts in news division

The downsizing comes at a crucial time when digital platforms are under pressure to provide accurate information during global conflicts

Google's news division has become the latest target of layoffs in what seems like a year of continuous downsizing for the tech giant.

According to a report by CNBC, an estimated 40 to 45 roles are set to be cut from the Google News division, as disclosed by an Alphabet Workers Union spokesperson.

Google News, a platform that aggregates links to articles from numerous publishers and magazines, is widely used by people seeking top-ranked stories on various topics.

A Google spokesperson confirmed the reductions to CNBC but did not disclose the specific number, stating that there are still hundreds of employees dedicated to the news product.

The spokesperson said the company had made internal changes aimed at streamlining their organisation, with only a small number of staff being impacted.

Google has emphasised its commitment to maintaining a robust information ecosystem, which includes a focus on news. The company has also pledged to support the affected employees in their transition to new opportunities, offering services such as a transition period, outplacement assistance and severance pay.

A staff engineer at Google News took to LinkedIn to express their dismay about the layoffs, stating: "Today Google laid off a bunch of workers who worked on Google News. 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. We're definitely worse off without them."

The downsizing comes at a crucial time when online platforms and publishers are under immense pressure to provide accurate information during ongoing global conflicts, including the Israel-Hamas war and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

These conflicts have led to a surge in the spread of misinformation online, including the sharing of visuals from older conflicts, video game footage, and altered documents on various online platforms.

Regulators worldwide are also intensifying their efforts to combat false information propagated on digital platforms.

Google's spokesperson stated asserted that "These internal changes have no impact on our misinformation and information quality work in News."

The latest round of redundancies at Google comes in a year marked by significant cost-cutting measures, including a major cull of 12,000 roles at the beginning of the year.

At the time, the company cited its previous hiring surge during the height of the pandemic's digital economy as the reason for the reduction.

Sundar Pichai, Alphabet CEO, publicly took responsibility for the decision, stating that he was "deeply sorry" for the job cuts at the company.

Recently Alphabet also announced cuts within its global recruiting team.

Virtually every major tech company, including Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Intel has announced substantial redundancies in the last 12 months, affecting thousands of employees.

Startups, even "unicorns", have also felt the brunt of these organisational changes, further contributing to the challenging job market.

Earlier this week, LinkedIn laid off approximately 668 employees in its latest round of job cuts, bringing the total number of laid-off employees in 2023 to around 1,400.

Earlier in the year, Microsoft itself had already laid off around 10,000 employees.