Tech giant Google is set to restructure a significant portion of its 30,000-member ad sales workforce, prompted by the firm’s recent advancements in artificial intelligence, as reported by The Information.
This follows Google’s earlier decision to lay off approximately 12,000 employees, marking the largest workforce reduction in the company’s history.
The restructuring is largely driven by the introduction of AI-powered tools in Google’s ad sales division. These tools are capable of autonomously suggesting and generating effective ads, reducing the need for human intervention. This technological shift has led to the obsolescence of numerous roles within the department.
Google had previously unveiled Performance Max, an AI-driven campaign planner, in 2021. At the Google I/O event this year, the company enhanced this tool with generative AI capabilities, streamlining the process of creating and scaling custom ads.
This enhancement has led to increased adoption of Performance Max by advertisers, diminishing the necessity for staff specialized in selling ads across Google’s various platforms, including YouTube, Search, Display, Discover, Gmail, and Maps.
The restructuring announcement was made internally by Sean Downey, Google’s president of the Americas and Global Partners, during a recent meeting. However, Downey did not confirm whether this reorganization would result in further job cuts, as per The Information’s report.
During the meeting, an employee questioned Google CEO Sundar Pichai about the impact of the previous year’s workforce reduction on the company’s growth, profit and loss, and employee morale.
Pichai acknowledged the significant effect on employee morale, describing the decision as one of the most challenging in Google’s 25-year history.
Pichai characterized the layoffs as a tough but essential move, suggesting that avoiding them would have been detrimental in the long run.
He emphasized that the decision helped the company avoid major future complications and enabled investments in new areas during a year of significant global changes.
