Waze hit with a round of layoffs amid Google’s consolidation efforts
The technology industry is seeing a significant trend of job cuts recently. Both large and small tech companies are resorting to layoffs to adapt to evolving market conditions and enhance efficiency. Likewise, in a significant restructuring move, Google has announced that it will lay off a number of employees from its Waze mapping service. The action is a part of a shift to align Waze’s ad monetization with the current Google Maps ad model by integrating it with Google’s Global Business Organization (GBO).
The technology industry is seeing a significant trend of job cuts recently. Both large and small tech companies are resorting to layoffs to adapt to evolving market conditions and enhance efficiency. Likewise, in a significant restructuring move, Google has announced that it will lay off a number of employees from its Waze mapping service. The action is a part of a shift to align Waze’s ad monetization with the current Google Maps ad model by integrating it with Google’s Global Business Organization (GBO).
As CNBC reports, this recent round of layoffs at Waze is the company’s second in this year (via 9to5Google). Positions associated with Waze’s advertising operations, including in sales, marketing, operations, and analytics, are the major targets of the decision to remove employment. However, the specific amount of job losses is still unknown.
Chris Phillips, the head of Google’s mapping division Geo, described the change in Waze’s strategy in an internal email that CNBC was able to access. The shift involves gradually phasing out the present Waze Ads product and replacing it with a system powered by Google Ads in order to “build a more scalable and optimized Waze Ads product.”
Despite the workforce cut, Google reaffirmed its commitment to the Waze platform and app, specifically calling out its “thriving community of volunteers and users” in a statement about the layoffs.
Nonetheless, the ongoing integration of Waze into Google’s Geo division that began in late 2022 has brought substantial changes, including Neha Parikh’s resignation as CEO. After a year of sluggish revenue growth for Alphabet, stakeholders view the restructuring as a proactive step towards increased efficiency. Users, however, will see parallels with Google’s integration of Nest into its main hardware division, a move that has been criticized as having taken away Nest’s unique identity.
Waze is well recognized for its crowdsourcing technique, which enables the program to determine the shortest driving routes using real-time traffic data from over 140 million active users. Since Google acquired it in 2013, it has continued to operate as a distinct legal entity under Google’s management, but that appears to be changing after these recent developments.
Google intends to provide further information about this transition on July 11 during the upcoming Waze Town Hall meeting.
By Matthew Zucca
Sourced from Android Police
