THE AXE FALLS AT GOOGLE


Google just announced a global reduction of two hundred employed in Sales and Marketing positions. This comes on the heels of one hundred employee recruiters searching for jobs themselves following pink slips handed out a couple of months ago.

Although Google still employs twenty thousand around the globe, it’s a sign of changing times and of a company that has moved well beyond start-up into a more mature and cost conscious organization.

Spokesperson, SVP Omid Kordestani, short of admitting Google’s mistakes, made the following statement (full text).

“Google has grown very quickly in a very short period of time. When companies grow that quickly it’s almost impossible to get everything right—and we certainly didn’t. In some areas we’ve created overlapping organizations which not only duplicate effort but also complicate the decision-making process. That makes our teams less effective and efficient than they should be. In addition, we over-invested in some areas in preparation for the growth trends we were experiencing at the time.

So today we have informed Googlers that we plan to reduce the number of roles within our sales and marketing organizations by just under 200 globally. Making changes of this kind is never easy—and we recognize that the recession makes the timing even more difficult for the Googlers concerned. We did look at a number of different options but ultimately concluded that we had to restructure our organizations in order to improve our effectiveness and efficiency as a business. We will give each person time to try and find another position at Google, as well as outplacement support, and provide severance packages for those who leave the company. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone affected for all they have contributed to Google.”

No doubt the “Googlers” are taking little comfort in that last farewell.

As other initiatives close in on inefficiencies and a lack of traction (GoogleTV?) look for more cuts in the coming months.

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